Brown Spots on Anthurium Leaves: Reasons and Remedies

Brown spots on anthurium leaves are a reason to be worried. Anthuriums are among the most well-liked indoor plants, prized for their exquisite foliage and, in many cases, their spectacular year-round blossoms.

This article will assist you in locating the issue with its leaves and restoring your plant to full health.

What Are the Reasons for Brown Leaves on Anthurium Houseplants?

The reasons for brown leaves on anthurium houseplants are too much direct sunlight, overwatering, not being used to the environment, over-fertilizing, pests, disease, low humidity, and, ironically, also underwatering. In order to properly solve the problem, you must first diagnose the cause. Only then can one treat the leaves.

– Direct Sunlight in Excess 

Brown leaves on Anthuriums are most likely caused by this. Your plant’s leaves will suffer heat damage from strong direct sunlight, resulting in brown areas on the leaves.

The first leaves to be impacted are higher and have more sun exposure. This ought to be a very straightforward issue to pinpoint based on the pattern of leaf browning and the location of your plant in your house.

Contrary to popular belief, anthuriums do not require a lot of direct sunlight to flourish; instead, they prefer brilliant indirect light. Professionally grown anthuriums require light levels between 18000 and 25000 lux. While extraordinarily bright, this light is only about a quarter as intense as sunlight.

– Overwatering Is a Curse

The most frequent issue you will encounter when caring for your indoor plants is overwatering, which is undoubtedly one of the main reasons Anthurium houseplants develop brown leaves.

The pattern of leaf damage and the environment your plant is developing in are major indicators of this issue. Look for brown leaf tips and generally yellowing lower leaves.

Watering too frequently may only sometimes result in overwatering. The plant grows long in damp, inadequately aerated soil, typically the condition’s source.

Majorly contributing factors may include:

• Growing your plant in a pot that is too big for it
• Planting in poorly drained soil.
• Utilizing a pot with little to no drainage holes.
• Putting your plant in a low-light environment results in less water and soil that remains moist after watering for a long period.

– Not Getting Used to the Environment

Bringing a brand-new plant home only to discover that your Anthurium’s leaves are turning brown after a few weeks can be very depressing. The good news is that one of the less significant reasons for brown leaves on Anthuriums is frequently just acclimatization.

It is challenging to replicate the ideal, fully regulated conditions where the grower typically grows Anthurium. As a result, it will take some time for your plant to get used to the changes in the temperature, humidity, etc., in your home.

Some older leaves may turn dark and inevitably drop off, or you may notice brown spots on some of the leaves, frequently along the edges.

– Over Fertilizing

Another fairly typical reason for brown foliage on Anthurium house plants is overfertilizing. Almost usually, it begins with a well-intentioned gardener striving to give their plant everything it needs to grow big and attractive.

Sadly, too many fertilizer salts poison your plant’s roots and foliage, so you must exercise caution.

Brown leaf spots and brown leaf tips are frequently the first symptoms of overfertilization. Due to the stress and harm being done to the roots, your plant may also sulk and fail to grow as expected.

If your Anthurium has been receiving regular fertilization and you see that its leaves are becoming brown, cease fertilizing immediately to avoid additional harm. Observing white or brown crusts on the soil’s surface due to the buildup of fertilizer salts is another symptom of over fertilizing.

– Pests to Blame

Your Anthurium’s leaves may turn dark due to insect damage typically brought on by pests eating the foliage directly. Look for erratic brown or yellow blotches or even holes in the leaves.

The major pests you will encounter on anthuriums are thrips and aphids. Look closely for the pests themselves to determine if pests are indeed bringing on the brown leaves on your Anthuriums.

– Diseases of the Plant

Your Anthurium may develop dark leaves due to fungi like Fusarium, Pythium, Phytophthora, and Calonectria, as well as bacterial illnesses, brought on by Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas.

The foliage of Anthurium plants often develops sporadic brown spots or areas due to various illnesses. In the absence of obvious pests, rapidly expanding, irregular brown patches should be presumed to be caused by disease.

– Humidity Is Too Low

Your Anthurium’s foliage will undergo several modifications due to low humidity. Many types will lose the glossy sheen of their leaves, and in low-humidity situations, your Anthurium will develop brown leaf tips and edges.

– Underwatering Your Plant

Although it happens frequently, this is one of the more evident reasons why an anthurium’s leaves turn brown. Old leaves are more susceptible to damage since they might become fully brown and fall off. Younger leaves may also be impacted and develop brown tips and margins.

If anthuriums are submerged, they can also wilt rather dramatically. The Anthurium andreanum cultivar, which is the most prevalent, has the propensity to curl and turn the top portion of its blades more toward the floor when submerged. Both of these are water-saving strategies. Identification is simple since the pot will feel light, and the soil will feel dry because there isn’t any water.

How Do You Fix the Root Causes of Brown Spots on Anthurium Leaves?

You can fix the root causes of brown spots on anthurium leaves by fixing the light problems caused by excess light, fixing overwatering, preventing problems due to lack of acclimations, solving over-fertilizing, treating and preventing pests and diseases, and addressing low humidity.

– Fixing Lighting Problems Caused by Excess Direct Sunlight

The obvious remedy is to move your plant away from the window and into a bright area that gets little to no direct sunlight during the day. You can install a light meter app for any smartphone if you need clarification on how bright your home is. Numerous free apps that use the camera on your phone to measure the light levels in your house are available in the Apple store and Android Play store.

Refrain from pruning off the damaged leaves after relocating your plant to a more suitable spot. Before you prune off those unsightly brown leaves, give your plant time to adapt to the new environment and wait until it produces new, healthy growth.

– Fixing Brown Leaves on Anthuriums Caused by Overwatering

When the roots cannot efficiently transport water and nutrients to the tips of the leaves, anthuriums begin to acquire brown leaf tips. Root rot may have already developed in your Anthurium if you notice brown leaf tips, yellowing lower leaves, and other symptoms of overwatering.

To rescue your plant, you should do the following:

• Check your plant’s roots for any indications of rot after gently removing them from its pot. Any rotting roots should be cut off with sterile pruners or scissors. These will be mushy, stinky, fragile, and brown or black. The decaying roots must all be pulled out.
• Wash away any remaining soil to properly expose the roots after gently loosening the soil from around the healthy roots.
• Use new potting soil and a clean pot when you repot your Anthurium. Use a loose, porous potting mixture. Using equal parts perlite, pine bark, peat, or coco coir is the ideal solution.
• It is preferable to prune up to 1/3 of the foliage if you have had to cut more than one-third of the roots from your Anthurium. The plant’s remaining roots will find it simpler to maintain the plant as a result.
• Give your replanted Anthurium good humidity and bright, indirect light.
• When the upper few inches of the soil feel dry, check the soil moisture and water liberally.

Your Anthurium will need several months to recuperate from this hardship, but ideally, you will soon notice brand-new, healthy growth.

– Preventing Problems Due to Acclimation

You may take a few steps to make sure your Anthurium experiences the fewest problems possible when you get it home:

• Purchase the plants from a dependable seller who kept them in good condition while they were being sold.
• Suppose purchasing from a big box retailer attempts to purchase your Anthurium as soon as the retailer receives it. It will spend less time in worse-than-ideal circumstances as a result.
• Avoid ordering online when it is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit since this could cause your plant to suffer from cold stress during delivery.
• When you get your plant home, be sure to give it conditions to grow similar to its ideal environment in terms of lighting, temperature, and humidity.

– Fixing Problems Caused by Over Fertilizing

You should try several things to correct your plant if you believe over fertilizing is the cause of your Anthurium’s brown leaves.

• Use a lot of water to rinse the soil thoroughly. This will assist in dissolving surplus fertilizer salts and removing them from the soil.
• Before your plant develops fresh, healthy leaves again, wait at least six months before fertilizing again.
• Try repotting it into new soil if you have used granular fertilizer or if the buildup in the soil is significant. Even though the plant may experience more stress, it can be the only option to salvage a highly over fertilized plant.
• Anthuriums need only a little fertilizer to stay healthy. We suggest a synthetic, blended fertilizer administered at half the prescribed dose every other month during the growing season.

However, the risk of over fertilizing is generally reduced when using an organic fertilizer. Consider substituting 10 percent of the potting soil with worm castings or compost, eliminating the need for additional fertilizer for a minimum of two years.

– Treating and Preventing Pests 

The key to dealing with potted plant pests is early detection. Checking for pest activity is generally a good idea when you water your plants.

It would help if you looked on the inside and outside of the leaves, along the stems, and even in the dirt. If you pay attention, you can quickly see pests like thrips, aphids, and mealybugs, but spider mites can be quite difficult to spot before an infestation becomes a significant issue.

• When you notice a pest infestation, isolate the damaged plant to stop it from migrating to other plants.
• Use a hose, faucet, or shower to wash the insects off the foliage or physically extract as many bugs as possible.
• To get rid of most pests, spray your plant with horticultural oil, neem oil, or isopropyl alcohol weekly.

When you bring new plants home, isolate them for two weeks to stave off pests. After two weeks, if there are no symptoms of pests, you can add your new plant to the other indoor plants in your collection.

– Treating Diseases 

Rapid treatment is essential because an advanced disease can kill your plant. The best way to move forward is to use sterile pruning shears to remove any infected foliage quickly.

Topical therapies are typically unsuccessful and are not advised as a substitute for other forms of treatment. The best approach is to eliminate the plant if the bulk of your Anthurium’s leaves has infection-related brown patches or scars.

The key to prevention is to retain the plant’s natural disease resistance while fostering strong growth. The greatest strategies to prevent infections include avoiding overwatering, dim lighting, and excessive humidity without adequate ventilation.

– Preventing Problems Caused by Low Humidity

To avoid brown leaves on your Anthurium, we strongly advise keeping an eye on the humidity conditions in your home. In your home, you may use a digital hygrometer and thermometer to track humidity and temps. It is the most practical item we can suggest for maintaining the well-being of your indoor plants.

All year long, make an effort to keep humidity levels at or above 40 percent. To maintain the happiness of most houseplants, strive for a humidity level in your home of at least 60 percent for some types of Anthurium.

You may raise the humidity in your house in a variety of ways. Here are some excellent choices:

• Put your plants in a group since their higher transpiration will create a humid environment around them.
• Place a small bowl of water next to or below your plants. Increased evaporation raises the relative humidity.
• A bathroom or kitchen will naturally have higher humidity levels than other areas, so move your plants there.
• Take advantage of your indoor plants. This has little to no effect on humidity levels.
• Invest in an electric humidifier. Although there are alternative options, using a humidifier is the best choice. Choose one with a sizable water capacity, so you will only have to replace it occasionally.

– Preventing Underwatering 

Since it might be challenging to manage to hydrate your houseplants, making it a practice to check on them several times a week will help you avoid many issues.

When the top one to two inches of soil feels dry, water your Anthurium. Before relocating your plant, fully soak the soil in the container and allow the surplus water to drain for a short while.

Despite the apparent simplicity of the issue and its straightforward resolution, there are a few factors that can increase the likelihood of underwatering;

• Your Anthurium might be root-bound. After water, a root-bound plant will dry out considerably more quickly. Think about repotting into a bigger container.
• Is the soil drained sufficiently? Good soil strikes a balance between some water retention and good drainage. The soil will dry up rapidly if you plant in a mix that doesn’t hold part of the water. Therefore your shrub will whither, wither out, and get brown leaves much more quIs.
• Might your Antium be receiving excessive heat and light? Both factors will significantly increase water use, which will hasten the soil’s rapid drying. If your Anthurium is growing in a warm environment, try lowering the temperature and moving it to a less bright area.

Conclusion

We sincerely hope this post has provided insight into the cause of your Anthurium’s brown leaves and some advice on restoring your plant to full health. Make sure to watch out for the following:

• Do not over or underwater, as both can cause brown spots on your plant.
• Over-fertilizing and the nutritional composition of the soil your plant is growing in plays a big role in this problem.
• Temperature, humidity, and light requirements are ideal for your plant.

Remember that dealing with issues is one of the most effective ways to learn more about raising healthy houseplants if you’ve encountered some with your anthurium.