Fertilizer build-up

Brown tips plus heavy feeding usually means salt build-up in the soil.

Diagnosis

Fertilizer build-up

What's happening

Excess fertilizer salts accumulate in the soil and burn the root tips, which shows up as browning leaf tips and a white crust on the soil surface.

How to fix it

Flush the pot: run plenty of plain water through the soil until it drains freely, several times. Then cut back to feeding at half strength every 3–4 weeks in the growing season only.

If that doesn't fix it

This is general guidance based on common symptoms; individual plants vary.

Reviewed June 2026 · how we check this