How to Grow a Rubber Plant from Cuttings

Homeboy made it!  It was a struggle, but from the 5 cuttings I started, I now have new growth from 2. Another cutting continues to hang on, and will probably make it.  Then there were two which shriveled and died.  Ultimately we really only needed one to 'keep it real' for Homeboy, so I call this a raging success!

Ultimately, I was able to get the information I needed from the internet. There are lots of sites, and some videos that describe the process, but having done it for the first time using these sources, I've decided to make my own post because there were some details that were not really explained clearly enough.  I'm not a gardener, for all of my adult life, I've lived in apartments in cities.  Apart from the occasional houseplant, my horticultural experiences in embarrassingly limited.  I think that makes me the perfect person to explain this process to a novice because I'm going to assume they're starting where I did. I'm not taking any knowledge for granted.

Rubber plants seem pretty simple.  Each branch will end in a little pointy structure called the 'growing tip' or more technically the 'apical meristem'. When the plant grows, the meristem grows longer and eventually unsheathe a new leaf, a small extension of stem, and a new meristem.  As the plant grows, it results in a succession of leaf/stem segments or 'nodes' (see diagram in the picture below).

Pruning the plant can be done by cutting just above a node on any branch. These plants are really hardy, so there is little danger of cutting too much. In the garden of the house, they have already chopped Homeboy down, but the other day, I noticed that even cutting every branch to the root had failed to kill him! This picture shows new sprouts growing from the stump:

After pruning, water the plant daily for the next few weeks, and it will respond by starting some new branches. Pruning these plants once a year or so is useful unless you want them to look like a long stick with lots of leaves growing off it.

To take cuttings (for propagating the plant) you just need to cut a stem or branch 4 or 5 nodes below the meristem. Remove the lower leaves so that only 3 remain.  Removing the bottom leaves will result in a stem section 2 or 3 nodes long, this is important because the new roots will grow from the side of the nodes.

There are several techniques to get the roots started.  Some websites suggested using moss soaked in water to cover the bottom 2 or 3 nodes of the cutting, and covering this in plastic wrap to hold it in place and keep it moist.  Other websites suggested that the cuttings could just be placed in a bottle with water covering the bottom portion until the roots start to grow.  I also saw suggestions that the cuttings can be planted directly into soil. I didn't have moss, so I tried the water and direct soil techniques with 5 cuttings (2 water, 3 soil).

It was also frequently suggested on the internet that 'rooting hormone' would help with the process. If you have rooting hormone, just coat the bottom 2 nodes in it before planting in soil, water, or moss. I found rooting hormone in a gardening shop, and used it. It's hard to say if it made any difference, for the cuttings I rooted in water, I'm pretty sure it didn't help, the water probably just diluted it or washed it away. If you are using rooting hormone, and planting in soil, it is suggested that you put the stem in a hole in the soil, and then carefully fill the soil in around the stem so that you don't knock off the hormone.

I was also told to cut the three remaining leaves in half (the damage to these leaves seems to encourage the plant to start rooting). After preparing my cuttings for rooting, they looked like this:

After all this, the only thing left to do is put them in a shady place and wait.  If you potted the cuttings in soil, make sure it stays very moist, it's best to water it once or twice a day.  They like it to be warm, and humid, and i've read that you can cover them (the whole plant) in a plastic bag to help keep it humid near the plant (I didn't do this). Rooting takes a long time to start, and nothing happens in the meantime.  For me, I saw no progress at all for about a month and a half, and then just when I was about to give up the cuttings in the water bottles started showing some life. Although springtime in Porto is usually pretty warm, we had a strange one this year, and it remained cold well into April; I think this contributed to the long wait for my roots to start. About a week after this first bulges started to appear on the root spots, the roots were a millimeter or so long:

I got supper excited about this (I'm a geek that way, if you haven't noticed already) and decided to transfer them to soil and put them somewhere that they could get a little direct sunlight.  I think this probably was pre-mature, and if I were doing it again, I would definitely let the roots get to 3 or 4 mm long before planting.  It took a further 2 months before I saw any new growth.  In that time, two of the cuttings I planted in soil shriveled up and died.  After 2 months, I noticed the meristem of one of the cuttings start to bulge and then a day or two sprout a new leaf.  Now all 3 remaining cuttings are growing well.