Why Plant Leaves Get Brown Tips: 6 Causes and Fixes
Leaf tips that dry out and turn brown usually point to humidity, watering, tap water or fertiliser. How to find the cause and fix it.
Brown, crispy tips — rather than whole brown leaves — are one of the most common houseplant problems. They don't mean the plant is dying, but something in its environment isn't right. Work through the causes one by one.
1. The air is too dry
This is the most common cause. Rainforest plants such as calathea, peace lily and areca palm like 50% humidity or more, but heating and air conditioning can drop indoor humidity below 30%. A humidifier or grouping plants together raises it; misting the leaves only helps for a few minutes.
2. Watering is too little or too irregular
When soil stays bone dry for long, water can't reach the tips and they dry first. Swinging between bone dry and soaking wet damages roots and causes the same symptom.
3. Overwatering has damaged the roots
Rotting roots can't take up water, so tips dry out even in wet soil. If the soil is always damp and lower leaves are yellowing, suspect overwatering.
4. The plant is sensitive to tap water
Dracaena, spider plants and calathea are sensitive to chemicals in tap water such as chlorine and fluoride, which burn the leaf tips. Let tap water stand for a day before using it, and switch to filtered water or rainwater if the problem continues.
5. Too much fertiliser
Frequent feeding builds up salts in the soil that draw water away from the roots and scorch the tips and edges. A white crust on the soil or pot rim is the giveaway. Slowly run two to three times the pot's volume of water through the soil to flush it, and pause feeding for a while.
6. Cold draughts or hot air
Draughts from window gaps and air blowing straight from heaters or air conditioners dry out the tips first. Move the plant out of the airflow.
What to do with tips that are already brown
Brown tissue won't turn green again. If it bothers you, trim it with clean scissors, following the natural shape of the leaf. Leave a thin sliver of brown so you don't cut into healthy tissue. Once the cause is fixed, new leaves will grow in clean.
If whole leaves are turning yellow rather than just the tips, the cause may be different — see our guide to why plant leaves turn yellow.