Monstera tips brown and crispy
Plant: Monstera deliciosa
How long have you owned the plant? 1 to 6 months.
Plant Parent
Leaves are drying, turning yellow and wilting, new growth turned brown and died.
The overall plant:
How do you determine WHEN to water? I wait for the soil to become completely dry.
Describe HOW you water: I pour a small amount of water onto the soil.
Light situation:
Fertilizer: I recently started using Nice Things Universal Plant Food.
Darryl
Thanks for submitting your photos and care details! Here’s my assessment:
Environment
You’ve got a pretty good window but when the plant is off to the side, the light strength reaching there is likely less than 100-200 FC most of the day (just my visual estimate).
The plant will grow faster and “nicer” (closer internode spacing, more compact) if you could get this plant right in front of the windows. If you want “best possible growth” then you need to give the plant the best possible light, which will be right in front of the window – give the plant the widest possible view of the sky, which should result in light levels in the 400-800 FC range – much better for a Monstera.
More on measuring light HERE
Effort
WHEN to water – Monsteras do not want the soil to completely dry out between waterings. Water when the soil is about halfway dry. You can gauge this by probing into your soil with a chopstick – if the top 2 or 3 inches is dry, then it’s time to water; if that layer is still moist, wait a day or two more and check again.
HOW to water – when the soil has reached the appropriate dryness for watering, then it’s best to evenly saturate all parts of the soil. That’s done by pouring water slowly over the entire surface – continuing to do so until the water drains out the drainage hole. For larger plants that may be difficult to move (like this one), you might opt to do this thorough soaking every month in between a shallow watering.
If you ONLY pour small amounts of water into the soil, dry pockets will form in the soil, resulting in poor root health and brown crispy tips – as you are experiencing now. Giving the plant a very thorough watering every month or so (in between shallower waterings) will help to flush out built up minerals, which, if never flushed out, will rapidly manifest as brown crispy leaf tips.
Expectations
Brown crispy tips will appear every so often but usually on the oldest leaf of a Monstera. If the plant has been receiving good light and watered/fertilized accordingly, then the plant would have grown many newer leaves and cutting off one older, blemished leaf won’t make much of a difference in the look of the overall plant. Leaves have a limited lifespan. I have owned my Monstera for over 10 years and can attest that it will lose the lowest leaf on a regular basis but good light/care ensures new leaves keep growing.
Although the blemishes currently on your plant will never heal (leaf tip browning can never be reversed), if your light is good and you’re watering/fertilizing accordingly, the plant will grow new leaves that will remain green as long as possible and the overall plant will have more of these nicer leaves, allowing you to cut off all the blemished ones. Here’s an example with my plant:
Monstera deliciosa can be a great long-term plant with good light and watering/fertilizing accordingly. Best of luck!
If you find yourself worrying about every yellowed leaf and every brown tip, it’s time to take a more sensible approach to houseplant care:
- Read my books: ‘The New Plant Parent‘ and ‘The New Plant Collector‘
- Take my online course: Essentials of Houseplant Enjoyment
- More detailed houseplant Q&As
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