I would repot it immediately - wash off all dirt and carefully check the roots for bugs and any disease. If you do not have a new pot then wash this one in hot soapy water and dry it before reuse. I do not know what the spots on the leaf are. Do these spots look like mold? When you pulled the plant out of the pot was the bottom soil wet or significantly damper the higher up? Don't forget to add some perlite to your soil mix ( I usually sift out the fine particles and then rinse with water: I have a cheep dollar store kitchen wire mesh colander for this).

Deal with the bugs first (by repotting). Keep it in bright indirect light, water it so the soil doesn't get too dry but does not remain wet for too long either. Keep an eye on it. Keep it out of cold drafts. Please keep us updated. Best of luck!

Hey there,

They don't look like mold to me. Just feels so dry.

I went ahead and repotted with a mix of potting soil, perlite and bark.

Here are some photos. The roots (thankfully) though pretty cramped, looked in good shape. No signs of rot! So after a bit of pruning and a quick rinse my plant is hopefully sitting happy in a new pot.

Other than the many gnats flying in and around the soil, I didn't notice anything that would be causing my aggressive leaf drying and drop off. They are mostly coming off the bottom of the tree.

If anyone has any more thoughts on what could be killing my tree I would really appreciate it!

Thanks

They are most likely fungus gnats- they are an indication of too wet of a soil. (Fungus gnats can come in with new soil- but usually it is due to the plant being in damp soggy soil). Now that you have repotted the plant, it should begin to stabilize and bounce back. Don't let the plant get too dry- a usual response- just keep it in bright indirect light and keep the soil moist not damp.

Did you identify the insects? Could the white ones be springtails? And the millipede like ones be fungus gnat larvae? I don't think either are supposed to be specifically harmful to your plant, but it's possible they'd cause problems if their numbers were really high. But more importantly their presence may be telling you the soil has been pretty damp, and that may be what's been causing your leaf drop.

It's good if that's the problem, because if so you've probably already fixed it. Removing all the old soil will really reduce or eliminate the insects, and hopefully your new soil is better draining and won't stay too wet anymore. Also remember that it's normal for some older leaves to "age out", and drop off, they don't last forever.

Maybe just some patience now to see if what you've done helps. And please let us know if you ID the insects, I'm really curious! Must have been an unpleasant surprise to find. Bit scared to pull my one out for a look now... Good luck!

Hello!

I couldn't with certainty identify the insects but I feel pretty sure they were springtails after doing some research. And definitely fungus nats.

Which means you're right, if it isn't the roots and it isn't the bugs since springtails and gnats aren't super harmful, it must have been the damp soil. When I repotted it didn't seem really damp, just moist but I suppose that was still too much for this guy. I will be cutting back on watering for sure.

I was also considering environmental factors. Think having my apt be hot (80-85F) all day and then coming home and switching the AC on to like 70-75F could be affecting it? The sudden drop? It clearly hasn't affected any of my other plants in the same room but perhaps rubber trees are more sensitive to quicker temp drops? The plant isn't near the AC.

I'll keep everyone posted on the plants hopeful recovery.

Thanks for weighing in!

Check the soil moisture before you water by sticking a thin sharpened dowel (a wooden skewer or disposable chopstick will do) through the soil to the bottom of the pot and pull it right out. For regular houseplants you don't water unless the dowel comes out clean and dry because there's still plenty water inside the particles that the plant can get to. I've seen people say that rubber trees need moist soil all the time, but you need to be sure the soil is moist, not wet, so the roots can get oxygen from the air between the soil particles.

Thank you! Will do. I actually just bought a soil reader thermometer thing which should help too.

Any ideas on how to dry out the soil if it gets too moist?

I'm all nervous now because when I repotted I watered it (lightly) because i thought that is what you're supposed to do, but now I'm worried I'm causing the same problem all over again.

There are lots of ideas about drying out soils on this forum - try searching dealing with water retentive soils, to start with. I've been known to rest the pot on a wad of paper towels, making sure they're pushed up against the drain holes of the pot. Draws quite a lot out. Don't know how much it really helps but makes me feel better :)

So i have the soil moisture reader and it says it is on the line between dry and moist so i think that is where it should be.

Leaves are still falling off! 3 since I repotted it a few days ago. Think this is just transplant shock? Or the same unknown issue from before?

help me save my plant please!

The plant is in a weak state from before and it is just carry-over from that. It is not getting enough light to get going.

Indirect light will slowly lead to a weaker plant. Best is outside in summer and next to south facing window in winter. Since it has been in low light you will need to gradually acclimate it to higher light if you choose to do so. If you have to keep it inside the house put it next to or closest to the south facing window. Even a couple of feet away from a south facing window is too little light.

In summer, the Sun is mostly so high up in the sky that barely any direct light gets into through windows - except early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Even outside open shade is better than inside in terms of light.

In winter, a south facing window will let in about 4-5 hrs of light (here in Pittsburgh about 40N latitude) since the Sun is much lower.

I have had some success keeping mine in an east window and a west window, though I do agree with Tropicofcancer that the brighter the light the faster and bigger it will grow. The all green type are very tough plants.

Is the leaf loss at least slowing? 3 leaves in how many days?

Those leaves that fell off after repotting were already on their way to fall off. So I would not worry too much about that. Ficus can rebound from complete defoliation. Give it more light since you already took care of the soil issue.

BTW, a dowel is actually more reliable than most soil moisture meters. I can't remember the explanation, but I think the meter measures conductivity, which can be affected by minerals or mineral deposits in the soil. But the dowel can't lie (assuming the soil is uniformly dry or moist, and not the hydrophobic soil Al mentioned that would have a damp patch at the bottom where some water collects). It feels the way the soil feels.

Anyhow, I'm not sure how fancy your moisture meter is, but I bought one for under $20 shortly before I found these forums and tried the dowel method. When I compared them, the meter told me the soil was dry when the dowel came back quite moist. I threw the meter out and bought another dowel to chop up so I could check all my plants at once.

yes! the moisture reader I bought is a piece of crap haha lesson learned - switching to the dowel method for sure.

and I moved it into the most well light part of my apt so hopefully, this helps!

I'm down to 5 leaves.

This is tragic.

Yikes! You must feel terrible!!

The top light green leaves look wilted. Were they fine before? I am assuming you repotted the plant in 511 mix. It should be still moist since the plant is not taking up much now. I am also assuming you did not let the roots dry out when you bare rooted. Just making sure of some basic points.

Just let it be for a while. It may drop the remaining leaves too.

Yeah, sadly the whole thing got extra droopy after repotting. I put it in a bark, perlite and potting soil mix

I didnt let the roots sry out before reporting and gave it a little water to help it set after repotting

I just moved it outside (NYC) on a southern facing patio to help give it more light as a last hope - I'll water it a bit when the soil is dry

I wish I knew what happened this gorgeous lush plant went from perfect and thriving to next to dead in under two weeks with no final diagnosis

Check the stems and see if they look plump or shrivelled/crinkled. I would think they are still plump and it will bounce back. It will take a week or two so for the plant to push new buds. Since you have it outside move it to a location where it gets morning Sun or just open shade - if there is a spot like that. The plant went through several rapid changes - lot of light at the greenhouse, to lot less light, repot and lot of light again. So give it a bit of time to adjust. Keep the soil evenly moist. At this point the plant is not drawing much water so it should stay moist longer. Fingers crossed.

I thought the diagnosis was soil too damp as indicated by all the insects? Is that still most likely or is everyone thinking it must be something else now?

When I reported it the soil was moist but def not even close to wet so I'm not sure. You can see the photos. And the top two inches or so were dry. Maybe even that level was just too moist.

Crazy how a slight over water just shattered this plant.

Generally speaking - and I'm no expert here, just have a few houseplants and have been learning a lot from this forum - some plants such as the softer leaves ones will show their displeasure and happiness quite quickly by wilting or perking up quite quickly.

But I think some of the thicker leaved firmer plants can look ok for some time even when declining (more water reserves, stronger leaf structure,etc), for example sansevieria (snake plants), so maybe rubber plants are like this too. What I'm trying to say is it may have been going downhill for longer than the two weeks of obvious symptoms.

Plus it's possible really high numbers of fungus gnat larvae could have munched on the really fine feeder roots. Although I thought the roots looked good overall. I don't know about the white bugs, you'd need to be sure what they were to know if they damaged it. And the (necessary) repotting was another stress on the plant.

Many factors to consider, playing plant detective. It may well be the additive effect of several things. You've had lots of good advice from the experienced people above, on light and soils etc. Personally I would now put it in a bright warm draft-free spot inside, and wait. Don't let the roots dry right out while they're recovering but don't let the soil stay damp either.

To achieve this, try using a spray bottle of water on a gentle jet to target where the pruned rootball is, and at the times when you do water more thoroughly leave the pot tilted at 45 degrees (even 30 degrees will help) for 15-20 minutes afterwards and then sit it on towels or paper pushed up against the drain holes for a couple hours. This isn't to remove all the water you just put in, it is to reduce the saturated layer that occurs at the bottom, the "perched water table" (yes, it has a name)

Dont fertilise until you see new leaves growing and don't sunburn it by putting it in direct sunshine outside if it's not used to it. Good luck!

Any change in the situation with your Rubber tree?

If I had to put a reason for sudden decline then this what I can come up with: The plant was originally in a nursery/greenhouse setting where it was getting plenty of light and thus using up the water in the soil. Once at home it slowed down considerably and did not need much water. The soil was wet longer and that added to its misery. The plant resorted to a drought response and started dropping leaves. Most likely the lower leaves first since they are mostly shaded. It produced some new leavesat top seeking more light. Probably at the expense of the lower ones indicated by loss of colour and sap. Then it was repotted into a better mix. At that point it was still in a low light situation and so the decline continued.

The plant will recover although it may be slow. Open shade is usually the best in these situations. That is no or little direct Sun but as bright as possible. And keep the soil just moist - use a dowel/skewer/chopstick to judge the moisture level. Its need for water will be low now. If you do water do what robin said - tilt and shake the pot to get rid of the excess water in the pot.

The plant isn't doing much better I'm afraid. I'm giving it space.

i don't think it ever had low light. I live in a southern facing apt with 3 giant bay windows so it gets loads of sunlight.

reagrdless I have since moved it to the patio as I mentioned and it has stayed there since. It never gets direct sunlight though.

seems to be some red spikes still so I'm hoping those turn into something. The stems still feel healthy but the whole thing is still so droopy and sad looking.