Is your tap water 'city' water? If so, it will have chemicals that your plants cannot process & that will cause the browning.

It looks like all the overwatered FLFs I've read about on the houseplants forum, and all of them have turned out to be caused by overwatering. 'Overwatering' happens when the soil stays saturated for long periods of time, preventing air from prejudicing oxygen to the roots, leading to dead and rotting roots and a plant that starts to kill and drop leaves its reduced root system can no longer support. You might want to scan the first page or two on that forum for FLF threads, but meanwhile I'll ask a few questions:

Does the pot have a drain hole? How do your water--on a schedule, when the top of the soil is dry, or when the soil at the bottom of the pot is dry? Do you give it a fixed volume of water, or water until it drains freely from the pot? Does the pot ever sit in standing water?

What kind of soil are you using? Have you potted up (put the plant in a bigger pot with new soil around the existing rootball) or repotted it (removed all old soil from the roots, pruned errant roots, and replaced the soil with all new mix)?

I think watering with 2-3 gallons is excessive. Water until 10% runs out of the pot. That amount of water is usually reserved for a once in a while to flush excess salts or in cases of over fertilization. It probably wouldn't hurt to add a little Dyna-gro FP at 1/4 strength, you may have flushed all the available nutrients from the soil.

Also, let the water sit in a bucket for 24 hours before watering, so the chlorine can dissipate.

@litterbuggy

Thanks so much for the response. I've read most of Al's stuff but perhaps I am doing something wrong.

Currently it's still in its original plastic grow pot with (4) drainage holes. I removed the old soil and replaced it with 5-1-1 mix (5 parts bark, 1 part perlite, 1 part peat).

l water pretty freely with tap water until it starts draining clear. I usually water when the leaves start to droop a little despite dowel showing some moisture at bottom of the pot.

@mblan

Thanks for clarifying some things. Perhaps I am trying to flush to often. I just purchased a water filter. I am going to start watering in smaller amounts with the filtered water mixed with some fertilizer. Hopefully this pushes the plant in the positive direction

Just be sure to water until it drains freely from the pot, and water slowly covering the entire surface of the mix to make sure it's evenly moistened. I agree that you should fertilize, but unless you're using a reverse osmosis filter there will still be enough minerals left to cause mineral deposits if you water in sips.

Either way, the dead areas on the lower leaves aren't signs of any nutrient deficiency I've ever heard of, but please educate me if I'm wrong about that.

Al, my personal plant guru, has said that the chlorine used in modern water treatment systems is a solid that doesn't evaporate out when the water is allowed to stand, but it certainly wouldn't do any harm to let it stand if you're concerned about it.

Hey guys, thanks so much. One minor positive update is that the plant seems to be able to go longer without a watering. This weekend was the first time the soil was dry (according to the dowel) before the leaves started to go limp.

I promptly did a final flush to remove any salts from previous tap water (hopefully this doesn't hurt the plant). I then watered with 3 cups of very diluted mixture of distilled water & dyna-gro.

From now on I am going to use filtered water that sit out for a few days.

Here's to hoping there comes some new growth.

Good news, Bernard. Being able to store water means there are roots, so the new growth should come soon. Remember to water as much as it needs and not according to a measuring cup!