How to save an Overwatered Banana Plant?

There are many ways to save a banana plant that has been overwatered. Before knowing how to save your banana plant, it is also important to know the signs if your banana plant’s water intake is excessive. Banana plants will have many noticeable changes in their body parts if they are overwatered.

It is important to know these signs first before knowing how to save your plant as you can prevent it much earlier if you know these signs in the first place. In this blogpost, I will enumerate all of the signs if your banana plant is overwatered. Also, I will introduce you to many ways how to save it.

What are the signs of an Overwatered Banana Plant?

Yellowing Lower Leaves

This sign is the effect of overwatering the banana plant. It will look weaker and its leaves will gradually turn yellow in color and sometimes, even brown. There’s nothing you can do if the leaves are already brown but only cut it off the plant so it doesn’t infect the other leaves.

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The Base Gets Moldy

This sign results from the banana plant being overwatered. It will appear weaker, and the color of its leaves will gradually turn yellow, and occasionally even brown. If the leaves are already brown, there is little you can do but remove them from the plant to prevent them from spreading to the other leaves.

Growth Becomes Slower

The slowing of your banana plant’s growth and development is another indication that it is getting too much water. Any of the overwatered banana plants will have slower growth since their roots won’t be able to provide water to the plant’s upper body portions as a result of drowning. As a result, your banana plant could also die from this.

Softened Stem

The stem or trunk of your banana plant will get softer if it is overwatered. This transformation will take place when the plant takes in so much water that it is unable to sustain itself. Your banana plant will eventually bend or perhaps start to collapse as a result of this,

Softer Leaves

If your banana plants are frequently overwatered, they will become overly soft. They are drowning because the roots are having problems absorbing all of the water. It also weakens the banana plant’s roots and sometimes causes it to rot. The leaves of a banana plant should initially be solid and firm, but when they are overwatered, they become smooth and droop.

Prone to Pests

Diseases and pests are more likely to affect overwatered banana plants. On the leaves of some plants, brown patches will start appearing. Other banana plants will have decaying stems, and very rarely, their roots will also rot as a result of stagnant water.

How to Treat Banana Plants?

First, you must identify the possible problem or the issue that your banana plant is facing. After all, it will be hard to treat a banana plant without knowing what its problem is in the first place. There are a lot of visible signs that a banana plant will have depending on which problem it has.

Once you’ve noticed the specific symptoms and figured out what the real issue your banana plant has been dealing with is, you can start searching and testing solutions that might be able to treat your banana plants so that they can grow healthy. There are a lot of ways to search for what you must do and many people will help you in dealing with your banana plant’s problem.

• Whenever you notice a sign that your banana plant is being overwatered. It is very important to immediately cease watering them and wait until the soil has nearly dried before watering them again. This will take at least 2 or 3 days before you can see your drooping banana plant’s leaves start straightening out.

• Transferring your banana plant can also save them when they are overwatered. One of the causes of your banana plant being overwatered is the soil in which it was planted. Some soils aren’t well drained and water will start to clog. This will cause the roots to rot and won’t be able to function properly. This will lead to the other parts of your banana plant not receiving the nutrients they need causing them to dry out.

• Cutting off the damaged leaves and stems is also one of the ways to save your banana plant. It is because these damaged leaves or stems will also infect the other parts. So it is much better to cut it off than wait for it to become healthy again. It also benefits your banana plant as removing old leaves and stems will make way for a new set of leaves to grow. Some banana plants will have a new pair of leaves after a few weeks of cutting the old one off.

• If your banana plants were planted in a pot. You can also check the pots if they are a suitable plot to place your banana plant in. Specifically, you will need a pot that has a good drainage system so that the banana plant’s roots won’t rot. You should select a pot with at least five drainage holes in the base.

What to do if you accidentally overwatered the plant?

There are a few steps to save an overwatered plant:

Stop Watering

Of course, when your plant is already overwatered, it just takes logical thinking to stop watering them immediately.

Move it

If your plant has too much sun exposure, it is probably best to move it to a spot with less sunlight. Because of their continued growth under the sun, the plants will require a lot of water.

Double-check the Drainage of the Pot

To allow excess water to drain from the pot, every pot must have drainage holes in them. Check if your pots have holes in them as it could be the main reason why your plants are being overwatered.

Add Air

A drowning plant needs air in its root zone. It is important to regularly cultivate the soil in which the plant was planted so that it will create the needed air pockets and these will allow your plant to have room to breathe.

Repot

If your plant is growing at an incredibly fast pace, it will also need to be repotted from the existing pot. It is also important to remove any of the damaged roots. It is also important to add fresh soil and mix it with a few chunks of bark pieces to create air pockets within the soil.

Give it Time

Usually, it takes more than a week or two before you see signs of your plant’s recovery. It is also very important to avoid fertilizing your plant before you can see consistent new growth from it. This will allow the plant to quickly grow once it has fully recovered.

FAQs

What does an overwatered banana plant look like?

A new banana plant requires watering every two to three days. To prevent overwatering, it is essential to understand the correct way to water your banana plants. After watering your banana plant, you must wait until roughly half an inch of the soil is dry before watering it again.

This method will help your banana plant to avoid overwatering. During cooler months, your banana plant will also need less watering. If the temperature reaches a specific amount, a banana plant will often stop growing.

Note: You must look at the soil before watering your banana plant. Your banana plant doesn’t need to be watered if it’s still damp. And it is also important that when you water your banana plant, it has to be watered deeply and very slowly to allow the soil to drain the water well.

How long should banana plants be watered?

Banana plants require an average of four to six inches of water in a month or about one to one and a half inches of water per week. Although this estimation depends on your current season. However, overwatering your banana plant will cause its roots to root. So it is important to make sure that you choose soil that drains water well and won’t be prone to having stagnant water.

Conclusion

Banana plants tend to get overwatered really quickly. A banana plant is only suited to areas that have no standing water. If you don’t give your banana plant particular attention, they are most likely to die. There are also many signs if your banana plant is overwatered so it is easy to take precautions before the problem gets even worse. But despite how simple it is for them to become overwatered, it is particularly easy to treat them. There are a lot of ways to treat it as mentioned above.