Short answer
Your Ficus elastica is likely infested with spider mites, which thrive in the dry indoor conditions these plants often experience. The most effective fix is to physically wash the leaves, particularly the undersides, and treat the plant with insecticidal soap or neem oil every week to break their breeding cycle.
The combination of fine webbing and speckled, stippled leaves on a Rubber Plant is a classic indicator of a spider mite infestation. While these pests are small and often go unnoticed until damage is visible, they can quickly weaken your plant by sucking nutrients from the foliage, so immediate action is recommended.
Spider mites are tiny arachnids that colonize the underside of Ficus elastica leaves, creating thin webs and causing tiny yellow or white speckles known as stippling. Because Rubber Plants have broad leaves, these mites can easily hide, leading to significant damage before being spotted.
Check: Hold a clean white sheet of paper under a leaf and gently tap the foliage; if small, moving specks fall onto the paper, you have mites.
Fix: Thoroughly rinse the entire plant under lukewarm water, paying close attention to the undersides of the leaves, and follow up with a weekly application of neem oil or insecticidal soap for at least three weeks.
In some cases, the combination of thick dust and household lint can appear like webbing on the waxy surface of a Rubber Plant. While this doesn't cause stippling, it can mask the early signs of pest damage.
Check: Check if the 'webbing' wipes off cleanly with a damp cloth; if the leaf surface underneath is healthy and green without speckles, it is likely just dust.
Fix: Wipe the large leaves of your Ficus elastica every few weeks with a damp microfiber cloth to keep them clean and photosynthetic.
Though less likely to produce heavy webbing, other sap-sucking pests like thrips can cause similar stippling or silvery discoloration on the leaves. These pests are often mistaken for spider mites in the early stages of an infestation.
Check: Use a magnifying glass to inspect the undersides of the leaves for elongated, slender insects or small, brownish bumps that do not move.
Fix: Prune away heavily infested leaves and treat the remaining foliage with systemic insecticidal granules or repeated applications of horticultural oil.
When to worry
If the speckling turns into large brown necrotic patches or if the plant begins dropping healthy-looking leaves rapidly, the infestation has reached a critical stage that may threaten the plant's survival.
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Diagnose my Rubber PlantIt is generally better to treat the leaves rather than prune them, as the plant needs its foliage for photosynthesis. Only remove leaves that are severely damaged, yellowing, or dying.
Increasing humidity discourages spider mites from returning, but it will not kill an established infestation. You must use a physical or chemical treatment to remove the existing population.
While the existing stippling and scarring on damaged leaves will remain, a healthy, treated Rubber Plant will produce new, glossy, unblemished leaves as it recovers.
Consistent with guidance from: Royal Horticultural Society, University of California Integrated Pest Management Program.