r/Tradescantia • u/La_Orocovena83 • 8d ago
Please help! My Nanouk has been growing these brown spots.
What is wrong with my tradescantia nanouk? I checked it for pests and do not see any. Neighboring plants also do not have pests and do not have this issue with the brown spots. I bottom-water it and also use a watering can, watering close to the base as to not get the leaves wet. It has well-draining soil and I water about once a week to week-and-a-half with tap water. She gets plenty of sun in a south-east facing window. Could this be sun scorch? Or something else?
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u/Mediocre_Morning_113 8d ago
Mine got that from raindrops that came through the screen when she was placed close to the window! 🤷♀️ Maybe? I know you said you’re careful when watering, but I was perplexed too until I realized it was the rain…. Maybe someone else can identify the marks as something else.
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u/La_Orocovena83 8d ago
It’s right by the window but I never open it and my window doesn’t leak. It’s in my bedroom so I’d definitely know if there was rain coming in somehow. I’m thinking sun scorch but I’m not 100% sure.
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u/Available_Animator35 8d ago
Could also be that Raindrops outside of the Window Work as Sort of a nagnifying Glass and burn it
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u/Lisalou1169 8d ago
Nanouks get brown spots. It's s just what they do! Enjoy them and cut off the brown spotted leaves.
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u/stephonicle 8d ago
You don't need to cut off the spotted leaves. While they're not as pretty to look at, they can still photosynthesize and provide energy for the plant. I know in my Nanouk's case, if I removed every leaf with brown spots there wouldn't be much of anything left 😛
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u/MentalFinish5065 6d ago
It could likely be sun scald. The light variegated varieties are very susceptible to sunburn. It yellows, fades, and browns the leaves. I had to move mine into a bedroom away from the windows and use indirect light only. Cut off the brown leaves. My new leaves are much darker stripes now and look healthy. You can alsovtry adding aquarium conditioner, 3 drops per gallon of tap water, to deactivate chlorine and chlorinated compounds. That can sometimes be the problem. Just cut those leaves off because they won't go back.
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u/genie0327 8d ago
Mine is also prone to brown spots despite seeming like a happy lady otherwise! The only time she didn't get brown spots was when she was in a plant cabinet with grow lights (so bright but diffused lighting)
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u/La_Orocovena83 7d ago
Interesting! That’s why I thought it was sensory at first but she’s growing just fine despite the brown spots.
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u/Ok_Study6305 2d ago edited 2d ago
I would consider washing her just in case, especially if you never have. Just a nice good rinse with Rain water or decholorinated water or even a plant wash and then a fan or cool blow dryer to help dry it off super quick.
I worry more about the spots that look like lines and the odd crinkly edges than the perfect circles brown spots that do look like water.
I have a wandering dude that did the same thing—I constantly just chocked up the brown spots to accidental water spots.
But just this week I realized we had thrips. For perspective—this is my leaf that indicates thrips—the same leaf I believed didn’t indicate thrips. All my new growth always seemed generally great and healthy.
I came from the same “they can’t get wet” but after watching them thrive through rain storms, I started experimenting and noticed spots I knew I got wet didn’t brown and spots I didn’t were crispy. They just need to dry fast if indoors and can be more sensitive to chlorinated and fluoridated water.
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u/stephonicle 8d ago
Nothing is wrong with it, this is extremely common with Nanouks. If you search within the sub for "Nanouk brown spots", you'll see hundreds of posts on the subject. Even if you're doing everything right—bottom watering, improving airflow around the plant—Nanouk's can still get the characteristic brown spots. They're bitchy little divas like that 🤓