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Vegetable Gardening Soil, Compost & Mulch

How do you save a plant thats overwatered?

ahappy camper zone10

4 years ago

A few strawberry plants have gotten overwatered and look like they are going to die if i dont anything about it. Should i remove them from their current overly wet soil into a drier soil?

Featured Answer

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

If what we're talking about is lots of rain that won't stop on poorly draining soil, I guess what I would do is put some cover over the soil around the plant to allow the soil underneath to drain properly. Digging up established plants is not likely to be in their best interest. If your soil simply won't drain, I'd call it a loss, and fix your soil for next season.

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Comments (6)

Labradors
4 years ago
I would move them if you have another suitable bed for them, otherwise, as Dan says, you could build a raised bed for some new plants next season.
ahappy camper zone10 thanked Labradors
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ahappy camper zone10
Original Author
4 years ago
thanks you two.

dan, no rain here yet unfortunately.... someone just ended up overwatering this strawberry specifically. theres a lot of other ones around in this same soil that are doing fine cause they werent over watered.

to be completely honest, im not 100% sure they're dying bceause they're being overwatered. im taking an educated guess based on what i've read online and how the plant still looks wilted even though the soil is still moist. heres a couple of photos
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
4 years ago
No pictures.
0
armoured
4 years ago
I'm not sure I fully understand but based on what you've said - mostly leave it alone. If the soil is okay and it's draining normally, it'll dry out on its own. Moving it may just do more damage. If you really want to do something, my suggestion would be to just - gently - use a garden fork to slightly open up the soil around it. Not till the soil, just stick a fork in and slightly rock the tines.

My reasoning on this: if overwatering has led to some soil compaction/lack of air, it's possible some root rot that thrives in anaerobic conditions and the plant doesn't take up nutrients when too much water. A little bit of extra air may just make life more difficult from whatever it is, and better for the root rot's enemies and the plant's natural defences.

Note though we don't know whether you're talking about a full-grown strawberry plant, whether it was previously thriving, local conditions, etc. At any rate, this late in the season (I think? for you I mean), stressing the plant by digging up and moving it seems more likely harmful than leaving it alone or taking really modest steps.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Not sure what you mean by "overwatered". What is the evidence that you're looking at? Are the plants sitting in a puddle? If so, then you've got a soil drainage problem more than a watering problem, and waterlogged soil will make crown rot likely. In properly draining soil, the soil will never be waterlogged, and the worst effect will be leaching of water-soluble nutrients like nitrates. Hard to blame anything on soil that is just moist.
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