Houseplants

I got asked a question about houseplants today.  A friend of mine was wondering why the leaves on his houseplant were suddenly turning brown. 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Mike Senecal

There are many reasons why this can happen, most commonly it happens because of the plant aging.  As tropical plants (typical for a house plant) get older they tend to lose their lower leaves to expose a bare stem.  Judging from this picture that is what I would say is happening, however there may be other things happening if the top leaves on the plant are changing.

• Not enough light, unfortunately it is hard to get enough light in the winter, my plants struggle and require frequent spinning and micro-adjustments to get maximum light.
• Too much or too little water:  I know, it seems counter-intuitive when you hear that you can give a plant too much water, but you can and effects on the plant appear the same as too little water.  The way to tell if it is too much water is by feeling the leaves and if they feel soggy then you are giving it too much water.  Conversely too little water will make the leaves dry and crispy feeling.
• Too much heat can also cause this problem.  Check and make sure that you aren't storing your plant over a heat source, if you are you should elevate it off the heat and consider increasing the amount of water you are giving the plant.

I hope this helps you all with your house plants.  Thank you for the question Mike!