Q.
What causes the brown tips on some strappy-leaved plants like iris or agapanthus?
Should I cut it off?
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| Tried to find some leaf tip burn or leaf scorch on narrow leafed plants like Mondo grass or agapanthus. No luck. It is always the same. Not enough water is applied, the soil is not improved, salty soil or water, or it was planted in a hot location. In the case of Mondo grass, it should not be planted here. The humidity is just too low for it. https://www.public.asu.edu/~camartin/plants/Plant%20html%20files/liriopemuscari.html |
A.
You didn’t tell me which plant you’re concerned about because some plants are
less tolerant of certain location than others. This browning of the leaf tips
is called plain old “leaf scorch”. It can be caused for lots of reasons; sun is
too bright, low humidity, windy locations, poor periodic soil amendments,
watering too frequently, salty soil or irrigation water, or watering not often enough.
For instance, Mondo grass (it is a
form of Liriope muscari or grape muscari) is a small plant with “strappy
leaves” with lots of different common names like border grass, monkey grass,
grape hyacinth, and others. It gets leaf scorch in the desert in ALL locations.
That’s the way it looks in the desert. When in doubt, call it by its scientific
name (or Latin name) and understand where it is from.
Getting back to your plant, do what
the gardeners in the hotels do to indoor plants. They cut the leaf scorch off
and make the ends of the leaves resemble others. This makes the plant leaves
look more “natural” to passerby’s who just glance at it or pay no attention. If
most of the remaining leaves are pointed, then cut it off in a point. If you end
up not liking the look, remove the entire leaf by cutting it off at its base
and hiding the cut.
I know I sound like a broken record
but, when pruning, always sanitize the blades with at least 70% alcohol when
starting.
Consider moving the plant to a more
hospitable location. If it looks like the leaves are scorching, then move it to
a shadier spot. If that doesn’t work and you remove it, then lesson learned.
Consider it part of your education. Learn the name of the plant and buy
something different.
Remember, plants that have showy flowers
need more light than those that don’t conspicuously flower. If you planted a
nonflowering plant and it was planted at the lowest level of light available, then
the same plant will not work in that spot. Either that or more light needs to
be made available.