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Indoor Plants
Ficus elastica (Rubber Plant)
Rubber plants are very good at removing chemical vapours from the air and are especially effective at removing formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is the most commonly found toxin in indoor air and, because of this, a plant's ability to remove it from the air is used as the standard for rating the plant's effectiveness.
Formaldehyde is found in resins and is used to treat many products. It is found in facial tissues, adhesives, tobacco smoke, plywood and chip board, as well as many other products.
It has been found that plants' ability to absorb toxins increases with exposure. This is because the microbes living with the plants break down the toxin (they feed on the toxin) and multiply.
Refer also to our information sheet 'Benefits of Indoor Plants'.
Ficus elastica is a tropical plant from north-east India and south to Indonesia. It can grow in the ground in tropical climates and even in parts of southern Australia, but be warned, it stops being the demure house plant once its roots get into soil. It can grow 30 to 40 metres tall (sometimes even 60 metres tall)!
Growing
Rubber plants have thick, dark green leaves which contain a latex-like sap. They do not need as much light as many other indoor plants. One way to determine the amount of light is to hold a piece of white paper upright where you intend to place the plant. Place your hand about 20cm in front of the paper in the direction of the window. If you cannot see a shadow there isn't enough light for the plant to stay there for any time.
Placing the plant near a window provides more light but at night time it may become too cold. Rubber plants do tolerate fairly low temperatures though (hence their ability to grow outside with gusto even in southern Australia).
The stem of Ficus elastica is sufficiently strong that they do not require staking. Plants may attain a height of 2.5 metres when grown indoors.
Plants should be fed regularly over the summer months. They should be watered lightly over summer and autumn, allowing the soil to dry between watering. They do not like to be over watered (a very common problem with indoor plants).
Pest and disease problems
In centrally heated dry air they may be attacked by scale insects, spider mites and Thrips.
Plants will need to be repotted as they grow. Take the plant out of its pot (over some paper to catch any potting mix that is dislodged). If you can see roots the plant has outgrown the pot.
If the roots are wound around within the old pot, loosen them so that they don't continue to grow in a circle. If the roots are tightly matted, cut them (slice down the side of the root ball in several places with a pair of secateurs), so the roots are able to grow out into the new potting mix.
Information sources:
Weidenfeld, G. & Nicolson, 1999, 500 Popular Indoor Plants for Australian Gardeners, Random House Australia
Wolverton, B C, 1996, Eco-friendly House Plants, Orion Publishing.
Click here to return to the list of info pages
The information contained on this page is Copyright © SGA and intended for personal use only.
You may not use the information for any other purpose without the express written permission of SGA.
