Why does overwatering harm houseplants?

Why does overwatering harm houseplants?

Want to know the number one reason why plant beginners struggle with their new green friends? Too much love! It’s easy to turn to the watering can when you see a plant struggling, but more often than not, it’s not moisture that’ll save it. But what actually happens to a plant when you overwater? Here are three key reasons why they struggle. 

OVERWATERING YOUR PLANT ROBS IT OF PROPER NUTRITION

The soil holds nutrients that are key to your plants survival. The roots build a symbiotic relationship with the soil; it feeds the plant, and the plant rewards the bacteria in the soil with a safe place to thrive. When we overwater, we flush out a lot of the goodness in the soil. It means that your plants can starve. Oh no! Adding a slow release pellet like Support not only maintains the beneficial bacteria in the soil, but it breaks down slowly overtime to reduce the negative impact of overwatering. 

OVERWATERING YOUR HOUSEPLANTS IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF FUNGUS GNATS

Think about it, what thrives in moist environments? Fungus! What eats fungus? Fungus gnats! If we never let our soil dry out, fungal spores start to develop. Some of these can be good, however some lead to infections in the plant. Most annoyingly however, Fungus Gnats breed in the moist topsoil. Try pulling back on the watering as a prevention to these little blights. 

OVERWATERING CAN ACTUALLY BURSTS THE CELL WALLS

When a plant is consistently overwatered, and doesn’t have something to help it regulate itself like Support Pellets, it takes up too much moisture, too quickly. The thin cell walls in the leaves and stem burst like the walls of an overflowing dam. You will start to see lesions and indents in the leaves of your plant. That’s definitely a sign to hold back on the watering!

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