Mend Petal

Houseplant problem fixer & holiday plant care

Brown tips checker

Brown tips on plant leaves

Most often dry air: Iowa State Extension calls low humidity the most likely cause, especially in winter with the heating on. The rest come from letting the plant dry out too long, fertiliser salts in the compost, fluoride in tap water (for spider plants, dracaenas, ti plants, prayer plants and calatheas), strong sun, and cold or hot draughts.

Tell us about the plant

Each answer moves a cause up or down the chart. Not sure about the crust? Look at the rim of the pot.

Where is the brown?
About the plant

Patient chart

Likely causes

Symptoms
brown, crispy tips
Conditions
Spider plant, dracaena, ti plant, prayer plant or calathea · Tap water · No · Rarely or never · Near a radiator or heater · Just damp · Cold months, heating on
  1. Dry air (low humidity)Most likelyWatch and adjust

    Low humidity is the most likely cause of brown, crispy tips and edges, especially in winter: heating and air conditioning can hold indoor humidity at only 10 to 15%.

    Why it fits: brown, crispy tips; near a radiator or heater; cold months, heating on.

    How to confirm

    • Look at where it stands: Crisp brown tips and edges in a heated room, worse near a radiator; buds and flowers may drop early too.

    Fix it

    1. Raise the humidity: group plants together, stand them on trays of damp pebbles, or use a humidifier (NC State finds a humidifier works best and misting is not useful).
    2. Move it away from radiators and heater vents.
    3. Trim brown tips with clean scissors if you like, leaving a thin brown edge rather than cutting into green.

    Sources: Iowa State, brown tips; RHS, poorly houseplant; NC State, Gardener Handbook ch. 18; Missouri Botanical Garden, brown tips FAQ; RHS, indoor palms

  2. Fluoride in tap water (sensitive plants)Also likelyWatch and adjust

    Fluoride in tap water browns the tips of a few sensitive plants, named as spider plant, dracaena, ti plant, prayer plant and calathea.

    Why it fits: brown, crispy tips; spider plant, dracaena, ti plant, prayer plant or calathea; tap water.

    How to confirm

    • Think back: A sensitive plant, watered from the tap, with brown tips even though humidity and watering are fine.
    • Look at the soil surface and pot rim: Lots of white perlite grains in the potting mix (perlite contains some fluoride).

    Fix it

    1. Water sensitive plants with rainwater or distilled water. Letting tap water stand overnight removes chlorine, not fluoride.
    2. Leave perlite out of the potting mix when you repot them.
    3. Browned tips will not recover: trim them, leaving a thin brown edge.

    Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden, watering; Iowa State, brown tips; NC State, Gardener Handbook ch. 18; Clemson HGIC 1504; RHS, spider plants

  3. Draughts, cold glass or a heat sourceAlso likelyAct this week

    Cold draughts from doors and windows, hot air from heaters and frigid air on the way home from the shop make leaves yellow, dry at the edges and drop.

    Why it fits: brown, crispy tips; near a radiator or heater; cold months, heating on.

    How to confirm

    • Look at where it stands: By an outside door, a heater vent or radiator, against cold glass, or behind curtains on cold nights.

    Fix it

    1. Move it into the room, about 15 cm (6 in) from the window, and keep its leaves off cold panes.
    2. Do not trap windowsill plants between glass and curtains on cold nights; keep them away from radiators and heater vents.
    3. In winter, wrap or bag new plants for the trip home.

    Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden, environmental problems; RHS, poorly houseplant; NC State, Gardener Handbook ch. 18; Missouri Botanical Garden, watering; Iowa State, environmental problems

  4. Underwatering: the root ball drying outPossibleAct this week

    On a plant left too dry, the older leaves at the base yellow and fall first, with wilting and crisp edges.

    Why it fits: brown, crispy tips; near a radiator or heater.

    How to confirm

    • Finger test: Very dry a few centimetres down.
    • Lift the pot: The pot is light; water runs straight out of the hole because the root ball has shrunk from the pot's sides.

    Fix it

    1. Soak it: stand the pot about halfway deep in a sink or bucket of warm tap water for an hour or two, then let it drain.
    2. From then on, check with your finger and water when the plant needs it, not on a schedule.
    3. When you water, wet the whole root ball until water runs out of the bottom.

    Sources: RHS, poorly houseplant; Clemson HGIC 2251; Missouri Botanical Garden, environmental problems; Maryland Extension, winter problems; Maryland Extension, watering

  5. Pot-bound: roots fill the potPossibleWatch and adjust

    A pot-bound plant has filled its pot with roots, so there is too little compost to hold water: it wilts often but perks up after watering.

    Why it fits: brown, crispy tips.

    How to confirm

    • Think back: It wilts again within days of each watering, and it has not been repotted for years.
    • Slip it out of the pot: A dense mat of roots holding the shape of the pot, or roots growing out of the drainage hole.

    Fix it

    1. Repot one size up, about 5 cm (2 in) wider, giving it 2.5 cm (1 in) of fresh compost all round.
    2. Tease circling roots apart before you set it in the new pot.

    Sources: Clemson HGIC 2251; NC State, Gardener Handbook ch. 18; Missouri Botanical Garden, environmental problems; Penn State, diagnosing

Checks to do, in this order

  1. Finger test. Push a finger into the compost. If it is very dry a few centimetres down, the plant needs water (RHS); if you have to probe about an inch (2.5 cm) before you feel moisture, it is time to water most plants (Missouri Botanical Garden). Confirms or rules out: Underwatering: the root ball drying out.
  2. Lift the pot. A pot of dry compost feels much lighter than one just watered; learn the weight of yours after watering (Missouri Botanical Garden). Confirms or rules out: Underwatering: the root ball drying out.
  3. Look at the soil surface and pot rim. A hard white-grey crust is salt build-up; soft white or grey fuzz is mould on wet compost (Clemson HGIC 2251, Maryland Extension). Confirms or rules out: Fluoride in tap water (sensitive plants).
  4. Look at where it stands. How far from the window, whether sun falls on the leaves, and whether a radiator, heater vent, outside door or cold glass is close by (RHS, Missouri Botanical Garden). Confirms or rules out: Dry air (low humidity); Draughts, cold glass or a heat source.
  5. Think back. Was it repotted, moved, bought or brought in recently? When was it last fed? Tap water or rainwater? Confirms or rules out: Fluoride in tap water (sensitive plants); Pot-bound: roots fill the pot.
  6. Slip it out of the pot. Hold the plant, turn the pot over and tap the rim on a table edge (NC State). Healthy roots are white or light-coloured and firm; rotted roots are brown or black and soft, and may smell (UC IPM, Maryland Extension, NC State). Confirms or rules out: Pot-bound: roots fill the pot.

When to give up and take a cutting

If most of the roots are dark, soft and dead, or the stem has rotted at soil level, the plant is better discarded than nursed (Clemson, UC IPM). Before it goes, take stem cuttings from healthy growth only, firm and free of pests and disease, and root them in fresh, sterile potting mix in a clean pot (Maryland Extension, RHS, Clemson).

Sources: Clemson HGIC 2251; UC IPM, Houseplant Problems; Maryland Extension, root rots; Maryland Extension, diagnose; RHS, houseplant cuttings; Clemson HGIC 2252

Read the leaf

Brown tips are dead tissue, and they do not turn green again. Where the brown sits, and what the plant is, narrows the cause before you change anything.

Tips onlyDry air; fluoride in sensitive plants
Edges and tipsFertiliser salts; drying out too long
Patch in the middleSun scorch; overwatering (RHS)
TrimmedCut leaving a thin brown edge (NC State)
Where the brown sits is the first clue. Overwatering more often browns the middle of the leaf than the tips, the RHS notes; dry air and fluoride brown the very tips.

The causes, in the order to rule them out

1. Dry air

Iowa State names low humidity as the most likely cause of brown tips and edges, and the RHS says dry air is a common problem over winter when the heating is on, often with buds and flowers dropping early too. NC State notes that heating and air conditioning can hold indoor humidity at only 10 to 15%. Fix: group plants together, stand them on trays of damp pebbles, or run a humidifier, and move them away from radiators. Sources differ on misting: the RHS lists regular misting for humidity-loving plants, while NC State finds it raises humidity only briefly and rates a humidifier best.

2. Watering

Iowa State says inconsistent watering, especially letting a plant dry out too long between waterings, browns tips and edges. The RHS says brown tips may mean over- or, more likely, underwatering, and suggests checking the roots to tell. Fix: water thoroughly when the top few centimetres feel dry, rather than in sips or on a schedule.

3. Fertiliser salts

Fertiliser and hard-water minerals collect in the compost, and Clemson describes the sign: a white to grey crust on the soil surface or pot rim. Fix: scrape off the crust, then leach the pot by pouring through at least twice its volume of water and letting it drain completely (University of Maryland Extension). At every watering, tip away what drains into the saucer after 10 to 15 minutes, flush once or twice a year, and repot every one to three years (Missouri Botanical Garden).

4. Fluoride in tap water

A few plants are sensitive to the fluoride in tap water: Missouri Botanical Garden names spider plants and dracaenas, and Iowa State adds ti plant, prayer plant and calathea. Letting water stand overnight lets chlorine escape but does not remove fluoride, and perlite in the potting mix contains some fluoride too (Missouri Botanical Garden, NC State). Fix: water sensitive plants with rainwater, distilled water or water from a dehumidifier, and leave perlite out when you repot. For dracaenas, Clemson also advises keeping the compost pH at 6.0 to 6.5. Damaged leaves will not recover, but new ones will grow clean.

5. Sun, heat and cold

Strong, direct sun through a south-facing window in summer scorches brown patches (RHS), and UC IPM lists heat through a window and draughty spots among the causes of brown tips. The RHS adds that radiators scorch leaves and draughts dry leaf edges. Fix: move the plant out of direct summer sun, away from heaters, and about 15 cm (6 in) in from cold glass (NC State).

Should you cut the brown tips off?

You can, for looks. NC State suggests that if less than a third of a leaf is damaged, you trim off all but a slight amount of the dead tip, which stops it dying back further. The RHS gives the same advice for palms: do not cut into the green part; leave a narrow brown margin. Iowa State’s caution applies: trimming only improves appearance, and new browning follows if the cause is not fixed.

A worked example: a spider plant by the radiator

The chart above starts with a spider plant with brown tips, watered from the tap, fed rarely, no crust on the pot, standing near a radiator in the heating season. Dry air comes out first and fluoride a close second, because spider plants are among the sensitive species and the water comes from the tap. Draughts and heat come next for the radiator.

Fix the easy one first: move it away from the radiator and group it with other plants or stand it on damp pebbles. Switch to rainwater at the same time. Old tips stay brown, so judge by the new leaves over the following weeks; if they still brown in moist air with rainwater, flush the compost and look at the roots.

Common mistakes

  • Cutting into green tissue when trimming: NC State and the RHS both say to leave a thin brown edge.
  • Leaving tap water to stand to get rid of fluoride. It removes chlorine, not fluoride (Missouri Botanical Garden).
  • Flushing the pot but leaving it standing in the run-off, so the salts soak straight back up.
  • Feeding more to “perk it up”, which adds to the salt build-up UC IPM lists as a cause.

General information from the extension and botanic-garden pages listed below, not professional advice.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my plant have brown tips on its leaves?

Most often dry air, especially with the heating on (Iowa State). Other causes are letting it dry out too long, fertiliser salts, fluoride in tap water for sensitive plants, strong sun and draughts.

Why does my spider plant have brown tips?

Spider plants are sensitive to fluoride in tap water, and the RHS suggests watering them with collected rainwater. Dry air and irregular watering brown their tips too, so raise the humidity at the same time.

Should I cut off brown leaf tips?

Yes, if you like: trim off the dead part but leave a thin brown edge rather than cutting into green tissue (NC State, RHS). It is cosmetic, so fix the cause as well.

Will brown tips turn green again?

No. Missouri Botanical Garden says damaged leaves will not recover. New leaves will grow without brown tips once the cause is fixed.

How do I flush salts out of the compost?

Scrape off any crust, then pour at least twice the pot’s volume of water through the compost in a sink and let it drain completely (University of Maryland Extension). Do it once or twice a year.

Sources

All opened and checked on 3 November 2026.

  1. Why does my houseplant have brown leaf tips and edges?. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, updated 3 February 2026.
  2. How to help a poorly houseplant. Royal Horticultural Society.
  3. Leaf damage on houseplants. Royal Horticultural Society.
  4. How to grow spider plants. Royal Horticultural Society.
  5. Palms indoors. Royal Horticultural Society.
  6. Extension Gardener Handbook, chapter 18: Plants Grown in Containers. NC State Extension, 1 February 2022.
  7. Why does my indoor plant have leaves with brown tips?. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  8. How to Water Indoor Plants. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  9. Environmental Problems of Indoor Plants. Missouri Botanical Garden.
  10. Houseplant Diseases & Disorders (HGIC 2251). Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, updated 28 February 2025.
  11. Dracaena (HGIC 1504). Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, published 16 March 1999.
  12. Watering Indoor Plants. University of Maryland Extension, updated 10 March 2023.
  13. Pest Notes: Houseplant Problems (Publication 74172). UC Statewide IPM Program, University of California, updated August 2020.
  14. Diagnosing Houseplant Problems from Improper Environmental Conditions. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, reviewed January 2024.