Why Is My Air Plant Turning Brown

Air plant types with wispy, delicate leaves, such as T. ionantha or T. fuchsii v gracilis, are particularly prone to browning leaf tips. It is typical for mild browning to happen shortly after your plants arrive in the mail, so this doesn’t necessarily indicate that you are doing anything incorrectly. This can indicate that your air plant is becoming used to its new surroundings. Plants under stress may exhibit browning leaf tips.

If the T. fuchsii is not given enough water, its wispy leaves may turn brown.

Brown leaf tips can also be caused by another typical offender. You can be giving your air plant too much sun. While they do appreciate filtered sunlight, if they are exposed to direct sunlight all day, your plant may become sunburned and become brown.

Lack of watering your plant might also result in browning leaf tips. It’s a popular fallacy that air plants don’t require much water, if any at all. Despite being nicknamed “air plants,” they nonetheless require weekly watering. To prevent your plant from rotting, make sure to shake out any extra water after watering.

You could notice that your air plant’s base has some browning in addition to the browning of the tips. If you notice the base of your T. xerographica or T. ionantha browning, this may suggest illness such as rot or drying out from lack of water. This is entirely normal for many air plant species, such as the T. juncea or T. melonocrater tricolor.

How can a brown air plant be revived?

Why keep dying my air plants? It’s likely that your Tillandsia is really thirsty if it doesn’t appear its best, especially if it’s shriveled or discolored. Spritzing normally doesn’t give enough moisture to keep the plant healthy and hydrated, despite the fact that misting the plant is frequently advised.

When this is the case, reviving a Tillandsia entails getting the plant back to its previous condition of health and hydration. The simplest way to do this is to submerge the entire plant in lukewarm water in a bucket or basin. To prevent the plant from floating to the surface of the water, you might need to attach it to a hefty item.

Allow the bowl to soak for 12 hours in a warm place. The plant should be taken out of the bowl, laid out on a layer of paper towels, and allowed to air dry before being put back in its usual spot.

Repeat the technique, but this time leave the Tillandsia submerged for only around four hours if the plant seems dry and sickly. Shake the plant lightly while holding it upside-down to drain the leaves of extra moisture.

Should you remove air plants’ brown tips?

Like any other plant, air plants occasionally require upkeep and maintenance. Even healthy air plants require pruning; trimming is not just for sick plants.

Trim air plants, especially the brown and dead leaves so that new ones can grow. Cut off the dry leaf tips, any leaves that are damaged or ill, and any dead blooms. The plant won’t suffer if the roots are cut off. You are also responsible for removing the grown pups of the air plant.

You will learn when and how to prune your air plants after reading this article. If you are not ready, you risk over-trimming and damaging your plant.

How frequently do air plants need to be watered?

For the best care, your plants should be watered 2-3 times each week in addition to once every week. Every 2-3 weeks, a 2-hour bath should be taken. You will need to water or mist your plants more frequently if you live in a hotter, drier region. Your plant’s leaves will start to feel heavier and more wet after watering, and they will be softer and lighter in color when they require more water. Dehydration may be indicated by leaves that are wrinkled or rolled.

What do an air plant’s brown tips indicate?

Brown leaf tips or an air plant that is browning all over could indicate too much light, underwatering, excessive watering, or insufficient air circulation.

Must I remove the brown leaf tips?

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We’ve experienced our fair share of brown, decaying leaves as we’ve learned how to properly care for various home plants over the years. We weren’t sure at first whether to take them out or leave them. Here is what we’ve discovered works the best.

Do you need to remove the dead leaves? Yes. Your indoor plants should have brown and withering leaves removed as quickly as possible, but only if they are more than 50% damaged. By removing these leaves, the plant looks better and the healthy foliage that is left can receive more nutrients.

Even though it might appear straightforward, there’s more to it than merely cutting those leaves off. To keep your plant healthy, you must assess how much of the leaf is dying and then carefully remove the damaged areas.

How can I tell if I’ve overwatered my air plant?

More air plants perish from overwatering than from underwatering. The telltale indicator is when the bottom of your air plant appears brown and slimy. Instead of submerging or soaking your air plants, try misting them with a spray bottle. In between waterings, make sure your air plant has completely dried out. Only mist your air plants 1-3 times each week. Less can be more. It’s crucial to dry your air plant within four hours because they can become overwatered if they don’t. Get a fan for your air plant if it doesn’t dry after four hours of watering, and water it less the following time.

2. Insufficient air causes air plants to lack nutrients. It results in “dry rot.” There won’t be enough food if there isn’t enough air movement around air plants. Keep in mind that air plants consume nourishment. Terrariums and small, quiet locations like toilets shouldn’t be used to house air plants because there isn’t enough airflow in these areas. Instead, pick a place with lots of natural light and fresh air, such as close to an open window, in a large room with other rooms adjacent to it, in a courtyard or on a veranda. Lack of air flow can also lead to overwatering because it delays the air plants’ ability to fully dry up. The problem with air plant holders is dry rot. Your air plant may develop dry rot on the area of the plant that has poor air flow from the planter if the base is placed in a planter, such as a pot, hanger, or pouch, that has no ventilation. Before you notice the rot, it will have spread and your air plant will be dead.

3. Lack of Light – To produce their own nourishment, air plants require light. If your air plants are indoors, make sure they are one meter or less from a window. They’ll definitely perish from lack of sunshine if you put them in a dark hallway.

4. Too much direct sunlight will burn your plant or severely dry the foliage. Generally speaking, 45 minutes of moderate early morning or late afternoon direct sunshine is acceptable. However, it is advised to use filtered sunlight or total shade.

5. Frost – Because they are sensitive to the cold, air plants. They dislike temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. If you live in a chilly climate, you might want to think about bringing your air plants inside during the winter.

6. Humidity – some types of air plants like it when the humidity is high. If the leaves of your air plant are too curled, the air may be too dry for the plant. Spraying or soaking air plants in water just isn’t enough moisture if the air is too dry. Consider soaking your air plant for 30 minutes each week in addition to your regular spraying if you believe it died from low humidity. or daily spray your plant. Additionally, you can put the air plant on a piece of driftwood or any object that can hold moisture. Another choice is to make a bed using a mixture of 50% perlite and 50% orchid potting mix. Spray the mixture every time you spray your plants. Your air plants might even drop roots into the mixture since they are so content.

7. Rust – Your air plant will develop dead areas as a result. Keep your plant away from anything that is rusty. Regular wire might rust in the future. For mounting air plants, use plastic-coated or galvanized wire.

8. Copper wire is well recognized for killing air plants. Copper is poisonous to air plants, particularly when it is regularly moist.

9. It’s typical for the mother air plant to pass away. Air plants develop, blossom, give birth to pups, and then go extinct. If your air plant has already bloomed and produced pups, it’s entirely possible that she is about to die. Don’t get rid of her just yet. Before she leaves, she might surprise you by bearing even another pup.

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My air plant feels too dry.

Have you ever wanted to rip out your hair because nothing you do is making a difference and your Tillandsia are dying? All of us have been there. To pinpoint the precise nature of an issue, some experimentation is sometimes required, and corrections are required. Sometimes, things like the weather may be beyond your control. It could be advisable to simply order a different species if a specific species simply isn’t doing well where you reside. Take a deep breath, be patient, and follow our next few instructions to find the issue and remedy it if the issue is something you can address.

Is your air plant receiving enough sun? Or does it receive too much direct sunshine, which causes it to burn and dry out?

Brown spots, dried-out areas that occur on interior growth, and highly sickly splotchy leaves are all indications of sunburn. Less obvious symptoms of insufficient sunlight include falling leaves and leaves that cup inward.

Make sure your air plant is sheltered and not exposed to too much direct sunlight if it is outdoors. Try transferring it to a more protected spot or bringing it inside for the time being while it recovers its health if you have any suspicions that this might be the case. Make sure your indoor air plant has adequate access to natural sunshine or, at the very least, fluorescent lights. Consider placing your air plant close to a window. As they will receive more indirect sunlight from south or north-facing windows than from east or west, we advise keeping them there.

Let’s look at your watering schedule if you believe that the sunshine is not the issue.

Curling leaves and dry tips are indicators of insufficient watering, whereas some browning (rotting) on the plant’s base at the soil level is an indication of over watering. Check to see if any of the symptoms are present on your plant.

Give your air plant a quick soak for an hour or longer if you think it might be thirsty. Before putting your plant back where it belongs, give it time to completely dry. From there, try modifying your watering schedule to include an additional soak or some mistings.

If it’s the other way around and you determine that your plant is receiving too much water, try cutting off the mistings or extending the time between soaks. Additionally, check your air plant to make sure there isn’t any water left in the crevices inside of it. This is one of the key reasons why air plants decay. The following time you water, remove the plant and give it a gentle shake before placing it upside-down, like a cup, to allow it to dry properly. Do not put the plant back in a terrarium or other container until it is entirely dry.

Remember that the aforementioned variables may vary significantly depending on where you reside and the time of year. In general, the air will be drier and the sun will be weaker in the winter and more humid and powerful in the summer, respectively. You can use this information, together with your plant’s outward look, to guide your decision regarding the next steps to attempt and restore your air plants to health.

How does air plant rot appear?

Your air plant seemed great a few days ago. After watering it as usual, it’s now in utter disrepair after just a few days! What is going on?

Sorry to report, but damp rot may have already done damage to your little air plant. Maybe you neglected to shake the extra water off the leaves before placing them back in their spot, or you kept your plants in their bath for a little bit too long. Whatever it was, water found its way into the spaces between your plant’s leaves and base and eventually rotted it. In addition, your air plant may have dry rot, which happens when there is inadequate ventilation and the plant becomes ill. Most often, excessive watering and prolonged wet/damp periods allow fungus and harmful bacteria to establish a foothold and harm the plant.

Your air plant may have rot or fungus if the base is brown and too squishy or mushy to the touch. A decaying air plant frequently loses leaves at its base, may begin to crumble, or may even have the center of the plant come out. It might be difficult to detect inner rot because it usually doesn’t manifest itself until the plant suddenly collapses, usually starting with the interior leaves.

A few air plants, such as the melanocrater tricolor, will naturally have darker bases. Additionally, good air plants may occasionally shed a few leaves. **

The outer leaves can also develop leaf rot and other fungal problems, which are much more obvious than the inner leaves. Dark stains at the plant’s base may be the first indication of this, and they will spread over time. In this situation, it is recommended to try to remove the damaged leaves from the base of the plant in an effort to rescue the plant and halt the development of the fungus/rot.

Below are some images of a T. stricta that has some leaf damage and may have a fungus problem. There is a dark circular portion of the leaf that doesn’t appear normal, despite the fact that it’s typical for some of the leaves at the base of an air plant (Tillandsia) to dry out, become brown, and die off. In order to assist stop the spread of any potential fungus, we carefully plucked a few of the leaves near the plant’s base in this instance. The plant has been cleaned up and the damaged leaves have been removed in the image on the right. It’s acceptable if the base’s very tip shows some browning or appears callused because here is where the stem’s base will develop roots.

There are a few easy techniques to prevent rot:

  • Maintain a watering schedule and watch out for overwatering. To avoid overwatering, keep in mind that Tillandsia vary from many typical house plants in that they absorb moisture through their leaves and trichomes rather than their roots.
  • Never submerge an air plant in water for an extended period of time.
  • According to the type of Tillandsia (air plant) you have, adjust your care and watering schedule. When compared to Mesic green-leaved kinds, silver-leaved cultivars—which are Xeric—need different amounts of water and even require different watering techniques. Check read this post about Xeric and Mesic air plants to find out more about the many varieties of air plants. Visit our article on Air Plant Care for information on general maintenance.
  • Once you’ve watered your air plant, be sure to shake off any extra water, and then wait until the plant is totally dry before reintroducing it to your terrarium, shell, or other display container. Avoid misting air plants within their terrariums or placing them near wetness.
  • Pay great attention to air plants with bulbous shapes and those with deep pockets at the base of their leaves since they may be more likely to retain water in their base.
  • Airflow is crucial! Never put your air plant in a container or terrarium that is completely sealed off. Leave the lid off of your terrarium if it has one. To thrive, air plants require adequate air flow; otherwise, rot might develop.
  • If any external leaves are starting to rot or exhibit indications of fungus, remove them at the base. If the plant has inner rot, removing the inner leaves won’t help and probably will do more harm than good.

Rot is unfortunately one of the things that, once it starts, is difficult to stop and save the plant from. Preventing decay is the greatest cure! As a natural fungicide, cinnamon has been shown to help minimize or stop rot/fungus on plant bases, so it might be worth a try! We also advise removing those leaves as previously shown if only a few of the outer leaves are impacted.

comments

fantastic article I can’t believe I let a lovely xerographica go to waste recently. Additionally, I spotted clumps of odd-colored fragments of a sticky gel-like substance.

I tried cleaning it, but it made no difference. A other plant with pockets and a bulbous shape experienced this. They resembled rounder balls; could they perhaps be eggs?

When submerged in water, an airplane that has rot spreads the rot spores to all the others. I experienced it. In the following few months, I lost 35 plants.

They are daily sprayed well, gently shook, and then placed back on the wall; there are no longer any communal baths. I lost my Tectorum and it mineralized in spring water.

I appreciate you teaching me how to care for my air plants. I need all the assistance I can get because I’m new at this.

Please describe the procedure and recommended frequency for applying cinnamon to plants.