How to Take Care of Baby Rubber Plant – Tips and Guides
The natural baby rubber plant’s habitat is in high humidity forest areas where they make use of nutrients provided from tree debris and the natural tropical environment. but nowadays you’ll mostly find them grown in pots as indoor plants.
Baby rubber plants grown indoors don’t require much maintenance. As long as the plant gets enough water and the right light conditions, you shouldn’t have any problems. Let’s take a deeper look at how you can take care of a potted Peperomia obstusifolia:
This evergreen plant loves medium to bright indirect light but can also do okay in low indirect light. If left under bright direct sunlight for a long time, its leaves will acquire a pale color.
In a nutshell, the pepper-face peperomia can grow under shade or fluorescent light. The low light tolerance makes the baby rubber plant ideal to put in grow pots in bathrooms or offices.
The plant does well in room temperatures averaging from 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and no lower than 50ºF.
Generally, if you are comfortable at that room temperature, the baby rubber plant is also comfortable.
This succulent plant stores water in its leaves so you only need to water the potting mix once or twice a week, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings.
Increase the watering frequency with increased light. Water the plant moderately during the summer months and reduce the frequency during winter. During this time it can go for a long time without needing water.
Since the plant does not develop an extensive root system, it doesn’t need to be fed a lot of fertilizer.
During spring while the plant is still growing, use diluted liquid fertilizer once every two weeks and once a month during summer. No feeding is required from autumn to spring.
The Peperomia obstusifolia likes a little humidity but can tolerate dry air. Cold drafts may cause the leaves to fall off but don’t sweat it - the average home humidity is just fine.
During the warmer months, you can mist the leaves and place the plant on a pebble tray with water at the bottom.
The easiest way to propagate is to use stem tip cuttings. You could also take a few centimeters of leaf cuttings although variegated types may lose the variegation if propagated this way.
The soil used in the grow pots should be medium to well-drained and well aerated.
Most baby rubber plants grow up to about 25 to 30 centimeters in height and must be pinched out at the tips to either direct, stop, or encourage growth. Under the right conditions, the hanging plant can grow 3’ to 4’ ft per annum.
We hope that this article acts as a good guide to growing Peperomia obstusifolia indoors. Following the plant care tips, we have given will ensure that your baby rubber plant thrives and enhances your interior.