Plant Database / Herbs / Rubber Plant
Herbs

Rubber Plant

Ficus elastica
Moraceae (Mulberry)

A bold, glossy-leaved fig relative that becomes a small indoor tree. Wipe the big leaves to keep them shining.

Beginner-friendlyContainer-friendly
Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek
Sun
Bright indirect light
Water
Moderate
Soil
Well-drained potting mix
pH
6.0-6.5
Hardiness
Tender houseplant
Height
Indoors 6-10 ft
Spacing
Pot
Days to harvest
Cuttings root

What it is

Rubber Plant (Ficus elastica) is in the Moraceae (Mulberry) family. A bold, glossy-leaved fig relative that becomes a small indoor tree. Wipe the big leaves to keep them shining.

How to grow it

It wants bright indirect light, water it moderate, and give it well-drained potting mix soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0-6.5. Space plants about Pot apart. Expect roughly Cuttings root. Tender houseplant.

How it's used

Rubber Plant is used: houseplant.

🔎 How to identify it

  • Large glossy leathery leaves
  • Upright woody trunk
  • Milky sap

Not for eating

Grown for the garden, soil, or pollinators — not as food.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.