Cynthia, Rubber trees LOVE our Texas summers. Last summer with 100+ degrees for 69 days, my two rubber trees grew from 12 inches high to 6 feet tall. They are beautiful specimens in the garden. The previous winter was hard on them and although I mulched them heavily and covered them with a frost cloth, they lost all their leaves and I had to cut them down to 1 ft. due to frost damage. Last winter was even worse! I lost one completely and the other barely survived...is just now struggling to sprout a few leaves. Yes, they are pretty tough plants and have roots that seem to go all the way to China; but they are absolutely not winter hardy. Before I planted them in the ground, I used to keep them in large 20-30" pots and bring them indoors around Thanksgiving and outside again after the last freeze. This worked fine for the past five years but they were just getting too heavy to move in and out so that's why I planted them in the ground. They make magnificent specimens in the garden but if you plant them in the ground; you might consider building a mini-hothouse over them hung with Christmas lights as some do with citrus trees here in Central Texas. Otherwise, I would keep them in pots and just move them outdoors when the weather warms up (which is right now!)

Come to think about it, yes it has been in that pot for all these years. Add to that, I have never changed the soil either. It is certainly not distressed though... Why sell it? I simply have too many large plants. Maybe I will consider keeping this one and selling the 2 potted 6' tall Yucca trees ( 3' pots and 3 trees each). Here is a pic of one of them from a few years back. They are now about 1/3 larger and much more full at the base.

I wrote this as a reply to something over on the botany forum and figured I'd be able to use it from time to time, so saved it. Let me know if you want anything explained a different way: A higher degree of expression of the pigment anthocyanin (which expresses the color red or purple) in juvenile foliage is very common throughout the plant kingdom for a couple of reasons. First, even though the pigment absorbs light w/o being a part of the photosynthetic process, it plays a photoprotective role for new leaves that emerge under high light conditions ...... when they are in an ontogenetic stage that make them more sensitive/vulnerable to light over-saturation. If you were able to quantify it at home ..... the reduction in anthocyanin's expression would be seen to correspond with a decreased need for photoprotection, this, because photosynthetic maturation allows leaves to utilize higher light intensities. A major consideration (that occurs during photosynthetic maturation) is an increase in chlorophyll, the pigment often referred to as 'nature's sunscreen for plants'. In short, the red coloration disappears as photopigment concentrations and leaf cuticle thickness increases, both of which would be occurring as mesophyll underlying the leaf cuticle differentiates into separate layers (pallisade and spongy). Second (but probably not a consideration in F benjamina), the red coloration is also very often associated with an increase in phenolic compounds that serve as defense against insect predation or herbivory by making leaves unpalatable. It's also thought in many circles that the red coloration may make leaves more difficult for some insects and herbivores to see, and may signal insects that the affected leaves are a less nutritional food source than bright green foliage elsewhere, or that it would make a poor receptacle for ovaposition (egg-laying). Al

Based on what I've observed, I can say that what Gudang said rings completely untrue. I've been charged with restoring the health of many rubber trees that have been pried out of dark corners, and haven't found their growth response to be anything like he describes. Nor have I found their response to be any different than smaller leafed varieties of the genus, except that they are slower to grow. I often prune top and roots of reasonably healthy rubber trees brought to me and site them in full sun on the same day, knowing the leaves will burn, drop off, and very quickly be replaced by a new flush of foliage perfectly adapted to whatever light conditions prevail where the tree has been sited. I'm not advocating that you follow suit, but I do this with other people's trees and don't worry about whether or not the tree will quickly recover. I can't remember the last time I lost a ficus that wasn't already trying to break down death's door. It's not that I don't worry about other folk's trees because I'm irresponsible; rather, I've repotted and revitalized so many rubber trees w/o loss that concern would pretty much be the equivalent of much ado about nothing. Al