Another common cause of dark leaf tips is a fungus. It’s possible that your air plant is getting too much sun. While they prefer being in filtered sunlight, if they are exposed to direct sunlight all day, your plant may become sunburned and turn brown.
What do you do when air plants turn brown?
The leaves of a healthy air plant should be green to gray in color. The plant should stay intact when you lift it up. In other words, leaves should not fall from a healthy air plant.
There are various methods for reviving a plant. Here are the steps I take to restore the health of my air plants.
Give the Air Plant an Overnight Soak
When I’m trying to revive an air plant, the first thing I do is water it. Remember that just because air plants don’t need soil doesn’t imply they don’t need water. Water is vital to air plants, just as it is to all other living things!
Because air plants lack a root system, they must absorb moisture and that all-important water through their leaves rather than through their roots. I’ve heard too many times from garden centers that spritzing air plants with water a few times a week is a good idea. This, in my opinion, is insufficient water and will leave the plant thirsty. Unfortunately, if this continues for long enough, the air plant will die!
How Long Should I Soak my Air Plant?
I give my air plants an hour-long bath to ensure that they get enough water. I do this weekly throughout the summer and every three weeks or so during the winter. Because I live in the rainforest, I prefer to collect rainwater. However, you can also use tap water! To allow the chlorine to evaporate, simply leave the water out for 24 hours.
After that, just remove the air plant from its container and place it in a bowl of water. The bowl should be large enough for the plant to completely submerge. Leave it in the bath for about an hour before removing it. To make sure the water isn’t accumulating in your air plant’s leaves, gently shake it upside down. After that, return the plant to its original location. It’s that simple!
Make Sure Your Air Plant has Air!
Although it may seem self-evident, your air plant requires oxygen to survive. There are a lot of pictures moving around of air plants in a sealed container that make me laugh Because the plant can’t thrive in that kind of environment!
The solution is simple: keep your adorable jar terrarium, but leave the lid cracked or open to allow air to move freely.
Remove Dead Leaves
Remove any dead leaves from a sick air plant by gently tugging at them and seeing whether they fall off. They’re dead if they’re easy to remove. If the entire plant falls apart as a result of this, you’ve got a dead air plant that has regrettably died.
If only a few leaves fall off and the internal leaves are still green and healthy, your air plant will survive with appropriate care!
Look at the Tips of Your Air Plant
If your air plant’s tips are going brown, use rainfall or unchlorinated water as indicated above. If your plants are becoming brown despite not receiving chlorine, they may not be getting enough water.
After an overnight bath, make sure you’re bathing them more frequently.
What if my Air Plant Falls Apart?
You’ve got a dead air plant on your hands if your green air plant starts to fall apart. This most likely happened because you sat in standing water for too long, or you didn’t shake it off correctly after bathing.
Reread the section about watering, and you’ll have a much easier time with the next one!
How do you bring an air plant back to life?
Why are my air plants dying so frequently? If your Tillandsia isn’t looking its best, especially if it’s shriveled or discolored, it’s likely that the plant is dehydrated. Although spritzing the plant is frequently recommended, it rarely provides enough moisture to keep it healthy and hydrated.
If this is the case, reviving a Tillandsia entails getting the plant back to a healthy, well-hydrated state. The best way to do this is to immerse the entire plant in lukewarm water in a bowl or bucket. To keep the plant from floating to the surface of the water, you may need to attach it to a hefty item.
Allow the bowl to soak for 12 hours in a warm location. Remove the plant from the bowl, place it on a layer of paper towels, and let it air dry before putting it back in its position.
If the plant remains dry and sickly, repeat the method, but just submerge the Tillandsia for around four hours this time. Shake the plant lightly upside-down to remove excess moisture from the leaves.
Why is my air plant getting brown spots?
Too much light or too much water may be the reason of your air plant’s yellowing. When a plant turns yellow, it is signaling that it needs assistance. Reduce your watering and, if your plant is in direct sunlight, transfer it to a more shady location. Overfertilization or copper poisoning can also induce yellowing. Cold temperatures can also cause the plant to become yellow, which will happen before it becomes mushy and dies.
Brown spots can be caused by a variety of factors. One of the most prevalent causes is overexposure to sunlight, which causes the plant to become sunburned. If the plant is damp and exposed to too much direct sunshine, this can be increased. Excess fertilization is another cause of brown patches. Fertilizer has the potential to burn the leaves of your air plant. Brown patches can also be caused by a pest or by the plant becoming stressed during transport, especially if your area is chilly. Finally, brown spots can indicate the onset of fungus or mold, such as brown leaf spot disease. If this is the case, spot treating with a fungicide developed for roses may be an option. This type of fungicide will be copper-free and sulfur-free.
When an air plant blooms, it typically produces a pup or offset. You may see that the mother plant begins to wilt or die, which is quite natural. Some plants produce more pups and may live longer than others, while others may wither away once the pup is old enough to thrive on its own. In our post on air plant propagation, we go over pups in greater detail.
While it’s difficult to say without seeing a photo, trichomes are most likely the solution!
Trichomes are tiny cells found on the leaves of tillandsia (air plants) that help gather water and protect them from being scorched by the sun.
Some xeric kinds, such as tectorum, have an abundance of trichomes that are easily discernible, whilst other mesic types, such as bulbosa, have trichomes that are nearly undetectable.
There are various articles to learn more about trichomes, including All About Trichomes and Trichomes In Depth, which also covers the CAM process that air plants go through.
Should I cut brown tips off air plants?
Air plants should be trimmed, particularly the dead and brown leaves, to allow for the growth of new ones. Dried leaf tips, broken or ill leaves, and dead blossoms should all be removed. The plant will not be harmed if the roots are cut off. It’s also up to you to separate the air plant’s pups after they’ve reached adulthood.
Should I cut off brown leaf tips?
Is it necessary to remove dead leaves? Yes. Remove brown and dead leaves as quickly as possible from your houseplants, but only if they’re more than 50% damaged. By removing these leaves, the remaining healthy foliage receives more nutrition and the plant’s beauty improves.
What does air plant rot look like?
Detecting Rot Rot or fungus may have infected the base of your air plant, which appears brown and feels extremely soft/mushy to the touch. A rotting air plant may frequently lose leaves at its base and may begin to fall apart, or the air plant’s center may come out.
Why are my air plants rotting?
Rot usually begins as mushy purple or black areas around the plant’s base before spreading throughout. The leaves may begin to fall off quickly, or the plant’s center may fall off. An air plant that is rotting is usually an indication of too much water or humidity. Air plants thrive in arid conditions, and while they require frequent watering and enjoy air humidity levels of around 65 percent, they dislike being wet.
Depending on the species, you need only water your air plant once or twice a week. Soak your air plants in your sink for about half an hour, or until the water level is high enough to submerge them. Turn them over and let them dry for an hour or more to allow any contained moisture to drain. This is especially true of air plants in terrariums, as a lack of air circulation may trap moisture in the core, hastening the rot.
It’s also vital not to put air plants in other plants’ soil or on a pebble tray, as the frequent touch with a moist surface might induce rot.
In many circumstances, elder lower leaves of an air plant will turn dark and fall off naturally. The leaves of air plants that fall naturally will turn brown or yellow, but they will remain dry.
How often should I soak my air plant?
On our Facebook page, we get a lot of queries on how to water air plants, so I wanted to elaborate a little. While Tillandsia (also known as air plants) are easier to care for than many other plant kinds, they do require some upkeep and TLC, and water plays an important role in their overall health. Here are some of the most common questions we hear about watering air plants, along with our answers:
This is mostly determined by your climate and where you keep the air plants, as well as the Tillandsia species (learn more about mesic vs. xeric air plants here) and the type of environment in which it grows in nature. We reside in Tampa, FL, so it’s very humid here for the majority of the year, and we don’t run the heat in our house during the winter like our friends up North (I’m not trying to rub it in!). We water our plants twice a week on average, but individuals who live in drier climes will need to water more frequently. Depending on the time of year, you may discover that you need to water your plants less. It also depends on where you keep them in your house or office. A humid bathroom will keep the plants moist, but those near an air vent or heat source will need to be watered more frequently. (Please note that keeping your plants near heat sources is not recommended.)
Note that, while humidity might slow the drying process, it is not a suitable watering method in and of itself!
Again, you’ll want to adapt your watering methods based on your climate and air plant species, but we recommend soaking your plants in water at least once a week for MOST air plants and settings. You can use anything that allows you to totally submerge the air plants, such as a bowl, bucket, or your sink. Soak them for 30-60 minutes at least once a week, and every other week if you live in a dry area, give them a longer soak for an hour or more. If you live in a humid environment or have a xeric air plant, you may want to cut the soak time in half.
After bathing, make sure the air plants are completely dry. Turn them over and softly shake them, or lay them out to dry with the leaves down. Allowing water to remain in the leaves can cause the plants to decay. The plants should be placed in an area with sufficient air circulation and should be able to dry entirely in 4 hours. If your plants are housed in a globe or terrarium, ensure sure they are thoroughly dry before bringing them back home!
You’ll notice how wide and open the leaves are after soaking them, and how much more “happy” they appear. This is how a properly hydrated air plant should seem! If the color turns slightly dull and the leaves begin to close/curl over time, this is an indication that your Tillandsia is thirsty, and you should give them another soak. If your air plant is in desperate need of water, soak it for several hours or overnight to see if you can rehydrate it. Before soaking or spraying them again, make sure they have a chance to dry thoroughly.
It’s also a good idea to spray the plants in between waterings. If you live in a dry area, this might be a terrific method to keep plants healthy and offer them some additional attention. Unless you have one of the few varieties of air plants that like low moisture, such as the T. tectorum (which we only propose misting) or the T. xerographica, misting is not a substitute for a proper soak (which we recommend dunking instead of soaking).
When it comes to water, air plants aren’t picky, and most tap water is good, but it all depends on the water quality in your location. Because these waters are more nutrient-dense, the best water to use is rain water, aquarium water, or pond water (note: if using one of these waters, don’t add any additional fertilizer). If you’re using tap water, let it out for a few hours to allow the chlorine to disperse (maybe 24 hours in some areas.)
Do not use distilled water because it is too “clean” for these plants and will deprive them of the nutrients they require. Also, avoid using artificially softened water because it contains too much salt for Tillandsia.
We recommend soaking your air plants in the morning to ensure that they dry completely throughout the day, as well as because air plants utilize the evening to breathe carbon dioxide and will be unable to do so if they are wet in the evenings.
This is known as CAM, and you can learn more about it in our page on how air plants breathe. You can check on them before going to bed and put them back in their terrariums or displays if you expose them to some indirect sunlight.
These are the most frequently asked questions about watering air plants. Did we respond to your question? If you’re not sure, just ask! Are you looking for more information on how to care for air plants? Visit our Air Plant Care page for more information.
How can you tell if an air plant is overwatered?
Overwatering Overwatering kills more air plants than underwatering. Your air plant will look brown at the bottom and slimy, which is a telltale indicator. Instead of immersing or submerging your air plants in a bath, use a spray bottle. Between waterings, make sure your air plant is completely dry. Only mist your air plants 1-3 times each week. Less is more in this case. It’s critical to dry your air plant within four hours because they can become overwatered if they don’t. If your air plant doesn’t dry within 4 hours of being watered, turn on the fan and water it less the following time.
How do you save an overwatered air plant?
It’s not a good idea to overwater air plants. It is the most common cause of death. So, if you notice that their bases are darkening and the leaves are falling out from the middle, or if they have mushy roots and yellowing leaves, you must act quickly to avoid any serious harm. Here’s how to save your dying air plant from being overwatered: