Water & Roots

Overwatering, root rot, drainage and how to read a wet pot.

4 articles

• Overwatered or Underwatered? Both Wilt. The Difference Is in the Feel

  Both problems produce a limp, sad plant with yellowing leaves. Getting it backwards is how a struggling plant becomes a dead one.

• Yellow Leaves After Repotting: Shock, or a Pot That Is Now Too Big

  There is a version of this that resolves on its own and a version that gets worse. The pot size usually decides which one you have.

• Orchid Root Rot: What to Cut, What to Keep, and When to Stop Cutting

  The plant is saveable as long as a few firm roots remain. The mistake is cutting healthy roots that merely look unhealthy.

• Cuttings That Will Not Root: Water, Light, Warmth, and the Node

  The most common reason a cutting fails is that it was cut in the wrong place, and no amount of patience corrects that.