I have always loved herbs
They smell great, taste great, and look beautiful
But I could never keep them alive!
That was until I learned what I was doing wrong
You can very easily overwater herbs! Herbs only need water once or twice a week. Any more than that can cause many sicknesses and infections in your herbs. You can see symptoms like browning stems or black leaves which helps you diagnose your overwatering issue.
One of the easiest ways to avoid overwatering is to create a watering schedule
All of my plants are watered once a week, so I made Sunday night my watering night
In the heat of summer when temperatures are very hot, I also water on Wednesday night
I DO NOT water any other time!
By being strict with that schedule, I have avoided many of the issues that overwatering brings (that I will talk about in a minute)
How much water do herbs need?
I am someone that overwaters my plants if I am not careful
So learning a schedule was important for me so I stopped killing my herbs!
Herbs do great with getting water once a week. If your area is experiencing extreme heat, twice a week might be needed. I like to water in the evening when the sun is pretty much gone and it was cooler, but watering in the morning when it is cool is better if your area freezes at night.
Herbs don’t need to be flooded
Overwatering can increase the chances of your herbs getting sick and getting bacteria infections
One way I avoid that with my overwatering habit is by drilling a lot of holes in my pots
If I give them too much water, the water will just drain out the bottom
9 signs that you are overwatering your herbs
When I started caring for plants, I thought that water was the cure for everything
If they were looking sick or struggling… more water!
And then I wondered why my plants always died!
When I learned that the water I was flooding my plants with was the reason they were dying, I decided I needed to know more about the needs of my plants
How do I know that I am overwatering so I can adjust my actions to save my plants?
There are 9 signs that I look for now
- Leaves turn yellow or black and start falling
- Mildew starts forming on the stems
- Clearish white stuff appears on the herbs (Edema)
- The herbs stop growing
- The herbs don’t perk up when you water them in the morning
- The stems get soft and break easily
- The soil is very wet instead of moist
- Your soil is not draining well
- Herbs start turning brown from the bottom up
Not all the signs will appear when you overwater your plants, but they are visual issues to help you diagnose what is happening to your herbs
I always thought that I just couldn’t grow plants
But really, I just needed to learn to understand their needs instead of assuming I already knew
I watch for these 9 signs of overwatering and I keep a pretty strict schedule
I know that my Lavender gets watered every Sunday
My new broccoli plants are getting watered every day, but that is temporary
They just got transplanted so after 2 months they will get watered once a week too
Herbs are pretty low maintenance and don’t require a lot to grow
If you really want to do something for them, pluck the weeds out of their home!
Even understanding the basics of overwatering symptoms, it is helping to dig deeper
So let’s do that!
Leaves turn yellow or black and start falling
Plants need food, air, and water just like we do
They get some food from photosynthesis and some food from their roots
They get air and water from their roots though
So when you overwater your plants, you are actually taking away the air that they need in the soil and suffocating them
This causes their leaves to turn yellow or black
Underwatering creates a similar effect
Their leaves dying tells you that they are missing something they need in the soil (or sunlight) to survive
Mildew starts forming on the stems
Mildew forms when there is high humidity and poor airflow
This can happen if plants are too close together, or if they are overwatered
When you overwater your herbs, the humidity grows on top of the soil
All that overwatering increases the humidity and encourages the growth of mildew
Clearish white stuff appears on the herbs (Edema)
Similar to mildew, too much water also opens the plants to getting Edema
Basically, it is when there is too much water retention in plants
The herbs have taken too much water and the leaves cannot hold it
The herbs stop growing
Since overwatering creates a situation where herbs are not getting everything they need to live, the first thing that will happen is they will stop growing
Herbs will not get bigger and cause themselves to need more resources if they are not getting enough now
If your herbs stopped growing, don’t assume that they need more or less water
Take a look at what their current schedule is and go from there
But the lack of growth is definitely a sign that something is wrong
The herbs don’t perk up when you water them in the morning/evening
It is normal for herbs to droop during the day when it is hot
They are preserving their energy and relaxing
But they should perk up when you water them in the morning or evening
If they don’t, it is time to take a deeper look to see what is happening
The stems get soft and break easily
Herbs need food, air, and water to grow strong
Overwatering takes away air and thins a lot of their food
Because of this, they will start to get soft and break easily
The soil is very wet instead of moist
When you water your herbs, try not to soak the soil
Some plants, like broccoli, like a deep soaking
But herbs are not one of them
So make the soil moist instead of soaking
You should be able to pick up some soil without it dripping
Soil is not draining well
To avoid soaking the soil, you can make sure your herbs have great drainage
I have a lot of drainage on my pots so the water will fall out the bottom if I accidentally give them too much
Without that drain, the water gets trapped and causes many of the issues I have told you about here
Herbs start turning brown from the bottom up
This is something I experienced recently
I was growing parsley and it started turning brown from the bottom up
The bottom of the herb was dead and the top wasn’t get
Basically, I overwatered and my herb got a bacteria infection
Sadly I was not able to save the plant but it was a powerful learning experience
Now that you understand watering, have you thought about your plants’ home?
Check out my post on whether pots or ground is better for your herbs!