ficus rubbery or elastic (Ficus elastica) - perennial from the mulberry family. Thanks to the wide glossy foliage, it has gained popularity among flower growers. After all, you can look into it, like in a mirror.
The homeland of ficus is the island of Java, where it is revered as a sacred plant. It got its name because the vegetative parts secrete a thick juice containing rubber, which is used in the industrial sector for the production of rubber.
Growing rubber ficus at home is not difficult. Thanks to breeding work, many varieties have been bred that differ in size and color of foliage.
Content:
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botanical aboutplant scripture
Painted attire of a rubber-bearing ficus
In its natural habitat, ficus grows as a tree, sometimes reaching a height of up to 30 m. Thanks to aerial roots, it also grows in breadth. They descend to the ground and grow into the ground. Through aerial roots, the plant receives a set of necessary nutrients for good development.
The wriggling roots of the ficus cause the locals to associate with snake. They call it that: "Snake tree."
Leathery elliptical, oval leaves are quite large, leathery, with a good gloss. Arranged alternately on the tree.
Young foliage is hidden in stipules, painted in red-brown color. As the leaf unfolds, they dry out and crumble.
In nature, pollination occurs due to a certain type of insect. But the process itself is of no value. When grown in a house, there is no ficus flowering, since there is no one to pollinate it, unless you do the pollination yourself.
After flowering, small inedible siconia appear on the tree. The milky juice contained in ficus can cause allergic reactions.
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Ficus rubbery
Some indoor varieties are also able to secrete juice. Consider the most common varieties for indoor floriculture, the right choice of which will transform the house.
Ficus Robusta (Robusta)
Photo: Robusta
The most popular variety. Robusta has a wide stem and fleshy leathery dark green leaves. A notable feature of the variety is that the huge leaves have a tip bent down.
Ficus has been cultivated for over 100 years. A tall tree will decorate a luxurious hall or living room with its beautiful crown.
Ficus Tineke (Tineke)
Photo ficus: Tineke
Tall tree with large and elegant foliage, reaching 30 cm in length. The plant is native to the Indonesian and Indian subtropics. In the house you can grow up to 2 m in height.
The highlight of the variety is the color of its leaves: in the middle of each leaf there is a central vein of pink or cream colors. A thin pistachio or cream border runs along the edge of the leaf plate.
Suitable for growing in an interior designed in a minimalist style. You can achieve a lush crown through constant pruning.
Melanie
Melanie
Unlike its counterparts, the Melany variety, bred by Dutch breeders, is distinguished by restrained growth, bushes well and has a dark foliage color. Compactness and beauty in one plant!
The reddish hue of young foliage changes to a green tone with age. It is also considered a capricious variety.
Looks great in a small space. Thanks to, that the plant responds well to pruning, you can create a unique copy by forming a crown at your discretion.
Black Prince
Black Prince
The name speaks for itself. The branches of the variety are almost black in color, the foliage too.
It occurs naturally in West Africa, Indonesia. A favorable climate allows the plant to "grow by leaps and bounds." In nature, it is a tree up to 40 m high.
It is noteworthy that the dark color changes throughout the daylight hours. Ficus acquires a very rich black shade in the evening.
The hall, made in ethnic style, will be the best place to keep this variety.
The variety has its pros and cons. When grown in a darkened room, the ficus grows slowly. This is a minus. And the plus is that in the summer the plant can be taken out into the garden.
Abidjan
Abidjan
Short description. Asian tropics - home of this species.
Dark overseas guest - unpretentious plant that adapts to the conditions of detention provided to it. However, it prefers warmth and humidity.
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Home Care
Ficus rubber care at home
For the care of different types and varieties of ficuses, certain rules are provided, which are the same for all representatives of the Mulberry family.
Lighting
Ficus rubbery
In no case should a flower pot be placed in a place where the sun's rays would fall on it. The leaves will suffer. But the lighting should be bright and diffused at the same time.
Temperature regime
Ficus rubbery
The optimal temperature regime for growing is + 20-23 ° degrees. Winter maintenance should take place at a temperature of + 15 ° C and above.
Proper watering and maintaining moisture
Moderate watering is the key to plant health
Watering should be carried out only after how an earthen lump dries out almost half the pot deep into.
During the period of active growth, water once a week, less often in winter, you have to look at the circumstances.
The plant needs spraying with warm settled water. From time to time you need to arrange a shower.
It is impossible to spray in winter, at this time a dormant period begins, and in order to maintain humidity, you will need to install a container on moistened pebbles or expanded clay, you can overlay sphagnum moss.
Fertilization
Ficus fertilizer
During the growing season, as soon as the ficus starts growing, it is necessary to provide it with all the useful substances. Top dressing should be applied 1 time in 2 weeks.When it begins to grow, nitrogen should be added to enhance growth.
You need to feed alternating mineral fertilizers with liquid organic matter.
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Ficus transplant
Plants in the first years after planting are recommended to be transplanted more often, each time increasing the volume of the pot.
Little tricks:
- You can understand that a ficus needs a transplant by the fact that water immediately flows into the pan after watering.
- The choice of the next pot should be carried out in accordance with the previous dimensions and exceed them by 5 cm.
- Transshipment of old plants of the genus ficus is not worth doing, you can destroy them by damaging the root system. All that needs to be done is to remove the top layer of earth and fill this space with new substrate.
If there is no suitable land, you can buy a ready-made substrate at a flower shop.
Ficus transplant: step by step instructions
Moving to permanent residence
- Be sure to lay a drainage layer at the bottom of the new pot.
- Fill the pot 1/3 with new soil, to which sand is added, carefully transfer the plant from the old pot to the new one, trying not to damage the root system
- Watering after transplantation should be moderate.
Subject to the conditions, the ficus elastic will quickly adapt to a new place of residence and start growing.
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crown formation
Pruning is done with a pruner.
Thanks to pruning, which the flower tolerates well, you can form a neat crown.
Do not think that cutting off the top, you get a chic bush. After the manipulation, the dormant bud wakes up and the plant grows up again, only it looks a little twisted.
To get a compact bush, you need to know how to properly cut a ficus.
Form like this: you need to cut off the top, dropping down 5 internodes. A cut cutting can be rooted.
After the plant reaches a certain height, it will be necessary to prune again. The best time - the beginning of spring, when the plant is just starting to start growing.
Ficus rubber crown formation
There is another trick for getting a lush bush: it is recommended to plant several cuttings in one pot.
Some specimens do not want to bush in any way. To pacify their temper, flower growers resort to little tricks.
Firstly, they take an awl and pierce the stem with it 1/3 of the thickness. It is necessary to carry out the procedure, starting from the top, gradually going down.
Secondly, you will need to tilt the top of the ficus down as much as possible. Not being able to grow upwards, the plant gives impetus to the awakening of the dormant bud, which is above all. After releasing a new shoot, the top is released, and it takes its usual position.
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Propagation of rubber ficus leaves and cuttings
There are 2 ways to get new instances: reproduction by leaves and cuttings. Some use the method of propagation by layering.
Reproduction by leaves with internodes
Planting a leaf cutting
It is easy to propagate ficus with leaf cuttings, the main thing is that it should be with a piece of internode.
You can plant a leaf in any cup, at the bottom of which you need to lay a layer of drainage and make holes for a stack of excess water.
Before planting, it is necessary to prepare the soil by mixing it with baking powder - perlite. If not, you can add sand.
When planting a leaf in the ground, you need to look afterso that the kidney is not buried inside.
After cutting the leaf from below, milky juice will stand out. It is impossible to land immediately, as it will interfere with rooting. It is necessary to put on the table and land only after the cut is dry.
Rooting takes about a month. You can speed up the appearance of roots by creating greenhouse conditions for the plant.
cuttings
Shank with internodes
If the ficus has grown, the stems are bare, it is recommended to renew the plant. This will contribute to the shaping pruning.
As a result, a lot of planting material will appear - freshly cut top cuttings. The middle parts should not be thrown away, they can also be used for reproduction.
For successful rooting, it is necessary that:
- the length of the cuttings was not less than 7 cm
- on each cutting it is necessary to leave at least 2 internodes with leaves
- the cut should be made directly under the lower kidney
After cutting the cuttings, you need to rinse them in running water to wash off the milky juice. A prerequisite is also twisting the lower leaves into a tube, fastening them with an elastic band. In this case, the bottom side should look inward.
Landing is carried out at an angle. The stalk must be lowered into the soil in such a way as to hide 1 internode. After that, water.
Reproduction of ficus leaf
You can speed up the appearance of roots by covering a glass with a handle with polyethylene, a film. With lower heating, rooting is much faster.
Apical cuttings easily root in water. Preparation of cuttings for this method of propagation is similar to propagation by cuttings.
Water must be taken boiled, completely cooled. Activated charcoal is added for disinfection.
During rooting, it is necessary to observe the level of water in the cup. If even short-term drying is allowed, the root primordia will simply die.
When the roots appear, the stalk is planted in the prepared soil, watered. For greater certainty, you can keep the stalk under a glass jar for the first days.
You can root in peat tablets. They contain a fully balanced soil with the necessary nutrients. When used correctly, a 100% result is guaranteed.
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ficus disease
As a result of the vital activity of insect pests, the plant can become ill with fungal or infectious diseases. Therefore, before proceeding with the treatment of the disease, it is necessary to get rid of the parasites.
spider mite
Spider mites, scale insects, thrips, mealybugs are frequent uninvited guests. When they are found, you need to go to a specialized store and buy insecticides for treating plants. When diluting the working solution, you must strictly follow the instructions, without exceeding the dosage. Since you can destroy the plant itself.
Shchitovka
Shchitovka considered the most dangerous pest. Settling on a ficus, she sucks all the juice out of it. As a result of the vital activity of the parasite, the glossy foliage fades and loses its decorative effect. Covered with a sticky coating and rot begins to appear.
Before spraying, it is necessary to walk through all the vegetative parts of the plant with a sponge dipped in laundry soap foam.
It doesn't matter if the soap gets into the soil. It will not harm the plant!
Then you need to arrange a warm shower, let the ficus dry and treat the plant with chemicals.
Spider mite also harms the plant. The infected specimen lags behind in growth, its development stops.
Cobweb on ficus
To combat the parasite, you can use Fitoverm, Aktellik, Aktara. After spraying, you need to regularly ventilate the room.
For prevention purposes, it is necessary to prevent dry air in the room, often ventilate. Drafts should not be allowed.
Dislikes ficus and cold air. Foliage may be yellowing
To increase the humidity, you need to set the pot on wet pebbles.
To combat the mealybug, industrial preparations are also used, if folk remedies did not work.
Ficus rubbery is medicinal, since preparations are made on its basis to combat a disease such as mastopathy, and are used in the prevention of oncology.
The benefits of harm should not be underestimated, since in everything you need to know the measure. Juice helps to cure sciatica, osteochondrosis. However, it is contraindicated for people suffering from allergies and asthmatics to grow it in an apartment. But in general, believing in signs, ficus brings prosperity to the house! You can learn how to properly care for and propagate ficus from the video below.
VIDEO: Ficus rubber care and reproduction
Ficus rubber care and reproduction
Ficus rubber at home: species and varieties that grow well in the house, planting and care, rules for reproduction and crown formation | (130+ Photos & Videos)
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