A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum care of my rubber tree

I just moved my rubber tree from my parents home to my apartment. it went from barely living to alive and well within days and all i did was water it. my mother came to visit (she has always loved plants, except for the rubber tree.. and has always taken good care of them)... when i told her how much i was watering it she said that that was too often and that you should never let the roots sit in water. I was initially watering it with 2 large cups once daily.. then when the pot it was sitting in started filling up i started watering it less. after speaking with my mother (she told me to wait for the pot to dry up and then leave it for several days before watering it again.. and then to water it with a half a cup every day or two).. i did what she said and now all the leaves are falling off and the pot has not dried up. it has lost over 5o leaves since i got it and i counted 40 at my parents house before i took it. the poor thing is nearly bare. there are several new leaves beginning to bloom. it seems that if i just move the tree a bit leaves will fall off and it has totally wilted since i stopped watering it. i was just able to manually empty the pot of the majority of water but i want to know where to go from here. this is my first plant and i really like it. i am very upset that so many leaves have fallen. is it okay to leave the roots sitting in water and still adding a bit more water to it every day or two as long as the tree looks healthy? why did all of those leaves fall off. i read that they will grow back and if you slightly nic the area in which they fell from they'll grow back faster. please give me some advice. i do live in a basement apartment and the plant is not near the window but when my living room light is on it is nice and bright and the temperature is usually very comfortable. again, up until a week ago the plant was doing amazing.. i think i should have just kept doing what i was doing but i'm not too sure. help me please:) thanks, tara

Hi there and welcome to the board.
I am new here but have had plants for a long time, I know more folks will chime in, but first and foremost You never want to have water just sitting in the bottom of any houseplant.
The general rule is to water by the touch of the soil.
I think your banana dropped all its leaves not as a result of you taking the water away but from having sat in water before hand.
What kind of light is it getting? Hang around here, you will learn a ton, and everyone is very nice.

Hi T Baker and welcome to the Gardenhelper
Sorry to know your rubber tree isn't fairing well,
Your rubber tree has gone thru different changes ~ number 1,shock from the move,,, change of lighting. temps etc, and too much water,,,,, this would account for the leaf drop,,,,,, it takes a little while for the tree to react to too much water changes in humidity lighting etc,,, that's why leaves started dropping after you held back the water,, it wasn't due to lack of water but too much water and changes instead.
I have a rubber tree I water once really good every two weeks or so , IF questionable you can put your finger in the soil if it is dry at least 2 inches down then water,, but make sure you have proper drainage and again don't let it's feet sit in water.
Your right about niching the stems to promote more branches,, and new leaf growth is a good sign that it's recovering,
Allow it dry out somewhat before watering again,, you need to give the roots time to "regroup" sort to speak",, it won't be long before it's leafy again,, be patient and watch the watering :wink: