It's a good idea to trim these plants once a year and remove dead and yellowing leaves, as well as spent blooms. However, try to be very gentle when handling this fragile plant. Use sterilized scissors and trim damaged leaves all the way down to the plant's base, leaving only the healthy leaves.
Maintaining Leaves
Use your shears to prune or remove any dead, damaged, or browning leaves. Be sure to trim at an angle, following the natural contours of the air plant leaves. This will keep the plant looking full and uniform as opposed to blunt cuts.
When plants are stressed, they may display this with browning of their leaf tips. This is one scenario where misting your plant between waterings may be beneficial to help prevent leaf tips from browning. Causes of dried leaf tips can be too much sun or not enough water.
Identifying Overwatered Air Plants
The most obvious signs to look out for are soft, mushy leaves and discoloration. If your air plant's leaves feel more like wilted lettuce than the stiff, healthy texture they're supposed to have, you could be dealing with overwatering.
Unless the whole leaf has browned, it's okay to leave it. To trim the brown tips off it's just cosmetic. But if you snip off discolored leaves/etc, that will overall boost the health of your plants new growth and healthy leaves. Less of a nutrient waste, if you will!
Too much, too little or inconsistent watering are major contributors to houseplant decline and can cause brown tips on houseplants. Overwatering, the most likely cause, decreases the amount of oxygen available for root growth and creates an environment susceptible to root diseases and rot.
As with any indoor plant, remove any leaves and branches from your rubber plant that appear to be dead or dying. This will improve the overall appearance of the rubber plant, and keep the plant in good health.
You should soak your air plants every week to ten days as a rule of thumb. Air plant leaves tend to feel a little stiffer after you water them, and one of the most telltale signs that your air plant is dehydrated is if its leaves are wrinkled or starting to curl a lot more than they usually do.
Do not allow the plant to get extremely dry, this additional shock could be enough to kill the plant. If the plant is wilting badly, you can mist or syringe the plant's foliage with water which will prevent too much leaf scorch.
If the center leaves are falling out, or the base of the plant begins to turn black or brown, this is a sign that it's beginning to rot from too much water.
A healthy air plant will have wide open leaves while a dehydrated air plant will have closed and curled leaves! Never submerge the bloom or flower, as it can cause the flower to rot. If you are using tap water, let the water stand for several hours to dissipate any chemicals prior to watering the plants.
Air plants are sometimes glued to a decorative support. They can do quite well in this situation, but it can make watering the plant a little awkward. If possible, soak the air plant without submerging the wood or other material attached to it, and be sure to invert the plant afterward so it dries thoroughly.
Roots: Air plants anchor themselves to objects by their roots and need to be attached to something in order to grow.
Reviving a Dying Air Plant
Switch to rainwater or unchlorinated water. Move the plant to a well-lit place away from direct sunlight if you suspect lighting issues. Finally, spray the plants with Tillandsia fertilizer to provide nutrients and allow the plant to thrive.
Light Needs
All air plants like bright, indirect light but xeric plants can also tolerate direct morning sun. A south-, west- or bright east-facing window is the best. Place them no more than 5 feet away from the light source, adjusting the difference depending upon “how bright” your actual light is.
Healthy air plant roots are firm and exhibit a white or light tan color. In contrast, unhealthy roots appear dark, mushy, or slimy, signaling potential problems.
The faster their soil dries out, the better these plants recover. To speed up the process, place a sheet of paper towel under or around the root ball. After a few hours in the shade and in the open air, the soil will be dry. You can then return the plant to its container.
How to check for root rot. The main signs to look out for are: yellowing, wilting leaves, wet soil that isn't drying, black, wet roots, quickly declining health, and stunted growth.
Misting protects the plant against dehydration. Watering, on the other hand, is intended to reach the roots and allow for the absorption of both water and nutrients.
As a general rule of thumb, the higher the humidity in your space, the more light is tolerated by the air plant. This means that if you're putting your air plant where it will receive loads of light, you should plan to mist it more often - twice a week or even daily.
A light application of water, such as misting, will not fully absorb through the plant's leaves and the water will most likely evaporate before it can nourish the plant. A deeper, more thorough method of dunking or soaking is recommended for most plants every week to ten days to ensure proper hydration.
Most air plants grow in the shaded boughs of trees naturally and are used to only receiving bright indirect light. Do your best to keep them out of direct sunlight as this can cause the plant to completely dry out and turn brown.
Answer: Brown leaf tips or edges can happen on any indoor plant but are common on some species like spider plant and dracaena. Trimming the brown portions off the leaves with a scissors can improve appearance, but new browning will occur if the root cause is not addressed.
Overwatering can cause your rubber plant to develop dull brown patches that appear on leaf edges. The plant's soil should be kept evenly moist, neither too wet nor too dry.