How To Save Overwatered Mandevilla (5 Signs & Step By Step Solution)
This is the only guide you need if you have an overwatered mandevilla and are unsure of how to save the plant.
Mandevilla plants prefer moderately moist soil and bright light for healthy blooming. However, that doesn’t mean they like to stand in wet soggy soil! No plants prefer that unless they are water plants.
Mandevilla plants that have been overwatered for quite some time typically exhibit curly, wilted, or discolored leaves along with stunted growth, no flowers, decaying roots, and fungi in the soil. Stop watering the plant for a week and see if the symptoms are improving to save it. If not, after treating the roots, repot or transplant your mandevilla in a different container or area.
Saving your overwatered mandevilla is not a hard task. However, if you don’t read the signs properly, you may be on the verge of killing your plant.
To make things easier for you, this article explains everything you need to know before trying to save an overwatered mandevilla vine.
Signs Of Overwatererd Mandeveilla
The most commonly seen signs of overwatered mandevilla plants are discoloration in leaves, slower growth with no flowers, the mushy and rotten smell from roots, and always soggy soil with fungus.
Let’s have a detailed look into each of these symptoms to easily check whether your plant has that or not.
1. Discoloration in leaves
The first indication of any plant issue, including overwatering, is discoloration in the leaves.
When your mandevilla vine is overwatered, the air pockets inside the soil mixture are filled with water and roots are unable to get enough oxygen which in turn limits the plant’s ability to generate energy.
If the plant cannot make enough energy to carry out normal plant functions, they have to conserve energy to stay alive. This makes their leaves fade.
Overwatered mandevilla leaves turn yellow first, and if the conditions do not get better, they turn brown eventually.
Also Read: 5 Causes For Mandevilla Leaves Curling
2. Slow growth & now flowers
As already mentioned, too much water in the soil prevents mandevilla roots from transporting enough oxygen and nutrients from the soil that are essential for plant growth.
When the plant cannot make enough energy, they go into a dormant state trying to stay alive with whatever minimum energy they have stored already. This prevents any new growth including flowers as well.
Clematis plants need to create a lot of energy to produce blossoms, and they are unable to do so when they are overwatered. Even during peak season, there will be very few flowers, if any at all, as a result.
3. Root rot
This is by far the only symptom that confirms 100% sure that your mandevilla vine is overwatered.
If you water your mandevilla vine too much, the roots of the plant start to decay. Anything decaying will have a rotten smell which you will experience from the base of an overwatered mandevilla plant.
Among all other mandevilla problems, root rot is considered to be very serious and can even kill the plant if not treated on time.
Most of the time, root rot happens only when you’ve been overwatering your plant for quite a few months.
Root rot can happen due to many reasons. Even though simple overwatering is often the cause, sometimes fungal, bacteria and viral infections can also trigger root rot.
4. Soggy soil
It is not a surprise to see soggy or always wet soil as a sign of overwatered mandevilla.
In normal conditions, the potting mixtures will be moist most of the time but should be wet only for a couple of hours after watering. However, if you have a bad soil mixture or a pot without drainage holes, they will remain wet until the excess water is evaporated.
5. Fungus
If you are seeing a white powdery substance forming a layer on the top of the soil, then it is highly likely that your mandevilla is overwatered.
Even though fungi can attack any mandevilla plants, overwatered soil is mostly the first choice for the fungi to flourish. If your plant soil is saturated with water, fungi will be happy to grow on it.
They may not always be harmful to your plant, but they may cause the soil to lose nutrients.
How To Save Overwatered Mandevilla?
To save your overwatered mandevilla vine, you need to stop watering for a week and see if the plant starts to recover slowly. If recovery is seen, you’re good to go, and all you have to do is water only when the plant needs it. However, if the symptoms are worsening, then repot or transplant the vine after treating the roots on priority.
Let’s go through the detailed step-by-step guidelines for a better understanding.
1. Find out the cause
The first step in saving your overwatered mandevilla is to identify the real cause. You may be wondering, what else can cause overwatering other than watering too much?
There are a couple of things that can lead to problems similar to overwatering even if you do not water too much. These include soil with poor drainage, using plastic pots with no holes, and plants not getting bright sunlight. In all these instances, your mandevilla roots feel like they are getting too much water even if you do it right.
Another common mistake a lot of gardeners tend to do is following a strict watering schedule always. You must understand that seasons change throughout the year and plant needs change along with that. Daily watering is okay during hot summers, but it will be too much water during monsoons or winter.
2. Adjust conditions
Once you’ve identified the real cause, then it’s time to adjust some conditions and see if your mandevilla plant recovers from overwatering.
If the pot doesn’t have drainage holes, poke a few holes in the bottom of the pot and continue regular watering for a few days and see, if the new leaves are healthy or not. Also, if the plant is currently in a shaded spot, move it to a sunny place where it can get full sun for atleast 6 hours of full sunlight.
On the other hand, if you are pretty sure that the real cause is you watering your mandevilla too much, then stop watering your plant until the top two inches of soil are dry. Repeat this for two weeks and see for any improvement. If not, your overwatered mandevilla has root damage which needs to be treated on priority.
3. Repot the plant
If your mandevilla plant has either poor soil or root damage due to over-watering, then repotting or transplanting the plant is the only way you can save the plant.
Before repotting your mandevilla, make sure that you have all the things ready beforehand. These include a new pot or container, fresh potting soil, rooting hormone (optional), fungicides(optional), and running water.
Once everything is ready, uproot your mandevilla plant slowly without shaking the plant too much. Loosen and remove the existing soil completely without breaking any root hairs. After that, wash the roots with running water to completely remove the existing soil.
If you see a lot of mushy or soft roots, then those are probably rotten. Using sterilized scissors, cut all of them off and apply fungicide to prevent any fungus diseases. Additionally, you can apply rooting hormone to the remaining healthy mandevilla roots to stimulate faster growth.
Once the mandevilla vine is pampered completely, fill the new pot with fresh potting soil and plant the vine slowly. From now onwards watch your watering schedule to prevent overwatering from happening in the future.
Overwatered Clematis – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions about identifying and fixing overwatered mandevilla.
What happens when you overwater a mandevilla?
When you overwater a mandevilla plant, the soil medium becomes too soggy and prevents the roots from accessing oxygen and other nutrients. As a result, the plants will show signs like yellow and droopy leaves, mushy or rotten roots, stunted growth, no blooming, etc.
How to prevent overwatering clematis?
Watering the mandevilla vine only when necessary is the best strategy to avoid overwatering. Apart from that, bottom watering, the use of self-watering containers, and adding more coarse stones to improve drainage can also prevent overwatering to an extent.
Will overwatered mandevilla recover on its own?
Mandevilla plants may or may not recover from the effects of overwatering, depending on the intensity. If the damage did not affect the roots, then the plant will recover in a couple of weeks once you adjust the watering cycle. On the other hand, if the excess water already triggered root rot, then repotting or transplanting the vine after treating the roots is necessary for recovery.
Conclusion
Overwatering your mandevilla plant is not something that you need to stress about. It is so common that even master gardeners overwater their plants occasionally.
Don’t just assume that you have been overwatering your mandevilla if you are unsure. Instead, examine your plant more closely and check for any probable indicators, such as wet soil, root rot, fungus, and unhealthy leaves.
If you find these symptoms, make sure that you treat them on priority to recover the plant. Also, make sure that you do everything to prevent overwatering in the future.
Sources
To back up the information we provide in our articles, the Plantials team only uses high-quality sources published in peer-reviewed university or scientific research journals.
- Mandevilla, Clemson Cooperative Extension
- Anthracnose of genus Mandevilla caused by Colletotrichum truncatum and C. siamense in Japan, Journal Of General Plant Pathology.
- The developmental anatomy of the subterranean system in Mandevilla illustris (Vell.) Woodson and M. velutina (Mart. ex Stadelm.) Woodson (Apocynaceae), Brazilian Journal Of Botany.
- A New Bacterial Disease on Mandevilla sanderi, Caused by Pseudomonas savastanoi: Lessons Learned for Bacterial Diversity Studies, American Society For Microbiology.
