Ficus elastica - commonly, rubber tree. More information is needed re how you go about caring for this tree. It is not prudent to remove any foliage from a tree in such steep decline as leaves are the factories in which the plant makes it own food - sugar/ glucose.

There is a direct relationship between how much store energy a propagule has in reserve and how likely the cutting is to strike (grow roots). Cuttings from trees essentially circling the drain are rarely successful. This is due to the fact that low levels of stored energy in the cuttings slows the rooting process, and propagation by cuttings is essentially a race to see whether or not roots can form and make a connection to the plant's vasculature before any of a number of fungal species clogs the plumbing and makes that impossible.

My suggestion would be to begin a dialog here that provides you with information needed to improve the cultural conditions currently proving to be so limiting. Odds are high that you're over-watering, so any fresh start should include a thorough flushing of the grow medium to ensure any build-up of salts from tapwater and fertilizer solutions is corrected. Also, unless your pot is very shallow (5" or less) the advice to "water when the top inch or two of the soil feels dry" should be ignored as it serves better as a recipe for over-watering. In stead, use a wooden "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water. See more about using a '"tell" below.

After flushing the soil, it would be best to make regular fertilizing a part of your care regimen. Ask if you have interest in discussing how to go about fertilizing appropriately.

This Overview of Good Growing Practicesshould help you avoid all of the most common issues growers face at some point in their journey to a green thumb.

Using a 'tell'

Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant.

Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor.

In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water.

Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'.

One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue.

Al