With its thickened trunk at the bottom and the leaves, some of which are more than a meter long, the elephant's foot is not only easy to care for but also very decorative. If the leaves get too long, the temptation is to simply cut them off.
How do I cut the elephant's foot when the leaves are brown?
If the leaves of the elephant's foot become too long or brown, it is recommended to cut them off completely at the trunk instead of just trimming the tips. Brown leaves are often caused by sunburn, lack of light or dry heating air.
You may feel the same way if the tips of the narrow leaves turn brown and the attractiveness of your elephant foot suffers. But caution is advised here. The unattractive brown leaf tips are quickly cut off, but the consequences are probably not desired.
What happens if I prune the leaves?
After you have cut off the tips of the leaves, it won't take too much time until the cut edges turn brown again. So you won't win anything. Prune the brown leaves again and the whole game starts again and becomes more or less a vicious circle.
How else can I shape the elephant foot?
More elegant than trimming the leaves is to cut them off completely, i.e. close to the trunk. It is in the nature of evergreen plants that they develop brown leaves from time to time and then they fall off. There is only cause for concern if significantly more leaves fall off or change color than new leaves grow.
The most important things in brief:
- do not cut off the tips of the leaves
- If necessary, it is better to remove the leaves completely
- brown or falling leaves within normal limits
Why do the leaves turn brown?
There are various possible causes for brown leaves on your elephant foot. In most cases, care errors or the wrong location are at least involved. Brown leaves are just as possible when sunburned as when there is a lack of light. Neither is good for your elephant foot. However, a lack of water occurs relatively rarely.
- Possible causes of brown leaves:
- Sunburn
- Lack of light
- heating air that is too warm and/or dry
- watered too little (but this rarely happens)
Tip
The elephant's foot loves warmth and light, but cannot tolerate excessively dry heating air or the blazing midday sun. It's best to avoid these location mistakes right from the start.
