Popular types of rubber ficus, optimal growing conditions

The title of the oldest and one of the most famous domestic plants can rightfully be given to the ficus - this is a universal attribute of interiors since ancient times. From the whole variety of species, the rubbery ficus stands out, the scientific name of which is Ficus elastica.

General information and main types

Ficus rubber belongs to the mulberry family. The plant got its name for the composition of milky juice, which can be used as a raw material for the production of rubber. If you collect the juice and add a little acetic acid to it, then flakes are formed - this is the rubber. It can be washed and squeezed out, then a piece of elastic material will remain.

Important!

Contact of the juice with the skin should be avoided. It is fraught with irritation and dermatitis due to the toxic substances it contains.

In its homeland (India, Indonesia), rubber ficus grows up to 30 m and is used not only for landscape decoration, but also for industrial purposes. At home, the size of the tree is much more modest, easily adjustable by pruning.

Several types of rubbery ficus are popular as an ornamental crop.

1. Robusta (from the English robust - strong). Classic ficus: strong trunk, dark green dense leaves with a glossy surface. The most popular and unpretentious variety, characterized by active growth.
2. Belize. A very elegant ficus tree with a tricolor leaf plate. In addition to white and green, there is a pink tint in the color, which gives the plant a very original look.
3. Tineke. Refers to variegated ficuses. From the center of the leaf plate, the dark green color with wide strokes turns into pistachio, and a white border is formed closer to the edges.
4. Abidjan. Outwardly, it is very similar to the robusta ficus, but the shade of the leaf is darker.
5. Black Prince. The leaves are colored in the darkest shade of green, in some specimens they appear almost black.
6. Melanie. Miniature and well bushy variety. The leaves are dark green in color, in places they are cast brown or burgundy (depending on the lighting). This species grows more slowly than others.
7. Lyre-shaped. It differs from the rest by the shape of the leaf, uncharacteristic for ficuses - pear-shaped (expanding from the trunk), along the edges there is a light wave.
8. Sriveriana. It stands out for the original color of the leaf plate, on which several shades are superimposed with strokes and splashes at once: light green, dark green, white and cream.

Mostly you can find ficuses Robusta and Abidjan. Even experts do not always distinguish one species from another.

Growing conditions

Ficus rubber is considered an unpretentious plant, but provided that a favorable environment is initially created for it: lighting, soil and watering regime.

For varieties with dark leaves, diffused light is suitable, they will also tolerate slight shading. Variegated ones remain decorative and develop well only in good lighting (but these should not be direct rays). In summer, plants can be taken outside or on the loggia.

Ficuses are thermophilic, the optimal temperature range for them is from 18 to 24 ° C. With a lack of heat and light, the leaves turn yellow quickly. Gradually, they begin to fall off, exposing the trunk.

Air humidity does not play a role, but a lack or excess of watering can have a negative effect. It is easy to determine the condition of the soil: if moisture is felt when the finger is immersed at the level of the first phalanx, then watering is not needed.

As for the substrate for planting, the following composition is suitable for the ficus:

• part of deciduous land;
• part of the sod land;
• ½ part of sand.

A drainage layer must be poured at the bottom of the planting tank.

Pruning and shaping the crown

Under favorable conditions, the ficus is able to add in height from 60 cm to 1 m in a year, therefore pruning and crown formation for it is an actual procedure. If the ficus has grown more than 1 m, then it will be almost impossible to make it bush. It is necessary to take care of the appearance of additional shoots while the plant is young. How to form a ficus crown? There are several ways, but keep in mind that it is best to do this in early spring (February-March).

Pruning

For ficuses (except for tillering species such as Melanie), active growth in one trunk is characteristic. Side shoots can form on their own, but rarely. To speed up their appearance, you need to cut off the apical bud, then the adventitious will wake up. Lyre-like ficuses, which, when the upper bud are cut, again form an apical shoot (sometimes several) around the cut, are especially stubborn. In such cases, you can forcibly set the direction of growth of the branches: bend it slightly to the side and fix it with a wire or thread to the trunk.

If it is required to radically limit, and not to suspend growth, then the top cut is made at a height of 5 cm from the leaf axil (bud), which is at the desired level.

To achieve a more lush crown, you can trim not only the tops, but also the already existing side branches. On thin ones, a straight cut is made, on thick ones - oblique (behind the kidney, and not above it).

Advice

After trimming the rubbery ficus, the juice from the slices is removed with a wet rag until the release stops, then the cut can be sprinkled with crushed coal (you can take an activated tablet).

About 3 weeks after pruning, the ficus can be fed. Transplanting will also have a beneficial effect on the formation of new shoots.

It is also possible to "deceive" the ficus: the upper part is not cut off, but is bent and tied to a trunk or other support. In this position, the formation of apical buds will slow down, and the lateral ones are activated. After the appearance of new shoots, the crown of the ficus can be returned to its previous position. If you release the top in stages, then there will be several side shoots. It is possible to form a crown in this way only in young ficuses.

Kerbovka

You can activate the dormant buds on the ficus trunk using kerbovka. The essence of the method is as follows: in early spring on the trunk above the selected dormant bud (about 6 mm from it), a semicircular (in the form of a lunar crescent facing downward) incision is made with a depth of 2-3 mm. The place should be chosen on a not too lignified part of the trunk. If it is difficult to find a pronounced kidney, then an incision is made above the sheet (6-7 mm from the sinus). Care should be taken as the milky juice that comes out is very hot.

The kerbovka method, as well as bending down, is suitable for young ficuses. Such experiments on adult plants often end in failure - the wounds float and overgrow.

Punctures

For adults and tall (about 1.5 m) ficuses that shed their leaves, there is an original way of "flattening" the crown: on the scars left over from fallen leaves, one puncture is made with a needle, then they are treated with "Epin". The product is pre-diluted in acidified water. This product contains a phytohormone that stimulates the growth of lateral shoots. The plant should be processed at dusk, since the active substance is destroyed under the influence of sunlight. After a while, the ficus will have stepchildren. An important condition for this is sufficient lighting.

You can engage in the formation of a ficus directly from the moment of planting a rooted cutting. The plant is guaranteed to begin to bush if one sinus is buried. You can plant several cuttings at once in one container.

Reproduction

Reproduction of rubber ficus is a simple procedure. Cuttings and air layers are used as rooting material. The favorable period is from March to September.

Advice

You should not try to propagate ficuses with a leaf. It will have roots, but there will be no shoots, since there is no bud on the petiole without a piece of the trunk ("heel").

Cuttings

The easiest way to get a young ficus from a cutting. This will require a piece of the shoot, which has 2-3 buds (nodes). The bottom cut should be at a 45 ° angle. To stop the release of milky juice, the stalk is placed for about an hour in warm water. Immediately before planting, the cut site is dipped in Kornevin (a growth-stimulating drug).

A mixture of peat and perlite is best suited for rooting; you can also use a ready-made nutrient substrate (for ficuses or universal), adding ¼ part of the sand.

Cuttings take root only when warm: the temperature should be around 25 ° C. Above the pot, you can build a mini-greenhouse from a bag or a plastic bottle (5 l). After about a month and a half, the stalk will grow. Variegated species of ficus take root reluctantly in this way.

Air layering

Reproduction of ficuses by air layers is good because there is no danger of loss of planting material, since conditions for root formation are created directly on the mother plant. At the bottom, at the base of the intended cutting, a semicircular incision is made by a third of its thickness (as in kerboving). A wooden toothpick or a rounded match, powdered with Kornevin, is carefully inserted into it, and moist sphagnum moss is placed around it. The cut is wrapped in a plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect. When the roots appear, the cutting is cut off with a couple of centimeters in excess from below and planted in the substrate.

Transfer

A young ficus is transplanted as soon as signs such as stopping growth, drooping and falling leaves appear. The recommended frequency is once every 2 years. The new pot should be 4 cm wider and 6 cm deeper. For mature plants, it is enough to renew the top of the soil annually (about 3 cm).

If the ficus has recently been acquired, then it should be transplanted no earlier than 2 weeks later. During this time, the plant adapts to new conditions of maintenance and will more easily endure stress.

The easiest and least traumatic way to transfer is transshipment. Before the procedure, the ficus is not watered so that the earthen lump dries out and is easily shaken out of the old pot. If the soil is wet, then part of it will fall off along with thin roots or remain on the walls of the container. The earth lump is installed on a layer of drainage and soil, the rest of which is filled up on the sides. Then watering is carried out with an emphasis on the perimeter of the pot.

Care and fertilization

Ficus care includes periodic wiping of the leaf plate, watering and feeding.

Advice

To provide the leaves of ficus with a glossy shine without the use of chemicals, you can wipe them with a cloth dipped in non-alcoholic beer, and then gently polish with a dry cloth.

Feeding rubber-bearing ficuses begins at the end of February and ends at the beginning of October. It should be noted that after transplanting, nothing can be added for about 2 months, and if the plant was bought recently, then it will completely do without fertilizing for six months.

Ficuses are fertilized with special compositions for decorative deciduous, and the solution should be applied only to moist soil so as not to burn the roots. It is better to halve the dosage, especially the first time. The more heat and light, the more nutrition the ficus needs.

Diseases and treatment

Subject to the conditions of keeping the disease, the ficus is infrequently affected. Many owners complain that the trunk of the plant is bare, the former decorative effect has been lost. There may be several reasons for this:

• drafts;
• overflow or drought;
• low illumination.

In some cases, the leaves of rubber-bearing ficuses turn yellow en masse. Provoking factors:

• an excess of fertilizers, for the withdrawal of which it is necessary to spill the soil abundantly with water;
• the close location of the ficus to the heating device;
• a large amount of salts in the soil;
• rotting of the root system.

The last two problems can only be solved by a complete change of soil.

If light brown spots form on the leaves, which subsequently turn into ulcers, then there is a defeat by anthracnose (copperhead). Black dots on the back of the leaf plate indicate a disease with cercospora. Treatment of these fungi consists in removing infected leaves and several treatments with fungicides: Fundazol, Previkur, Kuproksat.

From insects, aphids, spider mites, scale insects, thrips, mealybugs can attack ficus. Traces of their activity are found in the early stages of reproduction upon close examination of the leaf blade. Small colonies can be washed off with soapy water or tobacco infusion, and in case of large-scale damage, insecticides are used: Actellik, Aktara, Tanrek.

A healthy and well-groomed ficus plant not only brings aesthetic pleasure to its owners, but also effectively filters the air from harmful impurities and increases the oxygen concentration.

For its ease of care and spectacular appearance, rubber-bearing ficus has long earned its popularity, which only grows over the years. Its only drawback is burning milky juice, therefore, manipulations associated with a violation of the integrity of the bark should be carried out with gloves.