Just when you thought that you actually have a green thumb because your houseplants are thriving so well, you realize: the plant has brown tips. Now you're probably wondering whether you did something wrong and if so, whether there's anything you can do. We summarize what causes brown leaf tipsby palm treescan be and what you can do about it.
Brown leaf tips – cause of the dry tips
“Why does my plant have brown tips?” It is no surprise that the dry peaks emerged during the cold winter period. But it has nothing to do with the cold. Rather, the dry heating air is the cause of brown leaf tips. The heating reduces the humidity, but the plants need it. The result: the plant gets brown leaf tips. So if you notice brown leaf tips, it could be a sign that you have theIncrease humidityshould.
Why do houseplants get brown leaf tips in summer?
But dry tips on the leaves can appear not only in winter. Summer can also be dry and can often cause this problem, especially with palm trees. But why do palm trees get brown leaf tips? This is simply due to the climatic conditions of their home countries. In tropical areas the air is very high despite the summer heat, so they are one of the plants that need a lot of moisture. In our latitudes, however, this is not the case. For this reason, the tips of the leaves can also dry out.
How high should the humidity be to avoid brown tips on the leaves?
A humidity of 50 to 70 percent is optimal for plants to avoid brown leaf tips on green plants. To achieve this, you have to do something about it, because our climate does not always provide the air with such humidity, especially when we talk about indoors. What can you do to humidify the air?
What to do about dried leaf tips?
Humidify the air or plants
Something you can do right away is spray the plant. Then make this a routine and continue to provide the leaves with regular moisture in the future. It is best to use boiled water for this, but let it cool down first. Daily spraying is a wonderful idea in winter to combat dry heating air. In this case, it is even advisable not to turn off the heating. The additional heat creates a climate similar to that which tropical plants are used to.
If you don't have the time or tend to forget to regularly moisten your houseplants to prevent brown leaf tips, you can also set up a humidifier near the plants instead. Alternatively, a few bowls of water are also suitable. This water evaporates and in this way increases the humidity.
Danger: Dryness is not always the cause when leaf tips turn brown. For succulents, for example, this could be a result oftoo much moistureand low temperatures. In this case, you should not increase the humidity, but rather change the location: dry, bright and warm. The leaves of the orchid also turn brown when waterlogged. In garden plants, dry tips can indicate, among other things, frost damage.
Cut off brown leaf tips
Even if you have now optimized your needs and are providing your plants with the right amount of moisture, the brown tips on the leaves may still visually bother you. Wondering if you can trim brown tips off leaves? You can actually take this step, but there are a few things you should keep in mind:
- The dry areas that need to be cut off should not be too large.
- Only cut off what is necessary! The more you cut, the larger the wounds the plant will then have to heal. And that takes a lot of energy from her.
- When cutting, leave a narrow, brown edge. If you cut directly into the green, you will cause new wounds, where brown edges can form again.
- Instead of cutting the tip straight, you can try to mimic the natural shape of the leaf so that the cut is not as noticeable afterwards.
- Use appropriate scissors when cutting brown leaf tips! This should be sharp so as not to cause unnecessary injuries.
- Above all, clean and disinfect the scissors to avoid transmitting diseases. Alcohol works well.
- If you cut the tips of several plants, disinfect again after each plant.
Brown leaf tips on houseplants – which plants are prone to this?
As already mentioned, palm species in particular tend to have brown leaf tips. But other species can also suffer from drought or other problems. The following plants are often affected and should therefore be provided with sufficient moisture:
- Avocado
- Calathea
- Drachenbaum
- Single sheet
- Ficus
- spider plant
- Cherry laurel gets brown leaf tips when damaged by frost
- Monstera
- Oleander
- Olive tree
