also why do the tips of plants turn brown?

I usually start fertilizing in March and stop around Sept., but I don't do it nearly as often as directions say, since my plants are pretty healthy and I don't want most of them to get big too fast since I'm already out of space!

I don't suggest fertilizing plants when they come home from the store. Most plants already have time-release fertilizer in the soil from the grower, so they may be getting fertilizer on their own for as long as three months, depending on how long they've been at the store. It is always safer to underfertilize rather than overfertilize.

Indirect sunlight means in a bright room away from the window, or in a window that may be shaded by a building or tree or a curtain. Most plants will not do well in a bathroom, even with the light on all the time - it's simply not enough light to survive on.

Brown tips sometimes means that you are watering with flouridated water out of your tap.

Brown tips usually means lack of humdity (water in the air, not the soil!).

I've wondered about the brown tips too because one of my ponytail palm and one of my spiders have brown tips, but I use filtered water. I always thought using tap water was the cause so I didn't understand why mine were turning brown. Lack of humidity makes sense for my spider (the air is dry in my apt. and I have no humidity tray under it), but my ponytail gets a lot of brown tips, and I use a humidity tray and also mist the foliage constantly (which I know most people say is a waste of time but I do it several times a day and I also use Eleanor's VF-11 in my spray bottle which is great for foliage). Also, I've read to leave a tiny bit of brown when cutting the brown off so that it doesn't grow back...doesn't help. Any other opinions about these annoying brown tips?

I just trim the brown tips with scissors. I have a client with two ancient spider plants that had tips all over. I found that after a year of correct watering (letting it get dry on top), all the new leaves grew in without any tipping at all. I gradually removed the tipped leaves, and now they are really pretty. And this is with water from the bathroom sink in the office, I have no idea if it's filtered or whatever.

Most of the ponytails I've seen have brown tips. I just keep on trimming! Why would a ponytail expect high humidity anyway when it's got that big bulbous water storage thingie at the base so it can live in a drought-prone climate?!

One other thought - some plants tip a lot if fertilized heavily (like dracaenas). I wonder if that's an issue with spiders and ponies (and lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) But now I'm just getting silly...

If you trim past the brown edge, it will get brown again....

Trim close to, but not all of the brown off...especially on a Ponytail Palm...

Watergal,
That's surprising that you use bathroom tap water and your plants are fine! Lucky you! I trim mine with scissors as well, and I water correctly. I let my spiders dry almost fully before watering. So that can't be the reason for my brown tips. As for the humidity with the ponytail, it's a succulent but it's still tropical, and it needs extra humidity. If you do a search on here (especially the bonsai forum) or the web it will tell you that. Humidity has nothing to do with watering. I water my ponytail like I water my other succulents....not much.

Webkat,
Yes, thanks for verifying...that's what I thought about the tips. However, I've been doing that (cutting the brown tips close to the edge and leaving some brown) and the same tips stay brown...they just grow longer. I don't know what it is, but it sure is annoying!

mine that have brown tips are dracaena wernechei compacta hehe i got excited about my new plants and looked all the names up :). It is up a bit high on a shelf so maybe since heat rises it does lack humidity there, although i did water with tap water so guess i will have to rule out now. great tip on trimming but leaving a little of the brown, thanks.

The ponytails need a huge dose of water very infrequently. When the caudex (guess they qualify for that) gets shriveled, it is time to water. It will plump right up...then leave it alone for about a month...