We grow a powerful handsome rubbery ficus in the apartment
Ficus rubber or Elastica is one of the most capricious plants. With minimal effort on the part of the grower, it will not be difficult to grow such a flower. Outwardly, the plant is a tree, which in natural conditions reaches a height of up to 40 m.But for indoor cultivation, more compact ficuses... Both have a strong trunk and large, dense oval-shaped leaves with a slightly pointed tip.
The color of the leaves of the ficus depends on the specific species and can be either monochromatic or variegated:
- dark green leaves are inherent in Robusta, Melanie, Black Prince varieties;
- maroon leaf of the ficus Abidjan;
- variegated (with heterogeneous light interspersed) leaves of the ficus Variegata and Tineke;
- tricolor leaves of the Belize ficus (green leaf with a pink-white border and a central vein).
Variegated varieties of ficus Elastic are more demanding in care, in particular, this concerns the conditions of their maintenance, namely, lighting. With a lack of light, their beautiful pattern on the leaves may completely disappear.
What kind of soil does ficus like?
Insofar as rubbery ficus by its nature is a tree, the earth must be selected for it. Too light substrate will not work here, because it will not be able to hold a tall and powerful flower.
The most optimal version of a soil mixture, which will simultaneously have a suitable structure and nutritional value, looks like this:
- 2 parts of garden loam;
- 2 parts of humus;
- 3 pieces of sand.
This soil composition can be used both for transplanting an adult plant and for planting a cuttings.
What temperature should the room be?
The statements that ficuses need warmth are not very true. To understand if a flower is comfortable, you need to look at its leaves:
- vertically located leaves indicate that the plant is enough for everyone;
- if the leaves lie parallel to the soil and sag like a boat, this indicates too high a temperature in the room (or a lack of nutrition).
It is best to place the flowerpot in a cool room, where the temperature does not rise more than 24 degrees Celsius.
In summer, the ficus can be taken out into the garden or onto the balcony by placing it under the shade of a large tree. The flower can survive the winter in a cool room, but not lower than 16 degrees Celsius for green-leaved varieties, and 18 degrees for variegated varieties.
How to make ficus branch?
Perhaps the only problem when growing rubbery ficus is its stubborn reluctance to form lateral shoots. As a result, the flower grows into one trunk and is very tall.
To form a beautiful crown and stimulate branching, at the end of April it is necessary to cut the top off the plant. This should be done at the moment when the ficus reaches a height of 1-1.5 m.
After such events, the ficus Elastica will release side branches. When they grow well (after 3-4 years), the tops of such shoots should also be pinched. Thus, you can grow a tree with a lush and beautiful crown.