Why does my fiddle-leaf fig have brown crisp edges on the leaves?

On a fiddle-leaf fig the margin of a leaf turns tan to brown and brittle, in a band that follows the outline, with the middle of the leaf still green. The edge feels papery, and on a bad leaf the browning reaches in towards the midrib.

The most likely cause for this plant is dry compost or dry air, with direct sun through glass a close third. The entry lists all three, and the Royal Horticultural Society says that dry, shrivelled leaves on ornamental figs can be due to insufficient humidity, dry compost or too much direct sun. At an interval of about 8 days in the growing season and 14 in winter, a pot left to dry out between waterings, or one standing near a radiator in the heating season, gives exactly this.

To confirm it in a minute, push a finger to 4 or 5 cm. Bone dry and a light pot say the watering has slipped. If the compost is fine, look at the pattern. Only the leaves facing the glass, in a spot where the midday sun falls on them, are scorched. Browning on leaves nearest a radiator or heater, or that began when the heating came on, is dry air.

A pale crust on the surface of the compost or around the drainage holes is the other thing to look for. It is salt from feed, and the plant is fed monthly at half strength in the growing season, not stronger.

Brown edges never turn green again, so judge the recovery by the new leaves, which should open with clean margins once the cause is dealt with. In the growing season that takes a few weeks per leaf. In winter the plant is slow to make new leaves, and the proof may not come until spring.

What this plant wants

The fix

Water more evenly, move it out of the sun beam, and keep it away from radiators and air conditioning.

Read on

Brown crisp edges on the leaves

The same sign on any plant, with the causes in the order they are likely.

Fiddle-leaf fig care

Light, water, feeding, repotting and the rest of the entry.

Check it in the diagnoser

Opens with the plant, the part and the sign already chosen.