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Injured Rubber Tree

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2005
by cmt1972 on February 22, 2005 08:01 PM
While moving my plant, my father accidently shut the door on my rubber tree. The stem of the tree was crushed to the point I thought it was going to fall off but had not. After a couple of days it looks like it's going to repair itself but not sure. Is there some type of tape I can buy to mend it or should I use something like a band-aid so it can breath? Can anyone give me some advise on how to care for my injured tree? I would be so upset if it dies. Thank you.
by Jiffymouse on February 23, 2005 08:26 PM
your rubber tree will be fine. you have a couple of options... one (the one i would choose) is to make a clean cut where the plant was crushed and put the top you cut off into the soil of the same pot your plant is in. you will get what i call a "two-fer" which is, the top will root, and the bottom will send out more sprouts to make up the part that is lost.

the other option is to use some kind of adhesive (one member posted something about duct tape) or binding to "splint" the plant in hopes that it will heal and strengthen. with this, you have the chance to salvage the heigth, but run the risk of losing the top part if it doesn't work. the probablitly of it working is dependent on the size and severity of the crush

either way, the bottom of the plant, below the crush should be just fine.

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