The Rubber Tree as Indoor Plant

Here we are again, still trying to cope up with CoViD-19 Pandemic, and it is really driving many of us crazy!!! We need to find a way to make use of our time productively as lot of us nowadays have plenty of time to burn.

One way to do this as we have discussed on a previous post, is make ourselves a self proclaimed Backyard Gardener. Its not as hard as you think to become one, and being a plant lover provides a lot of benefits as an individual.

We have planted Coleus or Mayana, we don't have to collect all 43 varieties of them but well, it's always up to you to take the challenge, either way, this is a very enjoyable task to venture ;-)

So much for that, let's start with what we should be discussing on the first place here, let's talk about The Rubber Tree.

Variegated Rubber Plant

When I started to plant something, there was a time that I decided to visit one place where there are a lot of Plant Stores catering different kinds of Plants. From decorative to air plants, Orchids to indoor plants, medicinal to ornamental and a lot more, saying so much more is really underrated.

So, to cut to the chase, I am trying to find something I can plant indoors, and varieties of these are overwhelming.

Let's just focus ourselves on planting a Rubber Tree, those leaves are great and I think it will compliment everything inside the house just fine. These large trees can grow up to 50 feet (15 m.) tall. Imagine that!

One website said that Rubber Tree is one of the Best tree to plant indoors, so, what the heck, let's get it on, I'll probably deal with height problem later on ;-) What benefit will I get from this beside that it's beauty is really captivating, well, it is said that Rubber plants are effective at clearing carbon dioxide and some airborne pollutes like formaldehyde, so, that's probably another reason ;-)

Ficus elastica, the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, is a species of plant in the fig genus, native to eastern parts of South Asia and southeast Asia. It has become naturalized in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and the US State of Florida.

Variegated Ruby

Burgundy Rubber Plant

There are probably less than 10 varieties of Rubber Tree, I like those with solid and dark color but they say that more people are falling in love with Variegated ones. Variegated means, a leaf that has more than one color. Most often, it will be two-toned (that is, bi-colored). Often this will mean the foliage is blotched, striped, or bordered with a lighter color than that on the rest of it (or vice versa).

The famous varieties are as follows:

Doescheri

Dark green, cream and muted green patches

Tineke

Green leaves with cream variegation and pink highlights referred to as strawberry-cream

Black Prince

Very dark leaves with bronze undertones and red leaf sheath

Ruby

Green and cream leaves washed with bright red and red veins and leaf sheaths

Burgundy

Dark reddish green leaves as the name implies; it may be having dark-red leaf sheaths

Balete "Millennium Tree"

Did you know that one famous Rubber Tree in the Philippines is Balete? A balete tree locally called "Millennium Tree" in Barangay Quirino, Maria Aurora, Aurora province in the Philippines is claimed to be the largest of its kind in Asia. It is estimated to be about 600+ years old and 60 metres (200 ft) tall with its roots about 10 metres (33 ft) to 15 metres (49 ft) in diameter. The Balete tree is infamous in Philippine folklore for being the dwelling place of engkantos or supernatural creatures and nature spirits such as dwendes (dwarves), kapres (tree demons), diwatas (fairies) and tikbalangs (demon horses). Yeah, this doesn't change my mind really to plant this inside the house ;-)

Cheerio!