Caring for elephant's foot: How to avoid brown tips

An elephant's foot can linger as a houseplant for decades. However, the long-lasting elephant foot must not lack the right care.

the elephant foot (Beaucarnea recurvata) features a thick, succulent stem that stores water and nutrients. This is how he gets through bad times in his native Mexico. This self-sufficiency manner makes it an ideal beginner plant. Unfortunately, this frugality is not taken very seriously by some overprotective plant guardians. Because with a small sip of water here and a little more fertilizer there you do not support your protégé, but can even harm him. So that the elephant's foot shines in rich green at home, here is everything you need to know about proper care and avoiding brown tips on the leaves.

Caring for an elephant's foot: The basics

The small indoor tree grows very slowly, can store water and nutrients and therefore does not need much attention if it is in the right place:

• Location: Warm and bright; no midday sun and drafts
• Window seat: Occasionally turn the pot a quarter turn

The trunk grows nice and straight due to the twists. In summer, the elephant tree is happy about a nice place outside, protected from the rain, because it is not a couch potato. However, to begin with, you need to slowly acclimate the plant over a period of two weeks. So that it can get used to the unfiltered sunlight, the little tree is gradually placed in an ever brighter location.

Water the elephant's foot properly

When caring for an elephant's foot, you rarely have to use a watering can. The following applies:

• Water once the soil has completely dried out
• Pour Penetrating

In winter it only needs to be watered if the sapling stays in a heated room. If you water more often in smaller quantities, the risk of waterlogging and thus the risk of rot increases. Incidentally, hard water is not a problem for the elephant's foot.

Fertilize elephant foot properly

When it comes to fertilization, too, less is more, because the elephant's foot only needs moderate nutrients due to its internal storage. The elephant foot is fertilized as follows:

• Growth phase: Every four weeks
• Fertilizer: cactus fertilizer or green plant fertilizer (half dose)
• Fertilize no earlier than eight weeks after repotting

Use an organic fertilizer and reduce the risk of over-fertilization while doing something good for the environment. Compared to industrially processed mineral fertilizers, the organic variant saves a lot of resources. Everything else on the subject Fertilize elephant foot, you'll find here.

Caring for elephant foot in winter

In winter, the elephant foot needs constantly cool temperatures between 5 and 15°C. When choosing a location, keep in mind that the more light this native Mexican needs, the warmer it will be. In addition, heating air that is too warm quickly leads to pest infestation during the winter. That's why you should keep a regular eye out for pests in winter. You can find more about the most common diseases in our overview article on elephant foot. So that your elephant tree does not get cold feet in winter, you should lay out wooden, cork or styrofoam plates under pots that are standing on tiles or stone.

Repot elephant foot regularly

Like its gray namesake, the elephant's foot is rather leisurely. But even if feet grow slowly, they eventually become too big for their shoes. For the elephant's foot, the time has come to repot every three to five years. This time is signaled as follows:

• Trunk has the same circumference as the pot
• Root ball is pushed out of the pot

The elephant's foot then migrates to a pot that is about 2 cm larger. More to the right Repotting elephant foot as well as the right pot and substrate can be found here.

Elephant Foot: Avoid brown leaves

The elephant foot belongs to the dragon tree family (Dracaenaceae). With many members of this family, including the elephant's foot, the lower leaves of the shoots die off with age. Only the tip of the shoot has green leaves. So don't worry about a few brown leaves. It only becomes critical when not as many leaves grow back as are turning brown. Then it's time to look for the cause and fight it.

Elephant foot has brown leaves: the causes

Unfortunately, there isn't just one cause of brown leaves. A variety of factors influence whether your elephantine greenery's leaves develop brown tips. However, most are related to improper care:

• Leaves hit the floor/walls
• Sunburn from too much sun exposure
• pruning the leaves
• Waterlogging due to frequent watering
• Winter: air humidity too low due to heating air; too warm; lack of light; poured too little
• Too cold temperatures
• Not enough nutrients due to a pot that is too small

Elephant Foot: What Can You Do About Brown Leaves?

Once brown, no matter how hard you try, the leaves won't turn green again. You can only remove affected leaves or cut off the brown leaf tips. When removing brown tips, leave a small portion. Otherwise more of the leaf will turn brown. The only effective countermeasure is therefore prevention. Don't let the leaves turn brown in the first place. If it has come to this, the following will help prevent the damage from spreading:

• Place the plant on a plant stool or table
• Do not place the plant in the blazing midday sun
• Leave small brown part; a radical Pruning of the elephant tree execute
• Repot into dry soil and remove damaged roots; water less
• Spray with lukewarm, lime-free water; Lower room temperature
• increase room temperature; put out of draft
• Repot into a larger pot

The listed measures are to be assigned in their order to the causes mentioned above.

If you want more care or tips for propagating your elephant foot If you are interested, we recommend this article.