Brown leaf tips and edges
Brown, crispy tips or edges are one of the easiest symptoms to misread, because dry air, uneven watering, fertilizer salt buildup, damaged roots, and too much direct sun can all end in dead brown tissue.
The shape of the damage helps. A tiny crispy point at the very tip with the rest of the leaf green usually points to the water and root environment rather than an emergency. A brown patch only on the window-facing side points more to light damage. Brown tips together with yellow leaves and wet soil point back to root stress — do not just add water.
General beginner information only — not a substitute for advice from your local agricultural extension service. For edible plants, use only a product that is labelled for that particular edible crop, for indoor use, and follow any harvest interval on its label; try non-chemical steps first, and never use a product that is not labelled for indoor use on that plant.
Checklist to diagnose
- Is the damage a small crispy tip, a dry edge, or a patch on one side of the leaf?
- Is there a white crust on the soil surface, the pot rim, or the drainage holes?
- Is the mix dry, wet, or unevenly moist, and has watering been irregular?
- Does the plant sit in hot, dry airflow, near a heater vent, or in strong direct sun through glass?
- Has it been fed recently, and if so, at what rate relative to the product label?
Rescue steps
- Trim only the dead brown tissue with clean scissors, leaving a thin margin of brown so you do not cut into healthy leaf; the brown part will not turn green again.
- If a white salt crust is present, flush the pot with plain water until water runs freely from the drainage holes, empty the saucer, and hold off feeding until new growth looks healthy.
- Even out watering: check the mix before watering rather than watering on a fixed calendar day, and keep the plant out of hot, dry draughts.
- If only the window-facing side is damaged, pull the plant back from the glass or filter the light with a sheer curtain, and move it to brighter light gradually if it needs more light overall.
- Do not feed a plant with brown tips to 'fix' it; fertilizer salts are one of the causes, not the cure.
When to give up
- Browning keeps advancing into healthy leaf and stems after water, salts, and light have been corrected.
- The plant has lost most of its foliage and shows no new growth despite steady care.
Plants on this site
This page gives general indoor advice: it applies to indoor-grown plants generally and is not a claim about any particular plant on this site.