Brown tips or crispy edges
Why does my Round-leaf calathea have brown, crispy tips?Calathea orbifolia
Brown, crisp tips and edges on a Round-leaf calathea are the plant telling you its environment is a little too harsh or dry. The pattern points to the cause.
Dry air (low humidity). Raise humidity: group plants together, sit the pot on a tray of damp pebbles, or run a humidifier. Misting helps only briefly.
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What's causing it
Dry air (low humidity)
How to tell: Just the very tips and edges go brown and papery while the rest of the leaf is fine — most common in winter with the heating on, and Round-leaf calathea prefers 50-60% humidity.
The fix: Raise humidity: group plants together, sit the pot on a tray of damp pebbles, or run a humidifier. Misting helps only briefly.
Tap-water salts (fluoride/chlorine)
How to tell: Round-leaf calathea is one of the more sensitive houseplants to minerals in tap water — tips brown even with otherwise good care.
The fix: Switch to filtered, distilled, or rainwater — it makes a real difference on this plant — and flush the pot occasionally to wash out built-up salts.
Inconsistent or under-watering
How to tell: The soil dries out hard between waterings, so the tips — the last to get water — crisp first.
The fix: Water more evenly: check the soil regularly and don't let it go completely bone dry, then soak thoroughly.
Fertiliser burn
How to tell: Brown tips appear with a white crust on the surface, usually after feeding too often or too strong.
The fix: Flush thoroughly with plain water and feed less often, always diluted.
Too much direct sun
How to tell: Dry brown patches or scorched edges show up where strong sun hits the leaf — Round-leaf calathea is medium / indirect light, not a full-sun plant.
The fix: Move it back from the glass into its medium / indirect light range.
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Get the app →Prevention
Keep humidity up, use filtered or rainwater since this plant is genuinely salt-sensitive, and never let the mix go bone dry for long.
Common questions
Should I cut the brown tips off my Round-leaf calathea?
You can — trim them with clean scissors, following the leaf's natural shape, but leave a thin sliver of brown rather than cutting into green, which just re-browns. Cosmetic only; fix the cause to stop new tips browning.
Does misting fix brown tips on a Round-leaf calathea?
Only a little and only briefly. A pebble tray or humidifier raises humidity far more reliably than misting, which evaporates within minutes.
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