An overwatered marigold can be identified by wilting, drooping, and yellowing leaves, root rot, and leaf spot disease.
You may also notice fungal growth on the growing medium’s surface as well as on the bottom parts of your marigold plant, close to the soil.
Pests and diseases take advantage of the overwatered situation to multiply and devour the defenseless plant.
If you have come across the aforementioned overwatering symptoms, take this guide into action to restore your plant back to life.
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How Are My Marigold Plants Getting Overwatered?
Your marigold plants are getting overwatered because of excessive watering, atmospheric shifts, compacted soil, and slow-draining pots lead to overwatering.
Any of these factors can single-handedly cause serious damage to your marigold plants if not amended or changed accordingly, so make sure to resolve them as soon as possible.
Overwatering is generally a sign of neglect because, if the correct care needs of this beginner-friendly plant are followed, it will not have such problems.
However, if your marigolds are already in an overwatered state, do not despair but patiently take the necessary steps to amend their growing conditions.
– Excessive Watering
Watering marigold plants before the potting soil’s top two inches (5.08 centimeters) get completely dry leads to continuous wetness of the soil. Take note that the soil gets even wetter as you go deeper into the pot.
Therefore, if you irrigate it while still moist on top, the soil that surrounds the roots will become more saturated. This, in turn, causes the continuous exposure of roots to soggy conditions, which favor Pythium and Phytophthora manifestation.
Pythium and Phytophthora are organisms that cause root and stem rot on marigold plants. They inhabit and reproduce in continuously wet soils, with the root mass being their food. This way, the roots’ efficiency decline, causing the rest of the plant to experience water and nutrient shortage.
This is the reason why you see your plants wilting despite standing in wet soil. Also, despite the soil being rich in nutrients, the plant looks sickly and stunts its development.
In some cases, if the soil and pot are well-draining, watering the plant too frequently will speed up the rate at which nutrients get lost from the system.
This malnourishes the soil quickly, thereby causing poor foliage appearance, slow growth, and eventual death. Also, a marigold seed that is constantly overwatered will rot and fail to germinate. You should, therefore, plant marigold seeds in well-drained loamy soils and water them sparingly.
– Atmospheric Shifts
The most common marigold species, which include calendula and tagetes, need two inches (5.08 centimeters) of water each week when grown in pots. They also need around one and a half inches (3.81 centimeters) of watering when grown directly in the ground.
However, the rate of moisture loss involved determines how frequently you should water marigolds. During summer, one or two waterings a week will fit the plant perfectly due to high sunlight and temperatures.
If you water the marigolds consistently without considering the changes in environmental conditions, overwatering results. You, therefore, need to make a balance between watering and the immediate environment’s conditions.
Take note that it takes much longer for the growing medium to get dry enough for watering in high humidity, low temperature, and low sunlight places.
During winter, you should water marigold plants sparingly due to reduced productivity. These plants become dormant due to cold weather and low light exposure.
This results in them taking up only a little moisture to keep them alive as they await the active development season. Therefore, during cold seasons, ensure that the soil loses moisture before you irrigate again.
– Compacted Soil
Marigolds prefer loamy soil that is well-drained to keep their roots healthy. Growing marigolds in soils that have a huge composition of clay will lead to compaction.
Once you water the soil, clay blocks the airways, thereby leaving the roots’ oxygen starved. Drainage is also affected in the same way as airflow, a scenario that ultimately keeps soil wet for long periods of time.
If the marigolds’ roots stay in this situation for long, they get suffocated and die. Despite watering the soil when it is necessary, the lengthy period that moisture takes to drain out supports fungi manifestation and in turn damages the roots.
If you do not change or amend the soil as soon as possible, rot extends to the stem of the marigold plant.
In continuously wet situations, the fungus develops on the soil, base of the plant, and marigold flowers in the form of mold or mildew.
Also, once you see dark lesions on the stems, you should know that the infection has gotten to the roots. The marigold flowers will eventually wilt, droop, and die if this plant remains sitting in soggy soil.
– Slow Draining Pots
We do not advise you to grow marigolds in pots that have poor drainage facilities. Such pots tend to hold moisture longer, thereby suffocating the roots.
Marigolds grow best in slightly moist media that is not continuously kept too wet, a condition that is achieved only if the potting soil and container used are well draining. When a well-draining potting soil is used together with a pot that is slow in releasing excess water, overwatering results.
You may have acquired a perfect pot for marigold growing, but regular inspection of its drainage facilities should be done.
The composition of humus and debris in the soil may cause blockages in the drainage holes. This ultimately slows down water loss, which then keeps the soil dampened. In this case, fungi develop in the soil, which ultimately puts the roots at risk.
How Can Overwatered Marigolds be Revived?
Overwatered marigolds can be revived by limiting irrigation, isolating the infected plant, pruning the diseased roots and leaves, repotting the plant into a new soil and pot, and providing proper growing conditions. You should be more committed and take the correct measures patiently.
Marigold plants that are suffering from overwatering can be revived. To get your marigold plants back, you may need to shake up the general care requirements a bit to create the best conditions possible for recovery. You may have to transition your marigolds from one position to another or make little amendments to suit their survival.
– Assess the Situation
It is important for you not to jump into action without carefully assessing the situation on the ground. You should know the extent of overwatering that the plant is suffering from and the possible causes.
If the marigold has been attacked by fungi, you should be more careful not to infect healthy plants that are nearby. Most importantly, if you administer the wrong action to the ailing plant, chances are that it can get shocked and collapse.
Light attacks do not necessarily need you to uproot and repot the plant as it can bounce back just by loosening up the soil and reducing water application. As for severe cases, extensive care is necessary to get the plant back.
– Limit Irrigation
In case excess water is the root of the problem, moisture concentration within the system should be reduced significantly. You should first reduce the watering frequency on the marigolds and observe their response.
Once the soil dries, take advantage of this moment to loosen up the soil using a bacteria or fungi-free gardening tool. This creates more efficient airways to enhance increased air circulation around the root area.
You should test the soil’s readiness for watering first by inserting a finger into it. If the top two inches (5.08 centimeters) feel completely dry, irrigation is now necessary.
During cold spells, you should not use the same irrigation frequency you use during the hot seasons. Allowing the soil to dry up should also increase air circulation around the marigold roots, thereby quickening recovery.
– Isolate the Marigold Plant
If the overwatering troubled plant does not give a satisfactory response, the situation might be more serious. You therefore need to move the marigold into isolation and deal with it away from other plants.
Overwatered plants are perfect hosts of pests and fungi, which can be menacing to healthy plants nearby. You should bring the marigold plant close to other plants only when it has fully recovered.
As the plant is in isolation, check and amend the drainage qualities of both the soil and the pot. Position the plant close to a bright window with little access to light.
Make sure that the spot has enough air circulation. In the event that the plant’s leaves are wilted, you should mist them because the roots may not be able to supply sufficient water to the rest of the foliage.
– Prune Bad Roots and Leaves
Before cutting off all the unwanted roots and leaves, you should move the plant out of its pot. When removing the marigold from the pot, be very careful not to injure the already struggling plant. Now, ensure that you shake off the previous potting soil granules that remain holding on to the roots.
Inspect the root mass and if any of it is mushy and dark, use a disinfected cutting tool to remove them. Also prune all yellowed, diseased, and dying leaves as well as flowers to make way for healthy development.
Make sure that the roots dry up before replanting the overwatered marigold. We also advise you to trim down excess foliage to reduce the remaining roots’ workload.
You should take this opportunity to treat the plant and eliminate all forms of infestation. Pests like spider mites, aphids, and thrips are some of the most common marigold intruders and should be wiped out.
Consider applying insecticidal soap or horticultural oil to eliminate them before they destroy the remaining leaves and new growth.
– Repot the Plant
Marigolds can grow well in any kind of potting soil as long as it is moderately fertile and well-drained. If you intend to grow your marigolds directly on the ground, you should first dig and loosen the top six inches (15.24 centimeters). Also, add compost to the soil to improve fertility.
When growing marigold plants in pots, make sure that the containers are around 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) both in depth and width. Fill the pot with loamy soil as it has enough drainage qualities and fertility.
Sandy soil can be a good alternative due to the high-quality moisture-draining qualities that it comes with. Mixing clay soils with a high composition of river sand and compost can also improve drainage, fertility, and aeration.
Create a hole that is large enough to submerge the roots and fill the pot with leftover soil. When grown on the ground, make sure that the surface is well-leveled to avoid the pooling of water after dampening the soil.
After planting your marigolds, deeply irrigate them until you see water dripping out from the container.
– Give Proper Growing Conditions to the Plant
You should not rush to expose the weakened plant to full sun. Start by placing the plant on a partly shaded spot where it can access minimal light.
Although marigolds require the sun’s exposure throughout the day for them to flourish, they prefer a bit of shade during their early development stages.
You should note that only seedlings and recovering marigold plants tolerate shade to protect their tender foliage from scorching.
The marigold’s tolerance to full sun is the reason why you see them grown in open spaces, for example, in a vegetable garden.
Growing it near other plants does not seem to be a problem because of its pest-repellent qualities. If you cannot get a perfect position to place the marigold plant, you should move them around so that they get at least six hours of exposure to sunlight each day.
Little light makes leaf development leggy, leading to marigold blooms becoming rare. Therefore, start by placing your struggling plants on a low-light spot and slowly transition it to full sun exposure. Within a few weeks of proper care, you should see your beloved plants glowing once again.
Conclusion
Marigolds are beginner-friendly and easy-to-grow plants, but overwatering can easily lead to their collapse.
Let us recap some vital points from this article once more.
- Marigold leaves become yellow, leggy, wilted, and droopy if the plant is overwatered.
- Poor pot drainage, too frequent irrigation, compacted soils, and environmental shifts are the main factors that lead to overwatering.
- Once you diagnose your marigolds of overwatering, isolate them to avoid infecting nearby plants with fungal infections and pests that they may be carrying.
- We advise you to use disinfected cutting tools before pruning dead or infected leaves and roots so that you can pave way for new growth.
After implementing this step-by-step care guide, your marigolds should give you a positive response within a few weeks. Enjoy successful marigold parenting!
