Tap-water and fertilizer salt build-up
Browning tips with a white crust on the soil mean salts are accumulating — Arecas are unusually sensitive to them.
Diagnosis
Tap-water and fertilizer salt build-up
What's happening
Areca Palm is sensitive to the fluoride, chlorine, and dissolved minerals in tap water, as well as to fertilizer salts. Over time these build up in the soil and burn the delicate root tips, which the plant shows as browning leaflet tips and a chalky white crust on the soil surface and pot rim.
How to fix it
Flush the pot: run plenty of plain water through the soil until it drains freely, several times in a row, to leach out the accumulated salts. Then switch to filtered, distilled, or rainwater for this palm, and cut feeding back to a balanced fertilizer at half strength every 3–4 weeks during the growing season only. Trim the browned tips with clean scissors for a tidy look while new growth comes in clean.
What fixes it
- A long-spout watering can — Keep a can of filtered or distilled water on hand — the Areca's tips stay clean when you skip mineral-heavy tap water.
If that doesn't fix it
This is general guidance based on common symptoms; individual plants vary.
Read the full Areca Palm care guide →
Reviewed June 2026 · how we check this