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My favorite plant: Ficus Elastica (Rubber Plant)

I can't think of a single plant in my home that pleases me more than this one.

Long ago, about 15 years ago in another yard, I planted one in the yard in bright shade, and another was potted in my home. Back then, roses were my favorite plants and these two barely got a glance....

Fast forward to now, and rubber plants are hands-down my favorite ones. I like the look of it, yes -- but also how easily they grow and forgive. I have a China Doll plant that grows more beautifully than this one, but that one hasn't shared the wealth with other families like this one has so far.

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It's tortured in terms of my taking cuttings and distributing parts of this plant to people -- and not intentionally, really. I'll pot some cuttings up for myself to have another one, and someone will come over and comment on the plant. "Want one?" will immediately lead to them taking the one I had potted.
So far, in the 2+ years I've had it, there are three other homes that have cuttings grown from this.

Cuttings in Pro-Mix:
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That plant is now owned by my mother, who took it with her on her last visit to my house.

And then, the basal stems (and I learned what they were called from Al!) are so prolific on this plant. I've made many little pots -- gave some away and kept some which are like miniature rubber plants. Either they stay this way, or I'll have to be 250 years old for them to be full-size.

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It was recently repotted into a larger pot because the small pot I had it in earlier kept on toppling over. I didn't have any bark on hand at that time, so it's just in Pro-Mix but happily producing new growth at every single cutting location. It only gets watered every 2-3 weeks right now....with the AC going some of the time and rather decently warm weather (instead of crazy 100s!), it takes about that long for me to truly feel like the soil is moderately dry.

I love this plant. LOVE!!

Grace

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