When the soil mass is very compacted and the root mass severely tangled and impacted, there is no question vitality and growth rate is being significantly affected. Most growers believe that messing with roots is taboo, and you risk killing the plant if all you do is stick a wooden skewer deep in the pot to check moisture levels. With attention to a few details, root pruning is no more dangerous than pruning the top of the plant. It SHOULD be a regular part of everyone's skillset, because w/o root work, a gradual but steady decline with notable and visible symptoms are inevitable. The only way to turn that stead decline around is by eliminating the cause, which brings us back to eliminating root congestion. This is a Ficus benjamina. It was purchased in a 3 gallon nursery can and was about 4 ft tall when acquired. The roots were horribly entangled - a solid, 3-gallon mass of roots. I chopped the trunk off so there wasn't branch or leaf on the trunk, sawed off the bottom 2/3 of the roots put it in this large bulb pan and took 3 years to get a start on the branching. The plant rebounded from the severe work like nothing had happened. The roots are a mess after 3 years in the bulb pan, so I do another root reduction. My goal not only includes the elimination of the root congestion, but also root reduction to the degree I can fit the plant into a bonsai pot, something you're obviously not concerned with. This illustrates how severely the root mass was reduced. Note the HUGE roots I cut through and simply eliminated. These roots serve no purpose in containerized plants, and their removal makes space for the fine roots that do all the work. This is the plant after a pruning and being reinstalled in a training pot. Note the huge scar near the soil on the left where a very large root was removed. That will heal in a few years. In fact, I think it's already healed. This plant is scheduled for more root work within the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to take pictures. I'm hoping to put it into a shallow bonsai pot as a lot of progress has been made in development of branches and it's ready for a pot. Many would pooh pooh what I said because 'this' is houseplants, 'that' is bonsai, but skilled bonsai practitioners know how to keep plants healthy, happy, and beautiful under extreme circumstances. Borrowing a page here & there from their book only sets you apart and above those that don't recognize expanding their skills benefits both grower and plant. I'm not pressuring you to act on what I said. My only goal is to put the information out there and relate/illustrate the advantages in case you DO want to act. The difference between a houseplant people struggle to keep healthy for more than a few ears and a bonsai that is both healthy and beautiful after hundreds of years, lies primarily in how the roots were treated. Take good care, and good luck with your new tree. ;-) Al

The first and the last are the mother plant that's as tall as my lips ( im5f 6in) the middle is a cutting I rooted from one leaf and one node two years ago!! It's ridiculous how this plant spits out growth I love it! I don't see many tree like rubber tree plants anymore, mine is bigger then most people I know. Then again I don't really get out much lately ;)

It looks like residue from insecticide or fungicide applications; or, early on, the plant was in a situation where it was watered from overhead and the water was allowed to repeatedly dry on the foliage, leaving dissolved solids residue on the foliage. It's possible too, that the same chemicals mentioned above were injected into the water used for over-head watering and were left behind on foliage as the water dried. I don't think it's cause for concern. If it interferes with the plant's ability to carry on photo synthesis, chemical messengers will inform plant central the leaves aren't carrying their weight, and the plant will automatically shed them. Too, your plant looks healthy enough that removing the affected leaves shouldn't create a scenario where the plant is using more energy than it's creating by turning the sun's energy into food ..... so you can remove them w/o need to be concerned. Remove them by snipping through the petiole (leaf stem) about half-way between where it's attached to the stem and where it transitions to the leaf blade. The stub you leave will fall off on its own in a week or two. Pulling leaves off can easily damage latent buds resting in leaf axils (angle formed by a leaf and the branch it's attached to). Al

It looks like residue from insecticide or fungicide applications; or, early on, the plant was in a situation where it was watered from overhead and the water was allowed to repeatedly dry on the foliage, leaving dissolved solids residue on the foliage. It's possible too, that the same chemicals mentioned above were injected into the water used for over-head watering and were left behind on foliage as the water dried. I don't think it's cause for concern. If it interferes with the plant's ability to carry on photo synthesis, chemical messengers will inform plant central the leaves aren't carrying their weight, and the plant will automatically shed them. Too, your plant looks healthy enough that removing the affected leaves shouldn't create a scenario where the plant is using more energy than it's creating by turning the sun's energy into food ..... so you can remove them w/o need to be concerned. Remove them by snipping through the petiole (leaf stem) about half-way between where it's attached to the stem and where it transitions to the leaf blade. The stub you leave will fall off on its own in a week or two. Pulling leaves off can easily damage latent buds resting in leaf axils (angle formed by a leaf and the branch it's attached to). Al