The picture at the top is just an example of what it looks like when iris leaf tips start to turn brown. This happened with my iris plants this year, and I will tell you the most common reasons why iris leaf tips are turning brown and how to treat them.
When it is normal to have brown leaves on the Iris
I never complained about these browning issues with Iris because I know a lot of facts about Iris.
You need to know these before you start complaining:
- Iris is a spring flower.
- You can not expect the foliage to look fabulous all year.
I will first talk about when it is normal to have brown leaf tips on Iris, and then I will address some other issues that warrant concern.
Late summer/August is the time when you need to trim your Iris plants. If you don't do that, you will witness browning leaves (they might turn yellow and die, too).
Here's what you can do to protect your Iris during this time of the year:
The browning is absolutely "Normal". You can pull out those brown ones; they are probably on the edge of your fans. But it’s not necessary. (Here, "fan" means the large, mature leaves of your plant that spread out like a fan)
Go through and clean out the ones that have fallen or are completely brown. I just hate how they look so baked. They’re hearty in the spring, though.
Here's what I do:
I pull out many that are still green. Just for athletics. They are wilting this time of year because it’s their time to wilt! Many people start cutting them off at about 6 inches from the ground around this time of year and over the next month to get them ready for fall/winter. They are Spring flowers, so their foliage can’t be expected to look fabulous ALL year.
This is the time when you can separate them and propagate.
Here are some tips for you.
You may want to consider dividing (Usually every 3 to 5 years). In the fall or late summer, you can trim the brown so it will look cleaner. (trimming is healthy for the rhizome. It promotes healthy flowers next year.)
Late summer/August is when you should trim them into fan shapes. I fan them high 1st time & then I come back when it gets colder & fan them lower. This keeps them looking trim & neat.
Some other possible reasons:
If you notice brown leaf tips outside of late summer or fall, it usually means there might be some other possible reasons.
- Watering issue: Check the soil and water drainage system. If you keep the soil dry for a longer time, you may witness dry leaves (as Iris likes moist soil). I will not consider overwatering as an issue here, as overwatering may cause yellowing instead of browning.
- Chemical damage: Excessive fertilizer can give stress to the plants, and the leaf tips might start browning.
- Too much heat or sunlight: This is what I just talked about. And it usually happens in summer and late summer. Trim your Iris plant at this time of the year.
