About 90% of a plant is water, which is a lot more than the amount of water in a person. A plant can’t live without water. They wouldn’t be able to get any food or grow. The most important thing you can do to help your plant life is to water it. But your houseplant can die if you give it too much water.
Watering your plant is easy, but it’s also easy to overwater it. If you overwater your houseplant, it can hurt it more than help. It can damage the roots that are deep in the ground. Roots need water and carbon dioxide to bring nutrients into the plant.
If you give your houseplant too much water, the roots won’t be able to get water and food to the plant’s body. But if you are too much like a helicopter parent to your plant, it will let you know with a few common signs of overwatering.
7 Signs of Overwatered Plants
Here are seven warning signs of giving your houseplant too much water.
1. Leaf fall
Even though it is normal for a plant’s leaves to fall off, newer leaves should not fall off. If the younger leaves on your plants start falling off, you’re likely giving them too much water. These leaves could turn a different color or fall off while still green. So, if the leaves on your house plants are falling off, try giving them less water.
2. Brown Tips
You might also be giving your plant too much water if the tips of its leaves are brown. This happens when too much water flows from the stem to the leaves and pools in the cells of the leaves. Once it reaches the leaf’s end, it can’t go anywhere else. When this happens, the cells in the leaves start to burst, causing the tips to turn brown and dry out.
3. Yellow leaf
Yellowing is another kind of change in color that can be seen. Most of the time, this can only be seen on plants with green leaves. This happens when you give your houseplant too much water, and the roots can’t “breathe.” Poor drainage makes it look like the roots are getting too much water and dying. When the leaves don’t get enough water and food, they lose color. At some point, these leaves will start to fall off.
4. Wilting
Most plants’ leaves wilt before they fall off or change color. When this happens, the leaves of your plant will often look sad and droopy. This could signify that you are giving your plant too much water. But strangely enough, it could also mean the plant isn’t getting enough water. The best way to tell if your houseplant is getting too much or too little water is to look at the texture of its leaves. If they are soft and wet, they have had too much water. If they feel dry or crisp, they don’t have enough water.
5. Slow Grow
This one might be a little more difficult to find. As we’ve already discussed, if you overwater your plant, it can’t get the right amount of nutrients. When this happens, your plant’s growth will either slow down or stop. This isn’t usually a big deal unless you want your plant to grow faster than it is. If that’s the case, you need to be more careful about how much water you give your houseplant and find the right balance.
6. Mold Growth
If you often give your plant too much water, the soil could become a good place for mold to grow. Mold likes to grow in damp places and will stop your plant’s roots from getting the nutrients they need to stay hydrated.
7. Rotting Roots
This one is a little harder to see unless you take your plant out of its pot. But if your houseplant is losing leaves, its leaves are turning yellow, or it shows any of the other signs above, it may have root rot. This happens when the roots haven’t been getting the nutrients they need for a long time. Because they don’t have enough food, they start to rot. Root rot is an infection caused by fungi that makes the roots soft and change color.
How to Save a Houseplant From Overwatering?
Suppose you notice any of the above signs and catch them in time. You can do things to help your plant get better. For the first few, stop watering your plant for a few weeks and look for signs that it is improving. Wait until all of the water has dried up. When that happens, give the plant some water.
Cutting off dead or dying leaves is also a good idea since they add to the plant’s stress.
If it seems like you’re always giving your plant too much water, it might not be you. It could be that there isn’t enough drainage. If this is the problem, try taking the plant out of its current pot and putting it in one that drains better. When moving the house plant, use suitable soil for the type of plant.
If your plant has root rot, it may be too late to save. When you take the plant out of its pot to look at it, look for white, firm roots. These are signs that the plant is healthy. If you see this among the brown, wet roots, there is a chance you can save it.
To stop root rot from happening to your plant, you must eliminate the infection. Just cut off the part of the sick plant and put it in a new pot. The best way to stop root rot from spreading is to shake off the clumps of soil and cut off all the rotten roots. Make sure you clean your garden shears, so the rot doesn’t spread to other plants.
If you want to use the same pot, clean it with a mild soap first. When you put your plant back in the pot with good drainage, replace the soil as well. Your newly replanted plant must be watered until the water runs out of its drainage holes.
Conclusion – Avoiding Overwatering Your Houseplant
You need to know how to check your plant’s moisture level, so you don’t overwater it in the future. The finger method is the best way to do this. Just stick your finger a full inch into the soil around the plant. If the soil is dry that far down, it’s time to water. You can wait a little longer if you feel moisture and a few soils stick to your finger when you pull it out.
Getting a planter that waters itself are another way to avoid giving too much water. These planters are made to only provide the plant with the amount of water it needs. It keeps the soil moist but the plant’s roots from drowning in too much water.