The leaves on some of my plants are starting to turn brown.

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How can I tell if the cause is lack of water, or salt or chemical damage?

That’s fairly simple.

  • If a plant is too dry, the tips of the leaves will turn brown. The longer without water, the farther down the leaf the burn will extend.
  • If a plant is suffering from salt damage, the entire leaf edge will appear brown or dry.
  • If it’s chemical damage, the foliage will generally have burn spots all over the leaf surface.

And here are the usual causes:

  • If a plant is too dry, it needs deeper or more frequent watering.
  • Salt burn is most often caused by excessive fertilization.
  • Chemical damage results from weed killer drifting onto a plant, a chemical solution being mixed stronger than label recommendations, or a spray being applied to (or too near to) a plant that is sensitive to that spray.

Please note that all three scenarios have man-made causes.