It can be jarring to find your precious plants suddenly sporting brown spots on their leaves. Don’t panic, I got you. You’re probably wondering “should I cut the brown spots off?”
As a general rule, remove any leaves with brown spots and disinfect the cutting tool in between pruning. These splotches are often caused by pathogens, pests lurking in the plant, or improper care. Once removed further investigation is needed to figure out why the leaves turned brown and fix the problem’s root cause.
Below, I’ve provided helpful steps to troubleshoot your plant problems along with probable causes for the brown spots:
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
Table of contents
How To Cut Off Leaves With Brown Spots Safely?
Brown spots may be a symptom of a minor, fixable problem or a potentially lethal issue for the plant. Either way, you don’t want to take any chances. So the safer option is to trim off the brown-spotted leaves from the get-go:
Here’s how to get started:
- Quarantine your plant away from the rest. This helps minimize possible pathogens spreading and infecting your other plants. Even if it isn’t caused by a disease, it’s still a good practice. If your plant is too large or is in-ground, skip to the next step.
- Sanitize your cutting tool with alcohol or a bleach solution. Do this before, after, and in between cuts. This is important because cutting the leaf creates an open wound for bacteria, fungi, or viruses to sneak into. It might seem excessive, but it prevents any lingering pathogens on the cutting tool from transferring to the next leaf.
- Cut off the leaf with brown spots from its stalk. It’s better to just get rid of the entire leaf rather than trim around it. You don’t know the extent of the damage, so trimming it down to the stems is advisable.
- Dispose of the brown-spotted leaves into the bin. Don’t attempt to put them in your compost bin; otherwise, you risk contaminating the rest of your batch. Additionally, don’t use them as mulch either. Seal tightly in a plastic bag and discard instead.
Important note: If your plant is ¾ covered in brown spots, it may be beyond saving. You can try to take the healthy portion and propagate it. But if those start exhibiting the same brown spots, it’s already infected and beyond saving. Discard as needed.
Once you’ve cleared your plant of all brown-spotted leaves, we can now dig a little deeper into checking for probable causes.
Causes of Brown Spots & How to Fix Them
1. Fungal or bacterial pathogens causing leaf spot diseases such as anthracnose or rust.
What does the plant look like with them?
- Sunken, brown, wet-looking spots on the leaves.
- Brown spots with a yellow halo around them.
- Significant leaf loss.
- Bright reddish-orange spots with spores on the leaves.
- Dried up, brown holes on the leaves.
How to get rid of them? As soon as it is discovered, disease problems should be tackled immediately. Otherwise, you risk letting the infection spread all over your plant, and worse, to the rest of your collection. You can follow the instructions in this article to get you started.
2. Pests infestations such as mealybugs, aphids, and scales.
What does the plant look like with them?
- Tiny, brown hollow spots on the leaves.
- Wilting of the stems and leaves.
- A sticky, sweet substance called honeydew excretions left by the pests on stems and leaves.
How to get rid of them? Pests are pretty manageable to handle, but you’ll have to act fast to prevent infestations. You can find out more about getting rid of them in this article.
3. Improper care such as overwatering and lack of humidity.
What does the plant look like with them?
- Dried brown spots and tips on the leaves.
- Dehydrated-looking plant despite having moist soil.
- Limp foliage.
How to fix it?
- For overwatering, check the roots to see whether it has rotted. If it hasn’t, let the soil dry out before watering the plant again. If there is root rot, read this article on fixing it.
- For lack of humidity, you can follow any 3 of these methods to boost the air circulation around your plant.
Important note: It’s worth noting that most pest & disease issues stem from improper care. This is why getting the basics right is crucial. It leaves little room for other problems to pop up.
How Do I Prevent Brown Spots on my Plants?
- Do not wet the leaves or allow them to touch the moist soil. A wet surface makes it easy for air-borne spores to stick to the plant and infect it. The best way to go about this is to always water at the soil level, preventing any splashback.
- Do not overwater your plant. This opens a world of hurt for your plan, from rotting roots to aphids. Do the knuckle test before watering each time to gauge the wetness/dryness of the soil.
- Prune your plant to prevent overcrowding and lack of air circulation. This is not usually a big problem for most houseplants if they are vining plants. But compact plants tend to lack airflow, which can cause problems.
- Get rid of any leaf debris lying on the soil. You don’t want this to decompose on your soil and become a feeding ground for pathogens. It doesn’t matter if your plant is potted or not – if it’s suffering from brown spots, you don’t want to take any chances.
- Look up your plant’s primary care needs. It’s so easy to get this step wrong, but I assure you, you are doing your part if you know what the plant really needs. Even if it’s just as simple as knowing what kind of light it needs – it helps you prevent manageable mistakes.
Final Words
Brown spots may not be the end of the world for your plant. There will always be answers and solutions to help you out, regardless of the outcome. And hey, if anything, take it as a learning experience. Happy planting!
References:
https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/brown-spot-needle-blight
https://cropwatch.unl.edu/plantdisease/drybean/brown-spot
https://extension.umn.edu/plant-diseases/leaf-spot-diseases-trees-and-shrubs
Leave a Reply