@JMJ 4Life Really sorry to learn about your tree. I assume some part of the root mass is fused, so the soil/root mass remains intact like so: If the answer is yes, unpot the plant and set the root/soil mass on a stack of newspapers, rags, old towels, dry sponges - something that will PULL excess water from the soil. Allow it to rest on the wicking material for an hour or two before returning it to the pot it fits. Use a wooden "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water, because with no water loss from foliage, the plant will require very little water. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips in order to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions - which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma and creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell' (more reliable than a 'moisture meter'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) works better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half or in several pieces, depending on how deep your pots are. Sharpen both ends of each tell in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell's tip comes out nearly dry. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Insofar as how it would impact root health, there is no difference between plastic and high-fired clay/ceramic. If you can see no crazing (myriad small cracks reminiscent of a fish net with small holes) in the glaze, you can eliminate anything toxic making its way from the pot to the grow medium. If you haven't fertilized or used any type of tonics, insecticides, leaf shine, detergents, etc., it's a very good bet you have unwittingly over-watered due to the fact there is no way for water to evaporate or be used by the plant as the new medium is not colonized by roots and remains a hostile environment to roots due to lack of oxygen. My suggestion would be to lift the plant from the pot to see it the lower reaches of the soil column are saturated. If so, see figure D below. Remove the soil from the new pot, place an over-turned pot in the bottom of the pot so it fits snugly, and cover the drain hole of the over-turned pot with something that won't rot (it does not need to allow water to drain through the hole in the over-turned pot, but it's ok to use a screen if you wish). Mix enough of the soil that falls away from the roots or remains in the large pot with an equal measure of perlite and fill to the top of the over-turned pot, then reposition your plant on top of the pot. and back-fill with the remaining soil w/o the extra perlite. The shaded areas in the images above represents perched water. By comparing D to A, you can see the over-turned pot significantly reduces the amount of excess (perched) water your soil will b e able to hold, so air will return the the soil much faster. The operational words for the moisture level of a grow medium is damp/moist, never wet/soggy. After having put the pot to work as ballast, start checking moisture levels with a "tell" you can make from a wooden dowel rod. It is far superior to a finger or a "moisture meter". More about using a 'tell': Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Questions? Al

Tapla, I do remember reading one of your posts on your definition of repot and depot. If I remember correctly depot was taking out the entire plant with mix/soil. With this 5-1-1 mix a lot of the mix would crumble and drop off. Although a lot of the roots have taken residence in the cracks of the pine bark. The ficus looks like it is recovering with no further developments of black spots/light brown spots. But I'm wondering if I do find it wet down there what shall I do? I hardely used any peat moss (yes it's not real 5-1-1. If anything it was probably the pine bark dust. The pot has lots of air holes so I'm probably lost at what to do next. I'll try depotting it this weekend.

Since coming home, it hasn’t seemed happy, which I expected from a grocer plant. All plants we're likely to buy are already blessed (by Mother Nature) with genetics making them capable of becoming a beautiful specimen. The skillset possessed by whomever has had responsibility for the plant's care is what determines how much of that genetic potential is realized - heavy emphasis here on cultural influences. So, where the plant is from has very little to do with it's potential except in the immediate, where recently poor cultural practices might have negatively influenced the plant's current state of vitality. It dropped a couple leaves from one stem (one that had been truncated) and the main stalk but now, the leaves don’t look as dark and glossy, it hasn’t put out any new growth, and has developed two worrisome areas on two different leaves, both towards the bottom. It’s leaves have never been particularly perky except the top one. One worrying leaf it developing spots on it, they look to be whitish and they do not disappear with water (I thought maybe I could wash them off but no). The other leaf has a brown area on the side of the leaf. There’s plenty of holes in the bottom though there’s not much perlite in the soil (to me) and it doesn’t drain particularly well I feel. It’s facing a floor-to-ceiling SW window with sheer white drapes partly covering half the window (it’s about 12’ from that window) and gets a little light from the other two West facing windows. There are three humidifiers running in the room most of the day, large, medium, and small. The small one is about 3’ from it, the other two are 10’ or more. I have not fertilized it since it already has those fertilizer pearls in it from the grocer mix. Help!! I’m only a year into caring for houseplants and it’s my first rubber plant. You probably don't realize the amount of light striking the plant at 12 ft from the window is only 144th as bright as it would be AT the window, so it would undoubtedly respond more favorably to more light, and, it would REALLY appreciate a full sun spot outdoors for the summer, once night temps are reliably above 50-55*f. Your plant is small enough that workarounds to help with a soil that's potentially too water retentive are easy, so making sure you're adhering to good watering habits is something you can start today, if you're not already watering correctly. Water over the sink until the soil has been completely saturated and the soil flushed thoroughly. The first time you flush the soil, make sure you pour a minimum of room temp water equal to at least 10X the volume of the pot slowly through the soil to flush accumulating salts from tapwater and fertilizers out of the soil. If you water in small sips to 'avoid over-watering', ALL salts that go into the soil STAY in the soil. Nutrient release from CRFs (controlled release fertilizers) is primarily driven by temperature, so you don't have much control over the level of nutrients released. That accumulation needs remediation because it causes limitations on more than 1 front. When you've finished watering, hold the plant in your hand over the sink - support the trunk with the other hand if required. Move the plant up and down. You'll immediately see on the reversal from downward to upward, water in the soil tends to keep moving downward as the pot moves upward. and the sharper the reversal, the more water exits the pot. Keep up the upward/downward movement until no more water exits the pot, then return the planting to its cache pot. Never allow the plant to sit in the cache pot in the effluent that exits the drain holes after watering. You can add blocks to lift the pot up so there is no pathway by which the effluent can make its way back into the soil. With vitality comes vibrancy - a healthy glow. I can't say whether or not you should start fertilizing at this point, but as long as you're using good watering habits it's probably a good idea. My suggestion would be to use this: at the maintenance rate every other time you water until you repot, then you can increase the rate. The loss of a few leaves isn't unusual, and the plant should stabilize by summer if you adopt the new habits. The leaf with the spots looks suspicious in that it's not a mechanical injury, it isn't fungal, it's not oedema, and doesn't present like an over/under-watering or over-fertilizing issue. If you have interest in learning more, I can provide you with informational resources I've posted here at GW/Houzz, but I won't bother unless you do have interest. Al