Large Ficus Ruby

To keep the pink and cream coloring looking its best, put your Ficus Ruby somewhere with plenty of bright, indirect light. Unlike a lot of houseplants, this one can actually take some direct morning sun, it helps bring out the pink tones even more.

Just keep it away from harsh afternoon sun, which can scorch the variegated edges. If it's in low light, it'll drop its lower leaves, grow slower, and start turning plain green, losing that pink glow.

Getting the watering right just takes a little patience. Let the top two inches of soil dry out fully before you water again. When you do water, pour it evenly across the soil until it drains out the bottom.

Empty the tray right away, letting the roots sit in water is a fast way to get root rot. In winter, the plant slows down, so cut back on watering.

This plant doesn't need greenhouse conditions, normal household humidity around 40% works fine. That said, keeping an eye on moisture and avoiding really dry air will help it hold onto more leaves.

Keep the room between 65°F and 80°F. It doesn't like sudden temperature changes, so keep it away from AC vents, drafty windows, or radiators, quick swings in temperature can cause leaves to drop fast.

Use a loose, loamy mix with some sand or perlite added in for drainage and airflow. Heavy, clay-like soil holds too much water and can suffocate the roots.

Feed it monthly with a standard liquid fertilizer from early spring through late summer. Stop feeding completely in fall and winter, when the plant rests and isn't putting out new growth.

The best way to propagate is with stem cuttings or air layering in spring. If you're taking a cutting, pick a healthy tip with three or four leaves and cut cleanly below a leaf node.

You'll see a sticky, milky sap come out, just wipe it off with a damp cloth or dip the cut end in water. Let it callous for a day, add rooting hormone to the node, and plant it in a damp mix of perlite and peat. Keep it warm with bright indirect light until roots form.

Repot this plant every 18 to 24 months in spring to give the roots more room and refresh the soil. Choose a pot about 2 to 3 inches bigger, with good drainage holes.

Slide the root ball out, loosen up any tightly wound roots, and center it in the new pot with fresh, sandy soil packed around the sides. If you want to keep it from getting too tall, you can leave it in the same pot and just refresh the top few inches of soil each year.

Keep this plant away from pets. The leaves and stems have a milky sap that's irritating to skin, eyes, and the stomach in cats and dogs. If a pet bites into it, they can get mouth irritation, drooling, vomiting, or skin redness.

It's best to keep this plant on a raised stand or somewhere pets can't reach, both for their safety and to keep the leaves looking good.

The Ficus elastica species comes from the tropical regions of Asia, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In the wild, they grow into huge banyan-style trees with big aerial roots.

The Ruby variety brings a colorful, stylized version of these jungle giants into your home.

The pink coloring on the Ficus Ruby comes from a kind of variegation, where certain parts of the leaf don't have chlorophyll. The pink and red you see comes from anthocyanins, the same pigments you'll find in autumn leaves and berries.

These pigments work like natural sunscreen, protecting the parts of the young leaves that don't have chlorophyll from sun damage.