Brown Leaf Edges on Houseplants (5703)

If the leaves are just getting brown around the edges and there are no other symptoms, chances are they are just reacting to the low humidity levels we experience indoors in the winter. When you begin heating your home in the winter, the humidity drops quite dramatically. Houseplant foliage sometimes respond to this drop in humidity by turning brown starting from the tips of the leaves. Once they get used to the new humidity levels, they normally settle, albeit more dismally, into winter like the rest of us. A simple approach to raising the humidity level for your plant is to keep it watered when it feels dry. Set the plant on a tray of pebbles and keep a small amount of water in the tray, remembering that the pot should not be immersed in the water itself. Another idea you could try is grouping your houseplants together, provided you have an appropriate space. For houseplants that require more humidity, you could try using a terrarium. I have a small collection of miniature African violets and in the winter or when I am on vacation, I use the plastic containers that cakes come in from the grocery store to place the plants. They are grateful for the humidity and I am grateful that I do not have to check them for watering every day!

For more information, please see this Penn State Fact Sheet

Penn State Horticulture Department

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

Feel free to forward, post or reprint any of the "Solutions" in their entirely, but please credit http://www.solutions.psu.edu/ as the original source of information, and please do not change the content.