Why My Monstera Leaves Turning Brown?

Monstera leaves often show the earliest signs of trouble with the plant. One of the most common changes you may witness is the Monstera leaves turning brown, which might provide valuable insight into the cause of the problem. Seeing the leaves of the monstera plant turn brown might be depressing, but it is possible to stop this from turning. Once we’ve ruled out every conceivable source of this problem, you won’t have to worry about a thing if you follow my directions.

Sunburn, overfertilizing, insufficient nutrition, transplant shock, low humidity, diseases, and harsh temperatures are all reasons for Monstera turning brown. Other possible causes include inconsistent watering, physical harm, or a lack of light. Before trying to water your Monstera plant, ensure the potting soil is about 70 and 80 percent dry. If you want your monstera to thrive, give it only indirect sunlight and keep the humidity about 60% year-round.

This page will describe the causes of the brown spots on Monstera leaves and possible solutions.

Overwatering

Although you may want to give them a lot of water, you should take care not to overwater them because this might cause root rot. Having too much affection could be harmful. Over-watering, both in quantity and frequency, would cause the roots to rot and become ineffective.

A lack of oxygen in the root system is the cause of the plant’s eventual death when combined with prolonged wetness. Eventually, root cells will die, rendering them useless. An excessive amount of water around the roots can promote fungal growth, which can cause root rot disease.

The inability of decaying roots to take in water and minerals results in the leaves turning yellow and eventually brown.

How To Find Solutions To Watering Problems

Remove the leaves that have turned brown and set them aside.
Take your monstera out of its pot and look at the root system. Then remove the grime from the surface.
Examine the rhizome and search for any roots that have become rotted or mushy.
Remove the rotten roots by cutting them out using sterilized shears.
Applying a hydrogen peroxide mixture to the remaining roots will sterilize them. A solution containing 3% hydrogen peroxide should be diluted with water using a ratio of 1:3.
To ensure the plant is thoroughly dried, place it in a cool and dry location for between 6 and 8 hours. Utilize tissue paper or paper if you want the process to go faster.
Replace the soil in the plant’s container with fresh potting soil. If you intend to reuse the previous pot, you must first ensure that it has been cleaned thoroughly with boiling water.
Keep your watering recommendation for the next week.

When does my Monstera water need watering?

Whether your Monstera is not showing signs of water stress after a week, examine it with your finger to see if it needs a drink. Dig your finger down into the soil about an inch or two to get a reliable moisture content reading. Reduce the watering frequency if moisture is in the forecast. Look at the soil near the monstera and water it if it seems dry.

Alternatively, a watering meter can be a huge help. The soil moisture content in your area can be ascertained with its aid. If you do it this way, you’ll have a much clearer notion of when you need to water your plant.

How often should I water my Monstera plant?

Consistency is key if you want to avoid either overwatering or triggering drought stress in the plant. You must ensure that any extra water accumulating in your soil can easily drain away. The leaves may go brown as a result of this. Make sure your monstera was planted in well-drained soil as well.

As a bonus, the Monstera plant will require less watering throughout the colder months if you simply keep it in a warm location. The reason is that most houseplants go into a dormant state during this period.

READ Easy Guide Propagate Monstera Plants, Tips You Need To Know

Underwatering

Monstera is drought-resistant because it can climb up tree branches where it grows naturally. Aerial roots and other mechanisms help plants absorb water from the atmosphere. Water is an essential part of the nutrient uptake mechanism in plants because many soil nutrients are soluble in water. The xylem tissue of the root system carries the nutrients up from the soil and distributes them throughout the plant after the plant has taken them in.

Due to its physiological dependence on water, the plating process cannot be completed without it. Your monstera plant’s leaf cells will die directly, making it vulnerable to many diseases and pests. The browning of the leaves is a direct result of previous events.

Sings of Underwatering

Because water cannot reach the most distal regions of the leaves, such as the edges and tips, those areas of the leaves dry up and develop a brownish-crisp color.
Dehydration of the soil is often indicated by the monstera leaves, which will turn brown and curl.
The potting soil and the pot itself will be entirely dry, and the pot will have a very light feel.
The leaves will start to droop and show symptoms of the disease.

How to Fix a Monstera That Is Underwater

Complete submersion in water is required for monstera that has been heavily underwatered. Put the saucepan in a sink where the water is running and set it aside.
One more way is to completely water the pot and check to see that the water has drained out via the drainage holes.
Carry on watering the plants until the soil is completely soaked.
When the top one to two inches of soil on the monstera plant becomes entirely dry, it is time to re-water it.

Lighting Issues

Direct sunlight is bad for your Monstera plant; indirect light is better. Leaving your Monstera out in the sun for too long can cause sunburn. Sunburn is a serious concern when growing Monstera in a south-facing, windowless room. Or, when the summer weather is great, you can enjoy it outside. If you want those huge, beautiful leaves on your houseplant, you’ll need to provide it with a lot of light.

However, if the monstera does not get enough light, it will turn brown and develop tiny leaves. Chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for giving leaves their characteristic green pigment, is essential for photosynthesis, the process by which leaves convert light into plant nourishment.

Your monstera may not produce enough green pigment or nutrients to preserve the health of the leaves if it does not get enough light. This causes the monstera plant’s leaves to turn a dull, yellowish brown.

How to Solve the Problem with the Lighting

Remove the leaves that have turned brown; they will not recover.
If you want to get the most out of your Monstera plant, put it in a window that faces either east or west. Keep in mind that your Monstera needs strong, indirect light to thrive.
If your monstera plant is located next to a window facing south, keep it at least 5 to 6 feet away (1-2 m). Because of this, it is only exposed to a limited amount of sunlight.
In addition, a sun-blocking curtain should be used on any windows that face south. This should prevent any harm coming to your monstera.
Do not commit the faux pas of leaving the plant outdoors unless it has first been acclimatized to the outside environment.
To maintain the happiness and health of your monstera plant in a room without access to natural light, you should use artificial lighting instead.

READ Easy Tips Growing Monstera Plants With Leca

Diseases

Eyespot disease

Eyespot disease, caused by the fungus Spilocaea oleaginous, appears as hairy, brown spots on the plant’s leaves and has the potential to spread throughout the entire plant. The spots will take on an asymmetrical shape, becoming more opaque in the middle. This is caused by too much moisture in the soil and can be fixed by using a fungicide on the plant and modifying its drainage or watering routine.

Anthracnose

Another fungal disease that enters the plant through preexisting leaf wounds is anthracnose. Monstera is especially vulnerable to this ailment when its leaves fall off. This fungus can be identified separately from others of its genus by the color of the spots it produces. A leaf’s injury site will initially turn yellow and brown as it heals. The only way to treat this issue is to remove the infected leaf and spray the entire plant with a fungicide.

How to solve the problems caused by disease

Using disinfected scissors, carefully remove the infected leaves from the plant.
Apply a baking soda spray to the affected leaves to treat them. The standard baking soda spray can be made by combining one tsp of baking soda with one quart of water.
Excessive moisture is ideal for the growth of fungi; to correct the problem, ensure that the plant’s leaves remain dry.
Make sure that the plant receives the appropriate amount of humidity. Fungal infections are made easier by low humidity levels.
If you have additional plants in the vicinity, you must also examine those plants for signs of disease. Getting to the root of the problem with the help of this would be beneficial.

Temperature Stress

Like many other tropical plants, Monstera prefers warm temperatures between 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. If your plant is subjected to a sudden temperature change or is put through extreme weather, it may turn brown. When the temperature drops suddenly, it causes harm to the delicate leaf cells, which causes the foliage to become brown and die. The longer you are out in the cold, the more severe the effects will be.

If the plant is taken out onto the balcony or elsewhere where it will be subjected to cold drafts, it may suffer major damage to its leaves and even die. Even worse, the leaves suffer damage from frostbite brought on by the AC’s direct airflow.

Plants placed too close to windows are at risk of frostbite and may be harmed by cold drafts coming in through the glass.

Fixing The Temperature Problem

Protect your plants from the cold by keeping them in a warm room. Relocating your monstera to a warmer temperature is a simple solution if you notice that the room is freezing. Plants shouldn’t be kept in an unheated greenhouse or sunroom over the winter.

The Monstera plant needs to be placed at least two or three feet away from direct heat or cold sources. Avoid placing your plant near a drafty or cold window. The Monstera could suffer serious damage if temperatures rise dramatically.

Over-fertilization

Your Monstera could turn brown spots on its leaves if you fertilize it too much. These spots will have a color somewhere between black and brown, and they will be found all over the leaf. This browning is brought on when the fertilizer kills the roots in the soil, which also prevents them from receiving any water or the soil’s nutrients.

Fixing the Problem of Excessive Fertilization

The first step is to thoroughly assess the amount of fertilizer that has been applied in the past. You can accomplish this by looking for salt stakes.
Next, remove surplus salt from your soil by saturating it with water and scrubbing it thoroughly.
You should refrain from fertilizing your soil for the next three months to avoid the problem.
Ensure your plant receives the proper care by providing adequate lighting, humidity, and watering.
There is also the option of repotting your Monstera plant. Because repotting can be stressful for your plant, you should stress this option as a last resort.

Low Humidity

Monstera is unusual among plants because it absorbs most of its water through its leaves; low humidity can cause the leaves to dry out and develop brown spots. A plant will begin to dry out and eventually turn brown if there is not enough humidity in the air around it.
Browning leaves, which result from low humidity, are brown in texture. The leaf’s brown patch will emerge at its tip and extend down its margins until the leaf wilts and falls off.

To fix this, just mist the plant’s leaves regularly, set the pot in a tray of stones or water, or place the plant near a humidifier.

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Transplant Shock

When transferred or repotted into a new container, monstera plants are likely to experience stress. Because you will need to repot the Monstera once every two years, this is occasionally something that cannot be avoided. The plant will cease growing, and its leaves will fall and turn brown if you do this to it.

How To Treat The Problem Of Shock After A Transplant

If your plant is already showing signs of suffering from transplant shock, the only issue to fix the condition successfully is to give it the best possible care.

Make sure there are sufficient drainage holes in your plant.
Remove all of the stems and leaves that have died. This would make it possible for new ones to emerge.
For the next few months, refrain from fertilizing your plant. It’s possible that fertilizing will make your plant’s stress even worse.
Suppose you have relocated your houseplant to a new location and noticed that the leaves have begun to turn brown. In that case, it is possible that the new location does not provide the appropriate amount of light or humidity for the plant. Putting your plant back where it was before you transplanted it is the simplest thing to do.
Be careful to provide your plants with a proper amount of water. At this stage, overwatering could cause damage to your Monstera plant.