Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

Brown leaf tips on rose-painted calathea: causes and fixes

Calathea roseopicta

Quick answer

Brown, crispy tips on your rose-painted calathea have a few possible causes, and on this plant the likeliest is dry air. The full list is below.

Rose-painted calathea (Calathea roseopicta)
Rose-painted calathea · Calathea roseopicta
Not sure it’s this plant?Get the free Botanicaly app and find out with a photo

Pet-safe

Most likely cause

Dry air (low humidity)

Illustration of a leaf with a dry brown tip and a white salt crust on the pot rim

How to tell

  • Just the very tips and edges go brown and papery while the rest of the leaf is fine.

The fix

  1. 1
    Raise humidity: group plants together, sit the pot on a tray of damp pebbles, or run a humidifier.
  2. 2
    Misting helps only briefly.
More about this

This is most common in winter with the heating on, and rose-painted calathea prefers 60–80% humidity.

Other possible causes

Not a match? Compare the signs below to find the one you have.

Tap-water fluoride and accumulated salts

Rose-painted calathea is one of the more sensitive houseplants to fluoride and salts in tap water, so tips brown slowly over months even with otherwise good care.

How to tell

  • Fluoride injury can appear without any visible crust.
  • A white crust on the soil surface or the pot rim shows mineral or fertilizer salts, not fluoride specifically.

The fix

  1. 1
    Switch to rainwater or distilled water and flush the pot occasionally to wash out built-up salts.

Inconsistent or under-watering

The soil dries out hard between waterings, so the tips (the last to get water) crisp first.

The fix

  1. 1
    Water more evenly: check the soil regularly and don’t let it go completely bone dry, then soak thoroughly.

Fertilizer burn

Tips brown within a week or two of feeding, sometimes with a white crust on the soil surface or the pot rim.

The fix

  1. 1
    Flush thoroughly with plain water and feed less often, always diluted.
More about this

It follows feeding too often or too strong.

Too much direct sun

Dry brown patches or scorched edges show up where strong sun hits the leaf.

How to tell

  • Rose-painted calathea wants bright, indirect light.

The fix

  1. 1
    Move it back from the glass, or filter the strongest sun with a sheer curtain.

All rose-painted calathea guides

Keep reading

Related plants

Stromanthe Triostar: brown leaf tipsStromanthe sanguineaPet safety unknownPinstripe calatheaCalathea ornataSame genus · CalatheaPet-safePeacock plantCalathea makoyanaSame genus · CalatheaPet-safeRattlesnake plantCalathea lancifoliaSame genus · CalatheaPet-safe

Last reviewed: