Many indoor gardeners ask why does my plant leaves have brown tips, nothing upsets us more than this happening to our houseplants. We thrive to keep them a beautiful green, so let us see if we can solve this mystery for indoor gardeners.
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What Causes Brown Tips On Plant Leaves
The first thing we need to know is what is causing these brown leave tips, what I found out was it is from inconsistent watering or allowing your plant to dry out too long between watering.
What To Do
Check the soil moisture, and slowly reducing the number of days in between watering is the key to solving this problem.
What Gizmo does is uses an inexpensive moisture meter to monitor my plants, You can purchase these online at stores such as Amazon and Walmart without spending much at all, another place to check is your local gardening centers.
Dehydrated Houseplant Signs
- Dry soil
- Your flower pot will feel extremely light in weight
- The plant is drooping
- Plant leaves are dropping from the plant
- Wrinkled plant leaves
- The leaf tips are browning.
- Slow or no plant growth
- The plant appears to be unhealthy
If you are noticing any of the signs above, you possibly have a dehydrated houseplant on your hands. Making it a habit to check them weekly is my plant care routine, once again to make your life easier consider a moisture meter. Since using this inexpensive garden tool, I have not lost any more plants due to improper watering.
Water Preparation
Preparing your water ahead of time is another tip and trick you really should try, I fill a gallon jug up with the lid off for 24 hours or longer. This allows the chemicals to evaporate from your tap water, and room-temperature water prevents shock to your houseplants.
Distilled water can be used instead if this appeals to you more, but for someone with a large collection of plants like me, this can be extremely expensive. Since I am on a fixed income in retirement, preparing my water ahead of time has saved me money.
Browse Gizmos Home n Garden Guides
The link above will take you to my website page with all of my home n garden guides, so by including this for you, I am saving you the time searching on your own. If you lack the time right now that is fine, but if you do have the time, just click on the link to browse all of my home n garden guides.
Houseplant Watering Guide
Now that we understand why our plant leave tips are turning brown, we need to learn how to water them the most effectively. That is what you can find out in this section, so let us see how to water your houseplants the best next.
- Check your houseplants weekly with a moisture meter for the most accurate method, no more guessing with this inexpensive garden gadget.
- Watering your houseplants in the morning is the best time whenever possible.
- Rainwater is always your best choice for your plants, but collecting rainwater isn’t always an option for everyone. Bottled spring water is your next best option, and as I do, using tap water allowed to sit out for at least 24 hours works well for all of my houseplants.
- Always use room-temperature water to avoid damaging your precious plants, this can put your plants into shock and even cause serious complications if done regularly.
- The Readers Digest suggests you can use two large ice cubes placed at the base of your plant as a watering method, Gizmo has never tried this himself, so you are on your own if you go with this method.
With this watering guide, you might have learned something new. If what you have read so far has been helpful, please share this article with your family and your friends. Even better, maybe post it on your social media to spread the word faster.
Growing Plants In Water
Many beginners struggle with watering houseplants, we more often overwater them than underwater them. One way to get around this problem is to choose plants that you can grow in water, no more double guessing with this type of indoor gardening. Below I have listed the best choices for beginners, if this was something you liked me sharing let me know in my comments section.
- Peace lily
- Lucky Bamboo
- Pothos
- Flamingo flower
- Velvet leaf philondenron
- Satin pothos
- Chinese evergreen
- Swiss cheese vine
- Heartleaf philodendron
- Mini monstera
- Arrowhead plant
- Inch plant
- Spider plant
- Prayer plant
- Geranium
- Begonia
- Sweet potato vine
Why I included this to encourage people to give this a try, no more frustration or losing your houseplants from over or underwatering again. This is something I plan to add to my own plant collection one day, I just have never had the time to really start this type of indoor garden at this time.
Shop For Flowers n Houseplants
Since flower and houseplant lovers are more likely to read “Why Does My Plant Leaves Have Brown Tips”, I included a link to the Flowers n Houseplants online store. You can take advantage of this opportunity or pass it up, no matter what you decide is fine with Gizmo.
How To Get Started
You might not be sure just how to get started growing a cutting from one of your plants in water, so to get you on the right track, I am including this step-by-step guide. This will help you understand the process more clearly I am sure, so if you are interested in this type of indoor gardening here is how to get started.
- Carefully cut just below the node with a clean sharp knife or scissors. About 1/4″ below the node.
- Place the cutting in a clean glass. Poor enough room temperature water to cover the nodes of the cutting.
- Change the water every 3-5 days with fresh room-temperature water.
- Wait and watch as your roots grow! This can take weeks to months depending on the plant.
- Once your roots reach approximately 3″-5″ then it’s time to put the cutting in the soil if you desire to.
This method is for anyone already with one of the plants on the list above, why purchase another plant when you can use your existing one to get started with growing plants more houseplants?
Best Houseplants For Beginners
For anyone just starting an indoor garden, you want to choose the easiest plants to grow indoors. That is what this paragraph is going to help you with, I don’t want you to start out with more difficult plants and become discouraged.
- Succulents are extremely easy to grow and care for, they can go weeks even an entire month without water and still survive. This would be my recommended type for beginners, you can find a ton of very unique and interesting ones to choose from.
- Snake plant is my next recommendation, you will find this one is almost impossible not to experience success. My mother grows this plant in her apartment kitchen with just the kitchen light, so that should give you an idea of how easy this is to grow.
- Monstera cheese plant also grows in low light conditions, a very good choice for people living in apartments.
- Pothos are super easy to grow without any fuss, they do love water so check them regularly for the best results. Even if you neglect them, if you happen to see them turning yellow just give them a drink and they will most often perk right up for you.
- The philodendron is next on my list, similar to the pothos, this plant is super easy to grow. Thrives in low light without a problem, another one I highly recommend for new indoor gardeners.
- ZZ plant will not let you down, this one is even easier to grow than the others mentioned so far. You can go as long as two to three weeks without watering this houseplant.
- Air plants are one of my favorites as well, you don’t even need to plant them in soil or water to grow. You just spray them with water generously weekly, many gardeners actually soak these under water every week. I just spray mine until they are soaking wet, and you can just place them on aquarium gravel in a pot as a home decor decoration.
Now you know several easy-to-grow houseplants for beginners, there are even more to choose from. These will get you started to experience success, once you gain confidence you can add other plants to your collection later on.
Indoor Gardening Book Deals
For anyone interested in indoor gardening book deals, you can use the link above to browse what I have found for you. If books are not your preferred method of learning, that is quite alright. Just pass this up for what I have for you in my next paragraph, so it’s totally up to you what you do next.
Gardening Resources
Resources and information are the priority of this website, I always conclude my guides with resources related to the topic you are reading about. If you have any tips and tricks of your own, feel free to share them in my comments section for us all to learn from your experience.
- How to Care for Air Plants
- Find a Garden Club Near You
- Discount Home n Gardening Magazines
- Deals n Steals
- Great Gardens n Ideas
I am sure you have learned something brand new from reading “Why Does My Plant Leaves Have Brown Tips”, you will find many other categories on my website that might assist you with the solutions to problems that you are facing right now. Come back again whenever you are in the mood, I am always more than happy to hear from my readers in my comments.