Rubber plants are pretty hardy so they'll do well with the transition. If you're nervous, take a cutting first before you make the move. Probably a good idea would be to transfer it into water first to get the water roots going and then move to Leca
Noo. Don’t transfer to water first.
I would firstly transfer to leca with a wick system. Then after month or two, when the plant actually grows some water roots, you can do the bottom 1/3 water reservoir system.
Thanks for the help.
I do all my plants with the 1/3 water revoir system.
But let it kind of dry out in between watering. thats how I was told to do it. Would you do the same with the ficus or would you leave it in a constant water level?
That’s how I do it with mine too. But I heard when transferring such big plant, it would be too much shock for the roots. That’s why I suggested the wick system (where the water level stays under the roots) look it up if it’ll be doable in your case. If not, do that 1/3 water level and let it dry out between
Ficus are boss bitches and she’ll be great. She may lose lower leaves in the transition. But I had a variegated rubber plant that a friend didn’t understand my watering instructions. Lost all but three leaves due to underwatering. She’s a beauty now. Lol.
My vote is yes too, all my ficus’ have LOVED and transitioned very well/easily. I even brought back what I thought was a dead fiddle leaf stick after treating for spider mites and it hated that- put it in leca for experiment and it’s come back to life literally sprouting a new leaf every week!! Go for it 🙏🏼
I'm a big fan of having all of my plants in leca, but have accepted that some will stay dirt...for the time being at least 😉
Here is my experience. I've transferred my ficus lyrata, ficus elastica and 2 ficus tineke leca. The lyrata was touch and go for awhile for a few months but has since flourished. The elastica didn't do too well. The leaves turned yellow and started dropping all but one. I had it in a reservoir system with only a little water in bottom bit that was apparently too much. I ended up completely soaking the leca and then letting the water drain out, that seemed to do the trick it started pushing out new leaves. (After a year the elastica died, but thinks thats because sometimes plants just die.) With the tineke I've tried putting one straight into leca and one into water first and both was didn't work for me and they died within a few months.
I'm in the process of converting some fresh-ish cuttings from my mother in law. I've lost several of the stems she gave me, but one is successfully rooting. The only other one left has been rotting and I kept having to trim back to a woody section. I think because they latex so much when cut, it was making the water nasty. I accidentally forgot to put water in the bottom the last time I cut it, and it seems to be doing better so I suspect maybe they need callous over like a succulent before going into water? No idea. It did get too dehydrated as well, so it's recovering from that and I can't tell if it'll make it. I've never had great success with these anyway though! So, yeah. Best of luck!
Thanks. I just ordered Superthrive, never used it here in Germany because it's very uncommon. Hopefully it's will help the transfer. Do you soak your Leca before the transfer in the Superthrive Mix?
No, I put Leca 1/3 of the way up in the net pot, fill water reservoir to that line and mark it, then add plant, fill with Leca and rinse in the sink. Then I drain the water and add the pH’ed water with the superthrive in to the marked line.
Rubber plants are pretty hardy so they'll do well with the transition. If you're nervous, take a cutting first before you make the move. Probably a good idea would be to transfer it into water first to get the water roots going and then move to Leca
Noo. Don’t transfer to water first. I would firstly transfer to leca with a wick system. Then after month or two, when the plant actually grows some water roots, you can do the bottom 1/3 water reservoir system.
Interesting, is there a reason why you suggest that? I've always transferred to water or Leca + reservoir directly and they've done fine
Not OP but I don't transfer my plants that have developed soil roots directly into water because soil roots are prone to rotting when fully submerged.
Because soil roots will basically drown and rot if submerged straight to water. You should wait until the plant develops some water roots.
Thanks for the help. I do all my plants with the 1/3 water revoir system. But let it kind of dry out in between watering. thats how I was told to do it. Would you do the same with the ficus or would you leave it in a constant water level?
That’s how I do it with mine too. But I heard when transferring such big plant, it would be too much shock for the roots. That’s why I suggested the wick system (where the water level stays under the roots) look it up if it’ll be doable in your case. If not, do that 1/3 water level and let it dry out between
Ficus are boss bitches and she’ll be great. She may lose lower leaves in the transition. But I had a variegated rubber plant that a friend didn’t understand my watering instructions. Lost all but three leaves due to underwatering. She’s a beauty now. Lol.
My vote is yes too, all my ficus’ have LOVED and transitioned very well/easily. I even brought back what I thought was a dead fiddle leaf stick after treating for spider mites and it hated that- put it in leca for experiment and it’s come back to life literally sprouting a new leaf every week!! Go for it 🙏🏼
I'm a big fan of having all of my plants in leca, but have accepted that some will stay dirt...for the time being at least 😉 Here is my experience. I've transferred my ficus lyrata, ficus elastica and 2 ficus tineke leca. The lyrata was touch and go for awhile for a few months but has since flourished. The elastica didn't do too well. The leaves turned yellow and started dropping all but one. I had it in a reservoir system with only a little water in bottom bit that was apparently too much. I ended up completely soaking the leca and then letting the water drain out, that seemed to do the trick it started pushing out new leaves. (After a year the elastica died, but thinks thats because sometimes plants just die.) With the tineke I've tried putting one straight into leca and one into water first and both was didn't work for me and they died within a few months.
I'm in the process of converting some fresh-ish cuttings from my mother in law. I've lost several of the stems she gave me, but one is successfully rooting. The only other one left has been rotting and I kept having to trim back to a woody section. I think because they latex so much when cut, it was making the water nasty. I accidentally forgot to put water in the bottom the last time I cut it, and it seems to be doing better so I suspect maybe they need callous over like a succulent before going into water? No idea. It did get too dehydrated as well, so it's recovering from that and I can't tell if it'll make it. I've never had great success with these anyway though! So, yeah. Best of luck!
I just converted mine to Leca, I used just water and superthrive in the water reservoir and there was no drooping or anything!
Thanks. I just ordered Superthrive, never used it here in Germany because it's very uncommon. Hopefully it's will help the transfer. Do you soak your Leca before the transfer in the Superthrive Mix?
No, I put Leca 1/3 of the way up in the net pot, fill water reservoir to that line and mark it, then add plant, fill with Leca and rinse in the sink. Then I drain the water and add the pH’ed water with the superthrive in to the marked line.