Question
I have a rubber plant that I am concerned about.  It appears to be losing normal looking leaves and then the naked stem shrivels up and turns dark brown/black.  There are about 6 stems of the plant and at least two of them appear to be losing leaves and shriveling.  This is my second attempt at a rubber plant and the first one did the same thing until it was completely shriveled up and leafless.  I water it about once a week when it dries up a bit.  The healthy parts of the plant look great, but I'm worried I will lose it as this shriveling increases.  Can you offer any suggestions to help keep this poor plant alive??

Answer
Shelly,

Is it in a pot with a drainage hole in the bottom and a drain tray under it? It must be. You should water it and 2 hours after you water it you should empty the drain tray. Then you should not water it again until it is dry. Insert a bamboo skewer into the soil and if the top half comes out dry it is ready to be watered. It will be a week to 10 days before it needs watered. If you water too frequently and keep it too wet it will cause roots to rot then the plant cannot absorb water and you will have the shriveling like you describe.

Also your plant needs lots of sun. It is a sun loving plant. If it is not getting enough it may you can get the black leaves you describe and when the plant drops all the leaves from a branch it will shrivel.

So increase the swun it is getting, make sure it is not being overwatered and is drying out well between waterings and it should improve. Good luck.

Darlene