Brown leaf tips: can tips be cut off?

Especially during the winter months, house plants or plants that are overwintered in the house often have brown leaf tips. Usually these can just be cut off. The plants are not damaged.

Just cut away

Just Houseplants suffer from dry heating air in winter, especially when they are directly above the heating. In addition, plants that spend the summer outdoors and have to hibernate indoors can also get brown leaf tips or leaf margins. Usually it is possible to cut these off easily without harming the plants. With smaller areas at the tips and edges, the leaves are still able to produce energy for the plants through their own photosynthesis. However, you have to be careful when cutting off the tips.

Tip: If half the area of ​​the leaf or two thirds of it is brown, photosynthesis can no longer take place in this sense. The leaf should then be cut off completely at the base of the stem with sharp scissors.

Instructions for cutting

It is very important to use scissors with sharp blades so that the plant cells do not suffer too much damage at the interfaces. Otherwise the plant has to use a lot of energy to heal wounds. Sturdy kitchen scissors are ideal for this:

• Disinfect the scissors well with alcohol
• thereby preventing the transmission of diseases
• especially important when pruning multiple plants
• The brown tip of the leaf can easily be cut crosswise
• leave the brown narrow edge
• otherwise there will be a new wound and sometimes a brown edge
• then disinfect the scissors again
• Dispose of cut leaf parts on a compost heap

If the leaf margins have turned brown, they too can easily be cut. However, this should retain the shape of the leaf. In other words, the edges are cut off, a small brown border should remain here as well.

Cut according to shape

Alternatively, the original shape of the tips can be imitated when cutting. However, it will happen here that new wounds will arise as a result of the cuts. The plants are under stress and there is often a new formation of a narrow brown border. If several leaves of a plant are affected, it is advisable not to make such a cut, as the plants then need a lot of energy for wound healing. That means a lot of stress. The following instructions for "cutting into shape" a long, straight sheet that tapers to a point at the top:

• make two oblique cuts at the tip
• The tip of the leaf should have an oblong triangular shape

Note: However, cutting is not enough. Clarify and eliminate the causes of the formation of the brown leaf tips such as low humidity, lack of iron, lack of water, incorrect location.

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