Rubber Plant Dropping Leaves

Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links meaning I receive a commission if you make a purchase through these links at no extra cost to yourself. This helps to keep OSERA ad free. Thank you for your support on this platform.

Rubber Plant Dropping Leaves

Rubber plant leaves falling off can be incredibly upsetting, especially knowing that they won’t grow back in that exact spot. Each rubber leaf grows in slowly, they’re big and beautiful and even one dropped leaf will be missed. In order to fix this problem we need to work out some of the causes of rubber plant dropping leaves.

Overwatering

The main cause of a rubber plant losing leaves is overwatering or even improper watering and draining techniques. Rubber plants like to be kept relatively moist but they don’t like to sit in soggy soil or watered every day. It’s important that you allow your plant to partially dry out between waterings. To test this out stick your fingers into the soil approximately two inches, once the soil feels dry to the touch it’s time to water your plant again. When you water make sure you do so thoroughly and evenly. If knowing when to water is something you struggle with then try using a moisture probe like this one on Amazon, you simple insert the probes into the soil and it gives you a moisture reading. For a rubber plant we would recommend waiting until the gauge reads around 2 or 3.

To avoid overwatering make sure you use a pot with drainage holes so that excess water has somewhere to go and that you use a proper potting mix that drains well, adding perlite to your mix is a great way to achieve this.

Common signs of overwatering include yellowing leaves, drooping leaves before they drop and squishy stems. If you notice the stems of your plant no longer feel firm and are soft to the touch then a rubber plant dropping leaves isn’t your main problem as your plant could be in serious danger and would be to be dried out immediately.

Rubber Plant Dropping Leaves Due To Age

Leaves falling off rubber plants is also something that comes with age. As your plant grows and puts out new leaves you may notice some of the older foliage dropping away. As long as this isn’t happening at an alarming rate, new growth is happening quicker than old leaves are dropping, and you still like the appearance of your plant then this isn’t necessarily something to worry about.

Cold Or Sudden Changes In Environment

A rubber plant can put up with a surprising amount but what it doesn’t like are very low temperatures and dramatic changes to its environment. As these plants are tropical they like to be kept warm, so keep them away from draughts, open windows and move them inside during the winters if you experience cold snaps. If the temperature gets too low for a rubber plant, it may start to drop leaves.

IMPORTANT! Many people hear this and put their rubber plants next to radiators or heating systems. This is a mistake as the air around these appliances will cause your plants to dry out, keep them in warm rooms but away from things that will cause dry air. Remember rubber plants are tropical so as well as being warm they like to be humid.

Changes to your rubber plant’s environment can also cause it to drop leaves. Unless you absolutely have to, try not to change too much too quickly. If you want to move your plant to a different room, change up the humidity or stick it in a van and move it across country then try to do these gradually as a huge change can shock your plant and cause it to drop leaves.

For example, if you’re moving home and you have no choice, try not to move your plant in the winter, or if you do put it in your car with heating rather than a cold removal van so the plant isn’t shocked by the move and the cold at the same time. Small changes will be a lot more beneficial to your plant than something.

Hopefully this has helped you to work out why your rubber plant is dropping leaves and what you can do about it if this is the case. Try to watch your plants and notice small changes when they first start to happen. That way you can keep on top of any problems and help to prevent drastic damage to your plant.

 Article: Rubber Plant Dropping Leaves

Suggested Article: Rubber Plant Drooping Leaves