Why Nerium oleander leaves get brown tips

For outdoor Nerium oleander, brown tips or margins call for a moisture, salt, cold and pest check. Do not treat the color as one cause.

Plant coveredNerium oleanderOleander · outdoor seasonal

Check the leaves, stems and pot

What kind of brown mark is it?

Record browning or dead tissue at leaf tips or margins, whether yellowing came first, and whether the pattern affects one branch or much of the canopy.

Compare uniform yellowing or drooping across branches with browning that moves inward from tips and margins. Check whether decline stays on one branch, whether watering restores turgor, and whether caterpillars or other pests are present.

Use the visible signs to choose the next check

Possible causes and next checks

What could cause it

Brown tips can follow drought or heat stress, salt or boron injury, excessive wetness or root trouble, cold damage, caterpillar feeding, and oleander leaf scorch from the oleander strain of Xylella fastidiosa.

What to do next

Check root-zone moisture and drainage before changing irrigation, review salt or fertilizer exposure, inspect new shoots and leaf undersides for caterpillars or sucking pests, and seek local plant-health support when one-branch marginal scorch continues to spread.

Watch for new damage or recovery

What to watch on new leaves

Recheck new leaves, the direction of marginal browning, branch-by-branch progression, soil moisture and pest activity after conditions are stable. Continuing dieback should be referred to a local extension or plant-health service.

Do not diagnose from one sign alone

What brown tips cannot tell you

Sources