Bay Laurel Leaves Turning Brown
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Maxine Noronha
Posted on: April 17, 2007

I purchased a bay laurel from you (directly from the nursery) last spring and I keep it in my kitchen window. Over the summer I thought it had died because the leaf edges turned brown and several fell. I kept watering it anyway, and this month I noticed tiny new leaves growing so I put in a fertilizer stick and kept it slightly moist. I am noticing that the edges of the new growth are beginning to turn brown and I don’t know why. The rest of the leaf seems fine...am I doing something wrong?

I suspect that you are not watering the plant enough and may be over-fertilizing it. Take the fertilizer stick out of the pot and water with low-solute water, such as rain water or melted snow water. This will wash out the excess salts and give the roots a chance. Water more heavily than you are used to and more frequently. If the roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot, the re-pot into fresh soil into a slightly bigger pot and keep well-watered.

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