I have the variegated rubber tree and the regular one, and I can not get them to branch. I have cut them down, and they still only grow one new branch out the top. if anyone has the secret to making them branch, if they even do....let us know!

I am trying to be patient til late May to do some trimming on mine. I bought this at a garage sale for 50 cents last fall. I put it out on my deck for awhile then brought it in when it got too cold. I repotted it last fall, cost me more for a new pot and soil than the plant! LOL Now it has put out several more leaves and a couple new branches starting so apparently it wants spring as bad as I do. I knew it wasn't the right time of year for it but to experiment a couple weeks ago I cut off 2 branches that only had 2 and 3 leaves on them.Cut off at about 10-12 inches long I am guessing. Then dipped in rooting hormone and stuck down in the dirt in the pot so that 5 or 6 inches were out of the dirt. By gosh they rooted! The two branches are on the left and right sides here, notice the stick that I wasn't sure what to do with on the right side too! LOL I don't know if it will ever do anything but it is rooted. I know I will trim this up and make it look better come spring when it starts to grow more. I've never done it before though, so take what I say with a grain of salt cause I am no expert! LOL I found this site, but if you google it there is lots more! Here is a link that might be useful: pruning a rubber tree

Strong work, Annie. Looks good where she is! Did you know plants are assigned the adjectives feminine and masculine in the world of bonsai, this, based on leaf shape, leaf color, and whether they have soft or angular lines. Their assigned gender determines what color and shape the pot should be, even whether the pot is glazed or unglazed. N/a - says: I have about a 4.5 ft high rubber plant (bottle green leaf) whose main stem, about halfway up, has been woody. I placed small cuts above the leaf nodes (where earlier leaves had shed before I received it) in order to encourage (horizontal) branching. This often works, and works best in the summer, but the notches need to be deeper than most think they need to be. The notch should be at least 1/8" in height, slightly wider than the leaf/bundle scar, the bottom of the notch 1/4 -3/8" above the top of the scar, and all cambial tissues including the cambium should be cut away cleanly down to sapwood. Instead a couple of apex leaf buds have from this time(over 4 weeks ago) have remained unopened whereas previously they had been opening every few days. This confuses me. Each branch has a single apex (or none, if it's been pruned/pinched off). Immediately proximal (toward the trunk) to the apex is the area where extension growth occurs. I'm guessing you're saying you have some axillary buds near the top of the tree that normally open in a few days, but these are stalled and not growing? The leaves are drooping (bar 1 which has remained perked up) but not discoloured or curling. Leaves of several of the popular larger leaf Ficus (elastica, lyrata, benghalensis, .....) tend to change their spatial attitude after wilting occurs; and the duration and severity of the wilt plays a big part in how close to their original spatial position they can be restored. I water it cautiously making sure the soil is dry at least 5 inches from the surface and as it is a more clay based soil. By "clay" do you mean its a baked clay soil (like Turface MVP?) or clay soil from the landscape? As I say despite it was thriving quite well albeit from a main stem that was mostly bare- the growth was all happening at the top. Once you answer the questions I had, I'll be able to address that point. I think I‘m going to have to examine the root system, much as I would not like to disturb it. If the exam shows the tree needs a full repot (includes bare-rooting, root-pruning, and a change of soil) it might be a stroke of good fortune for the tree. Al

Hi, Marlene. If your medium is compacted or dries down to the stage where it becomes hydrophobic (water-repellent), the benefits of using a sharp dowel rod to enhance aeration or ensure better/even moisture distribution throughout the medium probably outweigh the minor damage to roots that a soil probe might cause. Overall, hobby growers are much too concerned about how a little root damage affects the organism as a whole. The considerable amount of time I've spent with my hands in the root mass of hundreds of species has clearly shown that regular root pruning of plants is essential to a high state of vitality and to longevity. If I was coaching you, I would suggest that you flush the medium ASAP, then fertilize with Foliage-Pro 9-3-6, and monitor moisture levels carefully by using a "tell". The next step would be to establish some sort of uniformity for your fertilizing program and tie fertilizing frequency to the frequency with which you water. It makes more sense to fertilize every 4-5 times you water than to fertilize, let's say monthly; this, because appropriate fertilizing intervals vary considerably with cultural influences (breezes, temperature, amount of light, ....). The next step would be to start planning for a summer repot and what kind of soil you'd like to use. Finally, keep asking questions. Here is how you can fix the watering issue immediately without disrupting the roots. Other than using a medium that holds little or no excess water, there is no easier or more effective way to manage water retention in easily manageable (small) pots. Newton's First Law Under conventional container culture, it's a given that saturated/partially saturated media rob roots of the oxygen they need to function normally and efficiently. At best, soil saturation robs your plants of immense measure of potential in areas like growth, appearance, yields, ….. At worst, plants unable to cope with the strain of drought stress caused by saturated media will succumb to it. This isn't a 'scare tactic, it's a very simple and straightforward observation that will be difficult to disagree with a straight face. Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object will remain either at rest, or in motion at a uniform rate and in a straight line unless acted upon by an external offsetting force. In this case, we will designate the 'object' as excess water in your potting medium. At risk of my being redundant, the 'law' can be seen as a simple statement about inertia, that objects will remain in motion and in a straight line unless a force acts to change the motion. To put the law to work for you/your plantings, you should water to beyond the point of total soil saturation - so the medium has been completely saturated and at least 15-20% of the water you have applied has exited the pot. Unless your soil is purposefully constructed to eliminate all/nearly all excess water, it's extremely probable, when the pot has stopped draining, there will be too much water in the potting medium for the plants' liking. To eliminate this excess water: immediately after a thorough watering, hold the pot in one hand over the sink, lawn, or over-sleeping significant other and move it downward, then sharply reverse the direction to upward. You'll immediately note that a good measure of 'excess' water will “continue downward in a straight line” and exit the drain hole. The sharper the reversal of direction, the more water exits the drain hole. When you have repeated the exercise until water no longer exits the drain hole on the reversal of direction, you will have eliminated all excess water and your plants will regard you with a newfound sense of awe. Al