Are you Over Watering Your Marijuana? Simple Ways to Recover!

I know I’m guilty!

You may be too, of over watering your marijuana plants.

I’ve watered my plants to much on several occasions.

But don’t worry, there are many ways to get out of this mess.

So let’s save your plant’s!

Fact: One of the most common problems when growing in soil is watering too frequently.

Over watering medical marijuana can happen to anyone especially if you are new to growing.

Even experienced growers have this happen to them from time to time, although some may not admit to it.

If you’re not careful it’s not good for the plants and it also becomes an excellent habitat for root aphids.

Watering your plants too much can lead to mold buildup and also result in a perfect place for fungus gnats to thrive.

Springtails are another pest that are attracted to damp grow mediums and thrive in an over watered environment.

Although they do not harm the plant , but they spread quickly.

They all love the damp top soil or growing medium and rock wool.

Try and use about an inch of sand on the bottom and top of your grow medium of soil or coco coir to prevent an infestation from a lot of root eaters.

Here’s a quick look at to what happens when you water your plants to much.

But seriously though it’s when you suffocate your plant’s roots with water because plants love oxygen.

If growing in soil or coco coir you can disturb the little air pockets in the soil or coco with too much water according to Colorado State University.

This can be the case when you grow with hydroponics you can encounter root rot from not allowing ample oxygen to hit the roots.

Signs of Over Watering Cannabis

  • Leaves curl downwards
  • Leaf tips turn yellow
  • Leaves will fall off for no reason
  • Plant Leaves droop (hanging down)
  • Slow plant growth, stunted
  • Constant damp top soil or coco
  • May look like a magnesium deficiency
  • May seem like a nitrogen deficiency

Your leaves should have the texture of paper. Feel them are they firm? Not weak and limp.

over watered marijuana leaves drooping

How to Fix Over Watered Cannabis Plants

1

Stop watering and let the plant dry out. Not completely( this will damage your roots) but close to it.

2

Go longer in between watering

3

Stop watering so often (this is usually the cause).

4

Place a towel or newspapers or flyers under the pots drain holes to soak up excess water after all the runoff finishes.

5

May need to drill extra drainage holes in pots with soil if not getting proper runoff.

6

Make air holes in the top of soil or coco coir with chopsticks (beware you open the gates to gnats).

7

Increase the heat slightly in the grow area a degree or too.

8

Bring in an extra fan.

9

If growing in soil remove from current pot and place into a slightly bigger and or same size pot or fabric pot to aid in drying it out faster to save the plant.

10

When using Hydroponics have a better Air Pump or Air Stone.

Add one if you don’t have one yet. It’s essential !

Warning : It may be too late already.

Even if you try some of the solutions, it’s all up to the plant on if it wants to or can recover.

Some genetics are weak and are not strong enough to recover from watering too much. It’s when the plant has reached extreme stress.

I have seen both over watered, and under-watered plants recover. Until 4-7 days later just slowly start to die.

It’s mainly due to root rot.

Be positive! Usually, you will catch this before it’s a major problem.

That’s why you’re here.

yellowing-cannabis-leaves

Ways to Prevent Over Watering Marijuana

Soil or Coco Coir:

  1. When growing in soil make sure you have a high drainage soil such as Promix or Happy Frog.
  2. Add perlite if your soil doesn’t have it already or coco coir 1-4 ratio both are great for drainage.
  3. Do not saturate the soil when transplanting or planting.
  4. Try Smart Fabric Pots.
  5. Drill extra drainage hole in the bottom of pots.
  6. Use a Water Meter or Moisture Meter in soil or coco if needed.
  7. Use the finger method by sticking your finger in the soil about an inch to see if dry.
  8. Avoid vermiculite it helps to retain water.
  9. One trick for soil so you do not over water is to take an empty pot and fill it with soil and use that one as a test. Check when to water by judging by the weight of your plant compare to the pot of soil.

Check out the video below on over watering a cannabis plant,

Hydroponic overwatering

It is possible to over water your weed plants in a hydroponic grow.

Hydroponic overwatering occurs when your growing your plants with the roots emerged in water and they are not getting enough oxygen to the roots. 

This is happens when you have root rot.

Check the colors of the roots should not be tan, yellow or brown .

The roots should be white or cream in color.

Check for light leaks, and temperature of your water. Use a beneficial root bacteria, like hydroguard.

Also another reason is that they are not getting oxygen is that you may not be using extra air stones or a strong enough air pump.

Over watering during flowering

When growing in soil or coco it is possible to over water your cannabis plants during flowering.

In flowering they will start to not drink as much water as when in the vegetative stage.

All the common signs will start to appear like:

Drooping leaves ( clawing downward) , your leaves are starting to droop after you water you plants a couple hours late.

Plants not Praying, the leaves are not perking upward.( in a praying position)

Solutions: 

  • Cut back on watering
  • Get on a consistent schedule to water
  • Check the top of the grow medium ( should be a little dry)
overwatered-marijuana-plant

Under Watering marijuana

Your plant is drooping and it may look the same as an overwatered cannabis plant. Beware because if your growing medium is on the dryer side it is a sign of underwatering.

Over watered plants leaves are much more fuller look and feel than and under watered plant.

It can be hard sometimes to tell if your marijuan plants are underwatered, here are some things to look out for.

Signs of underwatered cannabis

  • Drooping leaves
  • Leaves are thin
  • Leaves are yellowing 
  • Tips of leaf  look burnt
  • Leaves are clawing under 
  • Looks like a nutrient deficiency

Fix your Under Watered plants

It’s pretty simple just give ample enough of water and make sure your getting at least 10-15 percent runoff  in soil or coco.

In coco you can water everyday, it’s usually recommended.

In soil wait at least 2-3 days between watering. Test by using you finger up to the first inch  should be dry before the next watering.

over-watering-marijuana

Final Thoughts

Over watering when your growing cannabis can happen more often than you think.

Some good rules to follow are:

Hydroponic growing, just keep a good air stone or air pump at all times !​

Have proper ventilation to help the plants breath and release their moisture build up.

Use a calendar for your water and nutrient feeding days; you may have to adjust as you go.

A good rule of thumb is to always check if your plants need water and not just assume they do.

Over watering your medical marijuana plants happens the most in soil.

When you grow in Coco Coir hydroponically or running a hydroponic system it’s hard to water to much but is known to occur on occasion.

Remember there is nothing wrong growing in soil. Many growers prefer this method for the flavor and watering less often.

Where with hydroponics you run one to two times a day with a watering schedule.

Hopefully, this helps you get over this issue, and you save your plants.

Let me know in the comments what works for you or if you have any better solutions.

Keep Growing my friends.

Image credit, Image Credit

43 thoughts on “Are you Over Watering Your Marijuana? Simple Ways to Recover!”

  1. I over watered my plants, they looked awful, curled yellowing leaves.I dried them out for a few days. Took them out and put into burlap bags where the soil was able to dry out. Now two weeks later back in 15 gallon pots, they look greener but leaves are still slightly curved and some are continuing to yellow. I only water at the tray, so the water is soaked up from the bottom through holes, twice a week, a mere half gallon into the tray at most. I check the soil from holes that are 4 inches from the bottom. Soil is moist but not compactable. Like a damp sponge feeling. Will the yellow leaves return to green and healthy or do I need to wait for new growth to see if new watering schedule is good?

    Reply
    • Hi Charlie

      Glad your plants are starting to bounce back slowly.
      In regards to the color of your leaves going back to green and healthy, those leaves will probably not go back to being the vibrate green they should be . So yes it’s best to check for new growth leaves to gauge if your plants recovering.
      May I suggest to water from the top of the pot , this is great for the whole root structure of the plant and the tap root starts at the top of the soil it’s the main artery for the plant to get it’s nutrients to the rest of the stems. When watering if you do not get run off then your plants have enough water and do not water until they are dryer. Your plants may also not be up taking nitrogen due to being over watered. If your leaves are continuing to turn yellow.

      Reply
  2. Yes i have 4 n. Lights growing, in 4 three gallon containers. 3 days after transplant.my soil. is happy frog. They will be 5 weeks old monday. Theywere very healthy, then even before transplant. Now all the leaves are drooping, hugging themselves? I took too out of the tent put them back under 100w cfls. My tent is a 400w metal halide for the veg stage. Could be transplant shock? They were drooping before the transplant. Thank you

    Reply
    • Hi Tony,
      I could possibly some kind of shock , after transplant, if they were drooping before you transplanted they could have been over watered a little but prior. Best wait a day or two see how they are doing getting used to there new home. Then maybe try some kelp seaweed to see if they spring back. I have some info on transplant shock and a short video https://sensigarden.com/transplanting-cannabis/ check it out if you want it may help.
      Best of luck !

      Reply
  3. over watered and PH slightly too high i suppose, lots of curled dying leaves
    gave her light feeding with proper ph after it seemed pretty dry , things are looking up!

    Reply
  4. I’ve started growing in my garage. Plants have been behaving well feeding nutrients but I definitely overwatered them. When moving from clones to my garage to vegetate I was feeding a litre of water each. Now I’m going to water 500ml every 2-3 days. 2 x 400w Hps lights with 10 plants. The leaves started curling in and I know this is because the room they are in is around 35 degrees in the day and 28 degrees in the evening. I’m cycling 18/6 with lights. I have a inlet and outlet fan however I know that the oven my plants are in isn’t going to help. Please let me know what I need do to do better and save my plants.

    Reply
    • Hi SAgreen,

      I would recommend a AC , if your talking in Celsius for temps 35-28 degrees. That’s pretty hot for your plants. Or maybe bring in an extra fan. As for watering it all depends, on how they feel when you pick them up, try and aim for some runoff. You seems to be in the happy zone for watering every 2-3 days.
      I hope this helps.

      Reply
  5. I am on day 18 of flowering outdoors in 5 gallon pots. I made the mistake of using just soil from a garden store (no added nutrients). I think it made it easier for overwatering to occur so I water every 5 days or so but there is little to no drainage. Do you think its worth it to transplant into a pot with a proper mix of perlite/soil/smart fabric pot or would it be too dangerous at this point?

    Reply
    • That’s a tough call. I would maybe try one plants to sacrifice, try it out for 2-3 days maybe 5 to see how well it took to the new potted environment. I would definitely user a bigger sized pot so not to disturb the root system to much.
      Good Luck.
      (warning> not responsible for any loss of plant life.

      Reply
  6. Hey mate, thanks for writing this up, it’s great.

    Only thing I wish you included on this site is symptoms of under watering. I know it should be obvious but hey maybe I’m just a silly bugger.

    Reply
    • I Bob ,
      Your right I am missing a post o under watering and it is pretty common as well. Will try and get one out soon.
      Thanks for checking out the site.

      Reply
  7. So I recently took some slones from someone that had them in too cold of a climate. He had them for 2 weeks and in that time did very little growing. First off when i took them he had a 1600w full spectrum led, so I figured why not buy a second one of the same brand just a couple years newer. Seems to be a great deal of spectrum difference between the two lights. The plants under the new light look healthy and vivacious while the others look like they are suffering from either magnesium deficiency or possibly nitrogen im not sure. Now a couple of them are very droopy, yellow and developing rust color spots on the older leaves. Im stumped how inconsistent plants under the same light of the same strain could have different problems.

    Reply
    • could be the older light makes the plants require more cal mag ,not sure. I know the new some of the new led require extra cal mag.

      Reply
  8. I’m on day 12 of flower I have 28 plants only 4 are drooping I’m not sure why they all look healthy but those 4 ain’t coming back I didn’t water for 2 days they dried out still drooping any other reason why they would do that?

    Reply
    • Savage, it could be a a temperature change that happened for example got super cold at one point. or lack of light are all I can think of right now.

      Reply
  9. I started seeing the beginning signs of over watering. The Leaves were starting to turn down and curl. I hadn’t noticed yellowing just yet other than one small edge on the smallest lower leaf. I wanted to take action as soon as possible. I removed a great portion of the wet soil in the pot. I skirted around the root ball and removed the wet soil all around the edges of the pot and replaced its with new loose dry soil. I did this in hopes of getting some fresh oxygen to the roots. I plan on letting the plant dry out for a few days to allow the wet soil still surrounding most of the root system to dry out. Is there anything else you would you recommend to help my plant?

    Reply
    • I would not water for a day or two and see how the plants are it may even take up to 5 too 7 days depending how much plants were over watered

      Reply
  10. Hey there, i want to ask you something, my plant is overwatered af, and i was so stupid that i thought i got too much nutrient’s. The pot is full of water and the plant suffers. Do you think i could was off all the soil with water and put the roots in another soil?

    Reply
    • I would not recommend it, you could move it to a fabric pot and provide some extra airflow. Or just leave it to dry out , increase the temp in your room if possible not sure if you have other plants. Never tried to wash off soil and transplant before.

      Reply
  11. Just tried transplanting seedlings in rockwool cubes to larger 6X6X6 cubes. I pre-soaked the large cubes and transplanted. I think there was too much water in the cubes because all my plants are drooping, curled, yellowing and hooded. I am now on day 2 of no water and only foliar feeding. Some plants are looking better but others not so well. I don’t want to squeeze the cubes because it may make the problem worse. Hope just letting them dry out will work.

    Reply
    • This could have been due to transplant shock. and make sure your rock wool doesn’t dry out completely as it is hydro growing.

      Reply
  12. I dig you page. You are super knowledgeable and kind. everyone overwaters or underwaters at some point. luckily, cannabis is a forgiving plant. I really liked your response to let it dry out, maybe transplant to an air or fabric pot and water in some kelp. also, I didn’t know that led’s may require more cal/mag. just got a couple bigger led’s and sure am glad you mentioned that.
    you know what my go to secret is for any stress but overwatering (in which I transplant, I don’t wait on fans and heat to do it) fruit juice. I know unsulphured molasses is a normal nutrient but for some reason a little bit (little) of like organic mango juice—- peps um right up if they are going to make it. anyway, I love your page.

    Reply
  13. I overwater due to cheap poor draining soil and my plants started to wilt and yellow, (bearing in mind there only two weeks old from germination) I think it’s the beginnings of root rot as when I transplanted them and I saw brown roots.. But yeah I transplanted them into bigger pots with dry soil. I read that they’re likely to die from root rot but it’s been few days later the infected leaves are still growing even though there Yellowing and the plants in general Are still putting on really decent growth and I saw new growing healthy roots So is this my plants regenerating and battling off the root rot? I am going to aid them with Bacillus amyloliquefaciens in a week from now To help strengthen and re-grow the roots. But As they’re so young and vulnerable at this stage i wonder if they are going to die. would I still be seeing signs of new healthy growth if there dying ?? They’re really good genetics and I badly want them to survive..!!

    Reply
    • It’s hard to say Wiseman if they will live, but you should start to see some new growth eventually when they start to recover. Fingers crossed.

      Reply
  14. (I grow outside)Help, I live in a very warm climate but we have decent wind everyday, but it rained and my plants are now drooping:( will they recover? They’re only 2 weeks old. I dont wanna lose them they’re expensive as f**k medical grade seeds, please help

    Reply
  15. I’m growing wedding cake …was doing awesome but felt needed nutrients..but 10-10-10 on soil…and watered … now 14 hours later half leaves are turning white and drooping…how do I fix ???

    Reply
    • It could be a couple of things to much water(over watered), or big temperature change , for the drooping. The white leaves could be caused by low ph levels, to much light, or it got to cold possibly, could be a number of factors so not sure? Maybe try and correct those issues and see what happens.

      Reply
  16. first time grower first time plant only one…. I need to know about topping can I get some advice, please…. the plant is 17″ in a planter and looking good but I’ve read about topping and I don’t know nothing about growing or taking care of it…. HELP before it’s too late

    Reply
  17. Hello growers
    Read ur issue want to offer a possible solution. First use a inoculant Endomycorrhizae: Is a fungi used to begin ur growing placed in ur soil b4 u plant. Glomus Intraradices is the ingredient In the product ( mykos ) which is a granular application. Also the same fungi in a powder which is what I use – better dissolved in water and can b used to top dress if not applied below root ball when first planted. Go to product : Myco Jordan a Professional Mycorrhizal Inoculant it is a powder !!! Important to begin with. Use a organic bone meal to top dress water in at 1-2 tsp and start slowly. Additionally use a small amount kelp meal at the same rate as above and same time as bone meal. This should get u off to a good start. My choice using compost, humus , worm casting to top dress as u grow veg or flower. Homemade compost tea or many recipes online just google. Try boogiebrew.com
    It can make ur plants dance pointing up at the lights if u follow directions good luck. Water less often to green up needs oxygen at the roots. Overwatering causes yellowing leaves. B-1 vitamin with iron manganese and zinc helps with transplants in transition from original origin to new location. Hope this helps

    Reply
  18. What do I do if I Overwatered my outdoor marijuana plants but I grow in the dirt With soil how do I get some of the water to drain out out?

    Reply

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