Brown leaf tips on ti plant: causes and fixes

Cordyline terminalis

Quick answer

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

Toxic to pets

Most likely cause

How to tell

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

The fix

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

More about this

This is most common in winter with the heating on, and ti plant prefers 50–70% humidity.

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

The fix

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

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

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

The fix

More about this

It follows feeding too often or too strong.

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

The fix

1
Filter the harshest midday sun with a sheer curtain for a few weeks, then reintroduce the sunny spot gradually so the leaves can harden off.

More about this

Ti plant wants bright light and some direct sun.

Last reviewed: 26 October 2026