Rubber Plant with Brown Spots

[Wlflwr]

I just recently bought this rubber plant (Ficus shivereana) second hand from another person and in the pictures before purchasing I didn’t see any of these brown spots.

When I went to pick it up, it was outside and dark and didn’t have time to inspect until I got home. There were numerous leaves with huge brown spots that I ended up trimming off.

The remaining leaves don’t have the huge brown spots but have tiny brown spots on the underside of the leaves and on the top of the leaves.

I’m relatively new to taking care of indoor plants so not sure what the issue is. I haven’t watered it but not sure what the previous owner did as well.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[Magd3576]

What is the lighting like where your plant is homed? A couple of those spots look like they could be from a little too much sun exposure but the big black one looks more worrying. Maybe when you (or it’s last owner) were watering a couple drops got on the leaves? My robusta hates that and it’s leaf looked like acid spilled on it where the water landedI’m careful to wipe the leaves down now anytime splashing occurs. If it was wet it could be a fungal infection. In that case, you can’t treat it but you can contain it. Some people suggest a baking soda/mineral oil mixture and others use neem oil to kill the fungus.

If it looks like it’s spreading cut off the infected areas/leaves (use alcohol on the scissors between each clip) or you’ll end up losing the whole plant. Often with fungal infections you’ll see yellow around the brown area but sometimes it’s just black. Careful to keep the leaves dry in the future.

I hope everything works out!

 

[csdude55]

I have a different type of ficus, and it gets brown spots like that during the summer... really just too much sun exposure. The leaves eventually fall off and the rest does just fine.

Since it's new, the owner may have left it outside in direct sun or something. I would suggest keeping an eye on each of the spots, and if the spots are growing then follow Mag's advice about cutting them off. But if they don't grow then just water it once a week and keep it in a bright window; the leaves will eventually fall off on their own.

My ficus once died completely down to the root, but came back and now it's closer to 4' tall! They're tough buggers.