Brown tips on tomato plant leaves?

On outdoor tomatoes, brown leaves most often mean lower-leaf fungal spotting or stress from water and weather, but pests and spray damage can look similar.

Answer what you can see

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Push a finger two inches into the soil. What does it feel like?

Which leaves are affected?

What has the weather been doing?

How fast did this happen?

Several causes can share the same answer set: early blight/Septoria and waterlogged roots can both look like damp lower-leaf browning after rain, drought/heat scorch, spider mites, and spray burn can overlap during hot dry weather, and cold injury and herbicide drift can both damage new tips suddenly; use the confirm checks to separate them.

The causes in full

Early blight or Septoria leaf spotMOST COMMON

How to tell
Look at the oldest, lowest leaves for many round brown spots; early blight often has ring-like spots, while Septoria often has tiny dark dots in the spots.

What to do
Remove the worst spotted lower leaves, mulch under the plant to stop soil splash, and keep leaves as dry as possible when watering. If the soil is waterlogged two inches down, pause watering until it is only damp, because wet soil and wet leaves help these diseases spread.

Drought and heat scorchCOMMON

How to tell
The soil is dry or cracked, the plant wilts in the afternoon, and the brown areas are crispy, often worse on leaf edges or the side hit by afternoon sun.

What to do
If the soil is dry two inches down or baked hard and cracked, water deeply at the base until the root zone is soaked, then mulch to slow drying. During a heatwave, temporary afternoon shade is useful, but do not keep watering if the soil is already damp or waterlogged.

Waterlogged soil or root stressCOMMON

How to tell
The soil feels soggy, the plant may wilt even though the bed is wet, and lower leaves turn yellowish first, then brown.

What to do
If the soil is waterlogged two inches down, stop irrigation until it is only damp and open small drainage channels if water is standing. For future plantings, improve drainage with compost and raised rows or raised beds.

Spider mitesCOMMON

How to tell
Check the undersides of leaves for tiny moving dots, fine webbing, and pale speckling that turns bronze or brown, especially in hot, dry weather.

What to do
Spray the undersides of leaves hard with plain water in the morning and repeat every few days; if mites are still active, use horticultural oil or insecticidal soap labeled for tomatoes during the cooler part of the day. If the soil is dry two inches down, water deeply to reduce plant stress.

Herbicide drift or spray/fertilizer burnLESS COMMON

How to tell
Damage appears suddenly after weed killer nearby, a strong garden spray, or fertilizer splash; new tips may twist or curl, and brown or bleached patches may be sharper on one side.

What to do
Stop using the suspected product and rinse foliage with plain water if the exposure happened today. If fertilizer granules or spill are on dry soil, scrape them away and water only if the soil is dry two inches down.

Cold snap or late frost injuryLESS COMMON

How to tell
Brown or black limp patches show up right after a cold night, usually on exposed top leaves and tender new tips, with no insect webbing or round disease spots.

What to do
Wait until warmer weather returns, then trim only tissue that is clearly dead. If the soil is damp two inches down, do not add extra water just because leaves are browned; water only if the soil is dry two inches down.

Will it recover?

Leaves that have turned brown will not turn green again; the goal is to stop the cause and see healthy new growth.

Stopping it happening again

Keep tomatoes evenly watered when the soil is dry two inches down, mulch the bed, avoid wetting leaves, give plants airflow, check undersides of leaves often, and avoid spraying or fertilizing during hot sun.