Drying of the tips of the leaves of potted plants

Drying of the tips and edges of the leavesis a common symptom in potted plants. This problem occurs especially often in winter, during the heating season. Find out the reasonwhy the tips of the leaves of potted plants dry upand see how to help such plants. Simple tricks will make the leaves of your plants beautiful again. Here are proven ways todry the tips of your potted plant leaves !

Drying of the tips of the areca palm leaves
Fig. © PoradnikOgrodniczy.pl

Why do the tips of the leaves dry up?

Drying of the tips of the leaves of potted plants most often occurs in winter , during the heating season. Depending on the plant species, only the tips of the leaves may dry out or the edges of the entire leaf blades.
If we do not observe other disturbing symptoms, e.g. brown spots on the leaves or insects wandering around the plant, thenthe cause of the leaf tips drying up is too dry airIt is very likely because air humidity in apartments heated in winter often drops below 50%, and for many plants this humidity should be between 60-80%.
Drying of tips or edges of leaves occurs in many fairly easy to grow and common potted plants, such as Sternberg's herb, dracaena, areka palm.

How to prevent leaf tips from drying up?

To avoid drying of the tips of the potted plants leaves, it is recommended to sprinkle them Plants should be sprinkled once a day, although for some it is enough to sprinkle it every 2 or 3 days. If the plant responds well to sprinkling every 3 days and no new dry tips of leaves appear, do not sprinkle it more often. Too frequent sprinkling may promote the development of fungal diseases on plant leaves.
4 important rules for sprinkling plants :

1. Cold and hard water can harm sprinkled plants. Therefore,plants should be sprinkled with stagnant water for at least one day . Such water will be at room temperature, the same in which the plants grow, and will not be as hard as poured straight from the tap.
2. Flowering plants should not be sprinkled, as sprinkling may be harmful to their flowers. Anysprinkling of flowering plants should be done in such a way as to moisturize only the leaves .
3. Do not sprinkle the leaves heated by the sun , as it may cause burns. In this case, wait for the time of day when the plant is in the shade, or move the plant further away from the window.
4. Not all plants like sprinkling, so before starting sprinkling, it is worth getting to know the requirements of a given plant. The general rule is thatshould not be sprinkled on hairy plants , i.e. those whose leaves and shoots are covered with fine hairs.

Good to knowBy regularly sprinkling the leaves of potted plants, we also prevent the appearance of potted plant pests, such as cups, spider mites and mealybugs, the development of which is favored by too dry air in heated apartments.

1. Place coasters filled with water around the plants . The evaporating water will moisten the air around the plants.
2. If there is no space for additional coasters,the water can be poured into the support under the pot . Then, however, you need to pour small pebbles or expanded clay into the base so that the pot does not stand in the water, but above it (so that the plant roots do not rot).
3. Hang on the radiators containers with waterfrom which water will evaporate.
4. Hang wet towels on radiatorsor place damp laundry in a room with plants.
5. Purchase of an air humidifier . More advanced devices have humidity indicators, which will additionally help to keep the air humidity at a constant level.

Some guides also recommendairing the rooms to humidify the airRemember, however, that drafts and gusts of cool air can harm potted plants. Therefore, we should never open the window if the plants are standing right next to the window or on the windowsill. In such situations, the plants should be moved further away from the window for the time of airing, and the window itself should only be slightly tilted so that the room does not get too cold. We should also remember that the frosty air outside is also quite dry, so ventilation will effectively humidify the air in the room only at positive temperatures outside.