Why Are My Anthurium Leaves Turning Brown?

Welcome friends. As we travel through some concerns, you can experience caring for your Anthurium plant. You take care of it with a lot of tender loving care to keep those green leaves glossy with bright blossoms.

Your plant brings a positive vibe to the home and is low-maintenance. But oh my word, your lovely tropical, outdoor plants are developing brown leaves. What could be wrong? No need to stress as Plantly is here to help.

Common Reasons For Brown Leaves On Anthurium Plant

When you know you have taken care of your baby and brown leaves on Anthurium start popping up, there are different reasons why it can happen. While the disease is not common in the flamingo flower, it can develop brown spots on the leaves. Hence, you do not want to lose your beloved plant, and knowing what to do can help.

Too Much Direct Sunlight for Tropical Plants

You have followed the Anthurium plant care to a “T,” keeping it in indirect sunlight. Still, you notice brown leaves, which is a concern. There might be days when your Anthurium plants get too little sunlight, and the healthy growth seen is not present.

But then again, the spot your plant is standing in might also be getting too much sunlight. The leaf tips turn brown as the sun scorches the foliage. Eventually, the leaves exposed to the sun shrivel up and die.

Hence, you can remove your plant from direct sunlight to provide some indirect light to rectify the problem. Another important note is to let your plant acclimate to the new spot to produce new and healthy growth before pruning the brown leaves.

Nutrient Deficiency

If you are lucky, the brown spots on the leaves might not be a big concern. The chance is that your plant nutrition is down. You will find the leaves displaying yellow edges with a few brown spots without any diseased droplets.

Other notable symptoms are a reduction in your plant’s growth and the younger foliage being smaller than, the older ones. Also, instead of the new leaves having a glossy green hue, it is light and deformed.

The stems will be short and drooping, and there will be a decrease in flower production. Yet, these symptoms take time to appear. You see this happening in mature plants. Hence, if you notice this in your older plants, you can use a high phosphorus fertilizer like 15-30-15.

You can feed your plant during the growing season once a month or once a week for four weeks if there is a significant nutrient deficiency. Then you can cut back on the feeding to prevent overfertilizing.

Too Much Fertilizer Use

Okay, we all feel tempted to give our Anthurium plant more fertilizer than needed as you want to promote plant growth. Still, it can also cause brown spots and brown tips on the leaves.

The high content of chemicals in the fertilizer also disrupts the pH in the soil, making it too acidic or way too alkaline. Hence, the plant cell enzyme activity takes a toll. The same applies if you use a high content of saline soil that results in too much salt.

This causes water loss at the roots, weakening and turning your plant pale and wilted. The best is to cut back on the feed and rinse the soil under water to remove the excess salts and fertilizer.

Bacterial Leaf Blight

Sometimes your Anthurium plant can get sick with bacterial blight, and the signs are as follow:

The leaves have a bronze appearance with yellow lesions that darken to brown spots.
The flowers fade and look spotted while guttation droplets are on the leaf margins.

When this happens, the leaves deform, and the sap becomes more noticeable. You notice the liquid forming when temperatures are humid and warm during the night. Yet, it can take months before you see this happening to your plant.

Still, how did your plant get this infection? The bacteria enter through the pores found on the leaf edges. It can also penetrate the leaves when you prune or puncture the foliage. Furthermore, the bacteria can spread along wet surfaces when the leaves get wet when watered.

For this reason, it helps to keep the leaves of your Anthurium dry. Hence, it is best to water at the base of the plant instead of over the leaves. Unfortunately, if you notice your entire plant infected, you will need to destroy it.

But if the Anthurium leaves are infected, you can still save your plant. To preserve your plant, you will need to remove the infected leaves and burn them. The important thing is to remove the leaves by hand and break them off at the petiole at the leaf blade.

Pest Infected Leaves

Another cause of brown leaves can result from insects like foliar nematodes or mites. The nematode is a tiny roundworm that infects young plants. As a result, you notice thin stripes across the leaf’s surface with brown patches.

The leaves eventually fall off. With severe infections, it will spread through the entire plant. You will notice indoor plants have stunted growth with brown leaves. To treat the infestation early, remove infected parts of the plant and treat the healthy leaves with insecticidal soap.

Also, remove your Anthurium plant and provide it with sterilized fresh soil. The best is to remove the infected leaves as they can spread to other plants. The other critter that causes the plant’s leaves to turn brown is mites.

The main attraction for spider mites is dirty leaves, and the mite will suck out all the nutrients in the plant. As a result, you will notice yellow spots that eventually turn brown. You can use neem oil combined with water to spray on the plant to treat the infestation.

Root Rot

Yes, as with most plants, your Anthurium can get root rot from overwatering, similar to other plants. But if your plant is overwatered, you can move it to a more natural lit area for the soil to dry.

Also, check if the pot has enough drainage holes for the excess water to flow out. Finally, if your plant looks very wilted, you can remove it from the container to check the roots and remove the damaged ones to save your plant. Then replant it in fresh soil and care for it as usual.

How Do You Revive Dying Anthurium Plants?

If you have a dying Anthurium plant, there is a chance that you can revive it. Still, it helps to keep in mind if your plant is completely brown and crispy, it might be too late. But if the plant looks wilted or drooping with brown spots on the leaves, you can still fix the problem,

First, determine if your plant is under or overwatered by checking the soil. We recommend removing the plant and repotting it in drier soil if overwatered. If underwatered, then give your plant the nourishment it needs. You can do this by submerging the base of the plant in lukewarm water. Leave it standing for 15 minutes to re-hydrate and remove to let the excess water drain.
Then adjust the humidity level of your plant by grouping it with other plants to create moisture.
Also, provide your plant with enough light for it to grow but not direct sunlight but indirect light instead.
Next, adjust the temperatures by moving your plant to a warmer spot to recover.
It also helps to remove the dying and dead leaves by snipping them off at the base of the stem. Only leave the healthy leaves behind to grow.