How to Tell if a Plant is Overwatered or Underwatered

Every plant has different watering needs and requirements for you to follow. But if you don’t follow it properly, then it could lead to overwatered and underwatered plants, which is one dangerous situation a plant can face.

To figure out this issues, you need to look for signs in plants and its soil. You will find yellow leaves, soft stems, mushy and moisture roots in overwatered plants. In underwatered plants, it’s the opposite; the leaves will be dry and curled, the steps become brittle, along with dry soil.

In the blog below, I explain a couple of different things that will help you in this situation, so let’s hop in.

How to Tell if a Plant is Overwatered or Underwatered:

Proper watering is one of the most critical needs of a plant. But sometimes, plants get overwatered or underwatered, leading to severe damage. The damage and influence from overwatering leads to root rot or fungal infection that can also kill your plant while underwatering, stressing out the plant that can also slowly kill you plant.

To treat and prevent these issues, first, you need to recognize them by their symptoms, and then you can devise a proper plan to fix them. So we started by explaining the signs of both overwatering and underwatering plants.

Signs of Overwatered Plants:

There are different ways you can tell a plant is overwatered, which include,

Physical Signs:

• The first and most common signs of overwatering is yellow leaves, dropping plants with moist soil.
• Wilting plant is also a physical sign of overwatering, which is also caused by underwatering.
• Other than that, the plant leaves may have developed black spots with rotten stems, which is also a sign of overwatering, which is caused by root rot.
• Further, edema is another indicator of overwatered plants.

Soil Condition:

Checking soil condition for physical signs is also a suitable way to look for symptoms, which include

• wet and soggy soil even between watering.
• If your plant has poor draining soil, then it will definitely have overwatering problems, for both planted in the garden and planted in a container.
• Other than that, if you notice algae or mold in the soil, your plant will have overwatering issues because they needs excessive moisture to thrive.

Signs of Underwatering Plants:

There are also different ways you can tell that a plant is underwatered, which include,

Physical Signs:

You can tell a plant is underwatered when its leaves turn brown or greyish and become dry, and the plant becomes wilted.

• Sometimes, the plant leaves arch down, which is caused by the stress of less water.
• Its stem also turns brittle and becomes easy to break.
• The growth of the plants also stops or becomes slow.

Soil Condition:

You can easily tell by its soil condition that the plant is underwatered. When the soil is crumbly and dry, then it means that your plant is dehydrated and needs water.

Comparison Between Overwatered and Underwatered Plants:

You will see a clear difference when you compare both overwatered and underwatered plants. The overwatered plants will look limp, swollen or bloated with soft leaves and tissue due to absorbing too much water, while the underwater plants look dry, brittle and faded due to dehydration.

Common Causes of Overwatering and Underwatering:

There are different causes of both overwatering and underwatering, which are discussed on this website a couple of times for various vegetables and fruits. Lets discus is one more time.

Overwatering Causes:

Overwatering is caused by different factors, which include,

• Bad or rigid watering practice means adding water to your plant very often.
• The clay soils has very bad drainage, which retains too much moisture that usually lead to overwatering.
• Doesn’t have enough drainage in the soil or doesn’t have drainage holes in the container.
• Seasonal changes, such as the temperature getting too cold.

These are some of the common overwatering factors that mainly cause humans instead of nature.

Underwatering Causes:

Just like overwatering, underwatering is also caused by different things, like

• Use compact soil in your garden or container which doesn’t retain moisture.
• Improper watering practices.
• High temperatures can also lead to evaporation, which causes underwatering at some level.
• Sandy soil can be listed as a reason and cause of underwatering.

How to Fix Underwatered Plants and Overwatered Plants:

After knowing that your plants are either overwatered or underwatered, it is time to look at different solutions to fix them. The fixing and recovery of the plant take from 2 weeks to almost a month, depending upon the plant damage.

Solution For Overwatered Plants:

There is a proper way to fix your overwatered plants, which includes,

• First, remove the plant from the soil if it is in a bad condition and plant it in well-drain soil only in the month of spring or late summer.
• Remove dead and damaged branches and leaves by pruning them.
• Next, you should wait for the soil to dry before watering.
• Now you should know that each plant has its requirement of watering practice, so find out your plant watering requirements and follow it accordingly.

Solution For Underwatered Plants:

The process of fixing the problem of underwatered plants is pretty simple. Just start by adding water to your plant according to their needs but at first add the water gradually, allow them to absorb it evenly. Add the water closer to the roots and progressively minimize the risk of shock.

How to Properly Water Your Plants:

During the discussion of underwatering and overwatering, one could ask how to water a plant properly. To answer this question, we have a proper way of watering a plant that every gardener should know.

• First of all, check the plant’s soil with your fingers for moisture. If its has moisture then it doesn’t need water but if its dry then it need water.
• Then, take a watering can or a pipe to add water to your plant according to its needs. You should know that each plant has unique water needs. So you should add water to your plant according to that.
• You can also use different watering techniques for your watering practice. I personally like water my plant with watering can or pipe when watering a large area.

General Watering Guidelines:

• Whenever you water your plant, you should first check its soil; if it’s dry, go ahead and water it, but if it’s still moisture from previous times or due to rain, then do not add water to it.
• Another thing that you should know is to avoid watering your plant overhead; it’s not advisable. Instead, water its root, which goes deep and allows the roots to grow.
• Another thing that helps me immensely, and I want you to have it, is watering your plant during the morning and evening. What it does is it allows the plants to absorb all the water before it evaporates.

Using Tools to Monitor Water Levels:

If you have plants that are very sensitive to overwatering or underwatering, you should find a way to monitor their watering needs. There are a couple of tools that can help you with this, and I also use them from time to time.

Moisture Meter:

If you want an accurate reading than what your finger can’t tell you, I would advise using a moisture meter. It is a tool that can detect the moisture level of your gardening or container soil with a more accurate reading.

Below we have a video demonstration of using moisture meter.

Plant Sensors:

If you need more than just the moisture level of your soil, smart plant sensors can help you with that. With the help of these smart sensors, you can find out the temperature, light, moisture, and other useful aspects of your plant and its soil.

Conclusion:

You should already know that overwatered and underwatered plants are on the verge of becoming dead, which should be why you should water a plant according to their needs. There are other aspects to this, which you will already read in the above blog, but if you still have questions, contact me at admin@gardencrafting.com.