Why Are Majesty Palm Leaves Turning Brown?

Majesty palms are tropical plants native to Madagascar. The tropical climate it thrives in can be tough to manage if you’re growing this beautiful palm at home – particularly if grown as indoor palms.

While they are beautiful, they require more work than average indoor plants to make sure they stay healthy. Majesty palms need plenty of light and humidity in order to thrive. 

Leaves turning brown on Majesty PalmPin

In general, palm trees are often victim to a lack of nutrition in the soil and environment. They can have several mineral deficiencies in nitrogen, potassium, and manganese.

If the palm fertilizer lacks iron, magnesium, calcium, copper, and zinc, the palm may not be receiving the nutrition in the soil it needs. These deficiencies could also come from high soil pH levels.


If you keep them in the wrong conditions, majesty palms’ leaves, trunks, and soil can dry up and lead to the plant’s death. If your majesty palm leaves are turning brown, you might also want to look out for fungal infections such as leaf spots in the palm.

What Are Leaf Spots?

Majesty Palms, like most tropical plants, need plenty of moisture to survive. If you don’t want the palm to dry out, make sure that the soil never dries out. The moisture level should remain consistent.

However, if the soil becomes too saturated and soggy, this can cause fungal infections in your palm. Leaf spots are brown and circular or more elongated like an oval, and sometimes appear oily.

Indoor potted palm plant with variegated leaves, terracotta pot against a purple wallPin
Photo Credit: Instagram @gingy4real

As palms are susceptible to many fungus types, it may be hard to tell which one it is at first glance, but the most common is called leaf spot.

What Damage Does Leaf Spot Cause?

The leaf spot may first appear yellow, then gradually darken to a brown color. These spots are an indicator that there is a fungal infection. 

If untreated, the leaf spots can grow in size and number, leaving entire leaves and majesty palm fronds to brown. If the severity of the infection reaches a certain point, entire portions of the majesty palm could begin to dehydrate and die.

How To Control Leaf Spots?

In general, majesty palms need more attention than other plants you may have in your home. To keep your majesty palm healthy, be sure of the following items.

Potted palm plant with healthy and withered leaves in an indoor plant nurseryPin
Photo Credit: Instagram @aquaboy401

Preventative Measures

Ensure that the majesty palm is in a place where it will receive six to eight hours of bright light or sunshine per day.

As mentioned before, never let the potting soil dry out if you are growing your majesty palm indoors. Moist soils, not soggy soil.

If you’ve potted your majesty palm, it needs a pot with drainage holes to allow any excess water to escape but not drown or rot the roots.



In addition to plenty of moisture at the soil surface, tropical Majesty palms also require plenty of moisture in the air. If the air is too dry, your majesty palm will need a more humid room or a humidifier.

Humidity will help protect it from the air that is too cold or dry and potentially spider mites that love warm dry environments.

If a humidifier is not an option for you, humidity trays could also work. Fill a wide, shallow container with sand or gravel and water.

Put the pot over the container (above the water), and the evaporated water will help refresh the majesty palm leaves.

Watching for pests in your majesty palms can also help you keep moisture at the right level. For example, majesty palms are susceptible to pests like spider mites indoors. The right humidity level keeps pests and leaf spots away from palms.

You can make sure of this by misting the palm routinely or wiping the leaves’ undersides with a moist towel.

Treatment 

Luckily, if the leaf spots are still manageable, it can be easily treated. As with some other diseases, you most likely won’t need a fungicidal treatment for leaf spot.

You can treat minimal leaf spots naturally by cutting off the browned areas to keep them from spreading to the rest of the plant. 

However, if the leaf spots are causing severe damage to the majesty palm and are turning its leaves brown, you may need the help of a fungicidal spray that contains copper, palms’ necessary nutrients. Make sure to use any fungicidal spray as directed on the label.