Revive your overwatered plant with these simple expert tricks

Keeping your plants healthy and vibrant can seem like a challenge if you don’t have a green thumb and a knack for caring for them. One of the most common mistakes that people make is drowning their plants with too much water.

Overwatering saturates the soil, depriving the roots of oxygen. This can lead to root rot and provide conditions that allow bacteria and pests to thrive instead of your plant.

First aid tips if you’ve drowned your plants

A sign that you are giving your plants too much water is that the soil will remain soggy and the leaves will begin to turn yellow. Here are some suggestions from the experts to fix the situation and help revive your plants.

First off, you want to help the soil dry as quickly as possible. You can start by removing excess water from the containers. Drain any water that has accumulated in the saucers if they have one.

You can also place a fan near them to help with evaporation. Moving them so that they can spend brief spells in direct sunlight can also help in this endeavor.

Aerating the soil by gently poking the soil with a pencil, chopstick, or skewer can help get oxygen into the soil while also speeding up the drying process. You may have to repot your plant to save it in some cases though.

Mary Jane Duford, creator of Home for the Harvest website and Certified Master Gardener, shared with The Spruce that you should shake off the wet soil and replant in a new pot of the same size or slightly larger with “fresh, well-draining, high-quality potting soil.” Once the plant has recovered, you should hold off watering, only when the top inch of the soil feels dry to the touch.

If you’ve overwatered your plant, gardening expert and lawn care specialist Chrissie Handley recommends letting the soil dry out significantly before you start watering your plant again.

As for the damaged foliage caused by too much watering, she advises “removing any yellow, soft, or rotting leaves and stems so the plant can focus its energy on healthy new growth.”

Also, you shouldn’t add fertilizer in the attempt to spur growth as this will stress your plant further. Patience is a virtue as your plant recovers.

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