Why Plant Leaves Get Brown Tips.

Why are the tips of the leaves on my plants turning brown?

Hi Suzie,

There are several reasons why plants, like spider plants and dracaenas, get brown tips on their leaves.

There may be too many chemicals, like chlorine and fluorine, in the household water you use to water your plants. Fluorine is, especially harmful to Dracaena plants.

Never use water that has passed through a water softener. The water is too  salty and causes the same browning problems on the leaves.

Too much plant food is another cause of brown leaf tips. If  you over-fertilize, the excess salt in the plant food remains in the soil, damaging the roots and burning  the leaves. I recommend always diluting your plant food to 1/2 the recommended strength and never feeding a plant that is not actively growing. Most houseplants rest during the winter and do not need to be fed.