With virtually 200 tropical species of dracaena, there’s every kind of colors, foliage patterns, and progress habits to pick out from. Nevertheless most dracaena crops have one think about widespread: improper care or less-than-ideal conditions could trigger that beautiful foliage to indicate brown and unattractive.
Here’s what to do about brown dracaena leaves—plus why they happen, the best way to decrease them off, and the best way to carry them from coming once more.
Meet the Educated
Alexandra Jones has been an avid gardener for 13 years. She earned her Penn State Grasp Gardener certification in 2019.
7 Causes Why Your Dracaena Leaves Are Brown + The way in which to Restore
Low Humidity
If solely the data of your dracaena’s leaves are brown, there’s a good chance your plant is struggling as a consequence of lack of humidity. Dracaenas favor humidity ranges between 50% and 60%, which is considerably a lot much less dry than most indoor air.
You probably can deal with the problem by grouping your dracaena plant together with totally different humidity-loving houseplants to create a additional humid microclimate or by working a small humidifier near your plant.
Too Loads Daylight
Dracaenas develop biggest with vivid, indirect mild. If the sunshine provide is simply too sturdy or direct daylight is hitting your plant’s leaves, the foliage might develop to be sunburned. This appears to be like dry, brown patches on leaves, significantly if there was a sudden shift to harsh, sunny conditions.
You probably cannot reverse sunburned leaves, nonetheless you’ll switch your plant to a spot out of direct daylight and take away the damaged areas. Consider using a sheer curtain to filter daylight in very vivid, sunny rooms.
Chilly Temperatures
Sudden chilly drafts or publicity to temperatures beneath 50°F or so can harm the leaves of your dracaena plant. Preserve crops away from chilly, drafty dwelling home windows and doorways or air-con vents. Foliage that’s been damaged as a consequence of chilly can’t be saved, so your biggest wager is eradicating the brown leaves and defending your plant from sudden environmental shifts going forward.
Underwatering
Drought conditions could trigger dracaena leaves to indicate brown, wilted, and crispy. Dracaena crops require persistently moist soil, so an prolonged interval of neglect can result in leaf harm and even leaf loss.
To rescue an underwatered dracaena plant, give it a deep bottom watering to revive soil moisture and trim away any brown leaves. Going forward, take a look at the soil moisture weekly and water when the soil flooring has merely begun to dry out.
Buildup of Salts
Dracaena crops will likely be delicate to faucet water parts like fluoride. Salts can also assemble up throughout the soil over time as you fertilize your plant. These factors could trigger brown solutions, margins, or spots on dracaena plant leaves.
You need to make the most of a reverse osmosis water filter to remove fluoride out of your water present, or water your houseplants with rainwater. Flush crops with water each month with 3 occasions the amount of the plant’s container to help take away salts constructed up throughout the soil.
Leaf Spot Sickness
Overly moist conditions, significantly throughout the coronary heart of a dracaena’s foliage, could trigger a plant sickness known as fusarium leaf spot. Indicators embrace dry, brown or tan patches surrounded by yellow areas. In excessive circumstances, the problem can progress into stem rot. To forestall this, water the soil straight comparatively than getting your dracaena’s foliage moist. Cope with infections with an pure fungicide.
Pure Leaf Getting previous
Evidently your whole dracaena’s leaves will naturally flip brown as they age sooner than dropping off the plant. One or two brown leaves on an in some other case healthful plant is nothing to stress about. If you want, you’ll snip them off with sterilized pruners to keep up your plant attempting its biggest.
Must You Decrease Off Brown Dracaena Leaves?
Regardless of the set off, it’s a good suggestion to trim away dracaena leaves which have turned brown. Doing this permits your plant to dedicate its energy to healthful foliage and helps to promote regrowth. Your plant could even look extra wholesome and further participating after you could have eradicated damaged, brown leaves.
If solely your dracaena’s leaf solutions are brown, nonetheless, there is no such thing as a have to remove the entire leaf. Instead, you’ll merely snip away the brown portion, positioning your cuts so that the tip of the leaf has a pure V kind. However, when you don’t deal with the reason behind the brown solutions, they will maintain coming once more.
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Dracaena Care Concepts
- In chilly, dry climates, your dracaena plant will revenue from a humidifier working shut by, considerably in winter.
- Save important pruning for spring or summer season, when the plant is actively rising and may be able to regrow additional quickly.
- In case your plant has develop to be very leggy or spindly, you’ll decrease off the stem tip, dip the decrease end in rooting hormone powder, and plant it in a small container to propagate a model new, healthful plant.