01/19/2026
Do this one trick and you will never have burnt leaf edges on your houseplants again.
Perhaps the most frequent question people ask me, year after year, is "Why are the leaf edges of my houseplants dead/brown?"
Answer: salt buildup.
Tropical Plants exude sap from the leaf edges. Each time this happens, whatever salts are in the sap remain and concentrate as the sap evaporates. When the air humidity drops, the salts draw enough water out of the leaves to damage and kill cells.
The Solution: water only with rainwater, distilled water or reverse osmosis water.
This type of water duplicates the purity of the water these plants evolved with. It is what they are genetically "used to."
Then people tell me, "But I don't put salts in my water! Why is this still happening?"
The 'splaination: " Naturally occuring calcium and magnesium bicarbonates in our tap water derived from rivers and wells is enough of a salt load to damage the leaves."
It does not need to be table salt, sodium chloride, to kill leaves. Sodium is an order of magnitude worse for plant health than other types.
Behold my salt burned Monstera deliciosa. I have been watering it the past three years with city water. As you can see that while the young leaves are fine, the older ones gradually burn, with the dead zones advancing each month.
I do have Reverse Osmosis water. I could prevent this; but, I don't. Lazy. Instead I just remove a few of the most unslightly leaves and then ignore the plant for another year.
Good enough for me. Good enough for the cats which hide in its shade.
Of course, if this were a specimen I intended to sell or enter in some competition, I would spend the money for better water, and the plant would look picture perfect.