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Overwatering: how to recognise and treat it

Growing conditions

Overwatering — Photo: Gerhard Bedlan, Institut für Pflanzenschutz, BOKU, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Symptoms

Leaves turn yellow or brown and drop.
The plant wilts even though the soil is wet — damaged roots can no longer take up water.
Roots are blue-black or brown and soft, often with a sour, rotting smell; some may have rotted away.
Rot at the stem base, and fungus gnats around pot plants.

Organic treatment

Stop watering until the compost has dried, then water again only when it is dry 2–5 cm down.
If the compost is old, compacted and stays wet, repot into fresh, well-drained potting mix.
In beds, keep off the wet soil so it does not compact further, cut out damaged shoots, and water well in later dry spells — plants with damaged roots suffer from drought more easily.

Chemical treatment

Reference information, not a guarantee. Read and follow the label of any product: dose, safety and the days to wait before harvest.

Prevention

Check the soil before every watering instead of watering on a fixed schedule.
Use a pot with a drainage hole that is not too big, and never leave it standing in a saucer or outer pot full of water.
On heavy or compacted soil, improve the structure, grow in raised beds or plant trees on a slight mound.
For spots that stay waterlogged, choose plants suited to wet soil.

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.