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What house plant is this please

tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
in Plants
I rescued this plant last week. (It had been reduced twice, so I felt sorry for it! Plus it had been reduced... twice! :D )

Can you identify it? (I presume its a house plant).

Does the pot look too small for it?


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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Rubber plant - ficus elastica

    https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/95720/Ficus-elastica/Details 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • EmerionEmerion Posts: 599
    edited March 2021
    My mum had one of those. Over about 15 years it grew too big for our sitting room because she didn’t prune it. So she gave it to her sister, who had one of those 1970’s sloping roofs. The plant grew up high enough to reach the ceiling, and then go across to the very high side of the sloping ceiling. It looked magnificent. I expect you can keep it under control though, it’s not very fast growing.  
    Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.


  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Thanks guys. RHS website says  its an outdoor plant?
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Emerion said:
    My mum had one of those. Over about 15 years it grew too big for our sitting room because she didn’t prune it. So she gave it to her sister, who had one of those 1970’s sloping roofs. The plant grew up high enough to reach the ceiling, and then go across to the very high side of the sloping ceiling. It looked magnificent. I expect you can keep it under control though, it’s not very fast growing.  
    Did you have to re-pot it?
    Bigger the better for me. Unfortunately all my south facing windows are shaded by trees outside. :|
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    It's an outdoor plant in Brazil...
    Easy to propagate from the trimmed branches you will take out in the future. But a nice dense specimen, strange they reduced it twice, they are quite trendy again. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    amancalledgeorge said:
    It's an outdoor plant in Brazil...
    Easy to propagate from the trimmed branches you will take out in the future. But a nice dense specimen, strange they reduced it twice, they are quite trendy again. 
    Ah I see, yes, of course. (Im very new at gardening/buying plants!).
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Look again at that RHS link!  It says hardiness 1b which means minimum 10C at night.

    I have a large, multi-stemmed one of these and it does go outdoors - for the summer and out of direct sun because here, in mid summer and with the sun at its zenith, that would burn the leaves.  Indoors, in the UK, and here in winter it needs a sunny position to get enough light.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Wow - looks nice! Lets swap!  :D

    (judging by your photo, mine doesnt re-potting)
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Check the bottom of your pot for roots showing.  If they are, yours needs re-potting in good loam-based compost such as John Innes no3.

    Mine is 40 years old now and started off smaller than yours.   It is regularly re-potted but not every year.  I feed it with fertiliser for leafy houseplants and I water as needed - less in winter.   Sometimes it goes in the shower to get its leaves rinsed and to give the compost in the pot a really good soak and drain.

    This seems - so far - to keep it free of pests and diseases.  I haven't got ceiling space to let it grow taller so this spring it will get its final re-potting and I'll have to look at pruning it to reduce the height.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • tuffnelljohntuffnelljohn Posts: 284
    Are the pebbles just for aesthetics, or do they serve a function?
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