Overwatered Panda Plant

Overwatered Panda Plant (Signs and 7 Quick Fixes!)

Panda Plants are unique and almost alien in their aesthetic allure. Known by the scientific name of Kalanchoe Tomentosa, Panda Plants immediately draw the eyes when you enter a room. They get quite large too, often reaching 2’ tall and just as wide. 

Despite their unique appearance, it doesn’t require a unique approach in terms of maintenance. They are very easy to take care of and don’t require a great deal of maintenance. An overwatered panda plant is one of the few ways that caretakers go wrong.

Overwatering a panda plant can lead to a variety of problems that can significantly affect its health. Signs of an overwatered panda plant include yellowing or wilting leaves, soft stems, mold or fungus growth, and an unpleasant smell.

With proper care, your panda plant can bounce back to its former glory in no time.

Overwatered Panda Plant

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Overwatering a Panda Plant is often enough to send the plant on a downward spiral, ultimately resulting in its death. You don’t necessarily have to overwater it either. The amount of water retention in the soil is often enough to cause overwatering before Panda Plant owners realize what they’ve done. 

While a Panda Plant isn’t as tolerable to overwatering as some plants are, you can still save it so long as you catch what is happening early on, before it’s too late. One of the most common causes of overwatering a Panda Plant is a lack of suitably aerated soil. 

Most people just love the plants and don’t really consider soil requirements. This is especially true of those who spend little time gardening and lack a necessary understanding of different plant requirements, soil requirements, and proper maintenance and care. 

The biggest problem that overwatering causes is root rot, which is something you won’t see the effects of immediately. While the roots are rotting in oversaturated soil, your Panda Plant will go on looking just fine for a few days, then you will start to see the signs and symptoms of overwatering. 

  • Panda Plant leaves fall off
  • It looks wilted
  • Leaves start to curl
  • Leaf tips are drooping
  • Discoloration in the leaves
  • Yellow appearance of the plant

Panda plants have white clusters of leaves that look like blooming or opening flowers, with black, patterned ridges around each leaf. It’s a very distinct-looking plant. Fortunately, that’s a good thing, as it will make problems much more noticeable—hopefully in time to fix it. 

1.Determine the Amount of Damage

When you notice physical changes to the leaves on your Panda Plant, put your fingers on the soil surrounding it. Pick some up and rub it between your fingers. You will notice if the soil is heavily saturated or not. It will have a texture that is closer to mud and it will feel heavy. 

If you caught it very late, you need to remove the plant from its substrate entirely and visually inspect the roots. Don’t worry, if the Panda Plant is going to survive, removing it from the soil isn’t going to do much more than give it a little bit of shock. The idea, of course, is to get it into better soil. 

The roots should be firm and healthy. If you need to, rinse the roots with water so you can see them better. If you see that there are a large number of roots that are dark and mushy, they are likely dead. 

2. Remove the Dead Roots

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You have two options—remove the roots that are muddy-looking and mushy, or remove all of the roots if they’re all compromised. If you have to remove all of the roots, do your best to take some cuttings from the best-looking leaves and set them aside for now.

If you only have to remove some or most of the roots and there are still some healthy roots remaining, place the Panda Plant in a pot with a good succulent or cactus soil mix that is not saturated in water. But before you do that, allow them to air out in the open for a few hours. 

Place the pot out in the open, where it can get good circulation and hope for the best. 

3. Use the Healthy Cuttings

If your Panda Plant is beyond saving because you had to remove its entire root structure, you can still take advantage of the cuttings we mentioned above. Simply lay the cuttings flat in a container with a succulent mix that is just ever so slightly damp. 

In most cases, you don’t need to spray them with water or do anything else to the cuttings. Set them in an area where they will get indirect sunlight and keep your eyes out of roots over the coming days. 

4. Aerate Your Pot

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Since Panda Plants are succulents, they don’t need a ton of water. If you’ve overwatered them, the first thing you need to do is reverse the situation as soon as possible. If your Panda Plant is surrounded by other plants, you should remove it so it can get some good air circulation.

Drill a few additional holes in the pot to increase the drainage and allow air to penetrate the soil, drying it quicker from the middle and bottom sections. Stir the surface of the soil with a fork. This will mix the dryer topsoil in with the wetter soil beneath, both aerating and exposing the wet soil faster. 

Place your Panda Plant pot in an open, well-ventilated area until the soil has returned to optimal conditions for the plant. 

How to Avoid Overwatering Your Panda Plant

Overwatering is a lot easier to do than you think. This is especially true if you are keeping several plants in close vicinity with one another. If you feel like you have to arrange your plants that way, try and keep only succulents with succulents. All other plants can be set somewhere else. 

1. Avoid Using Saucers.

A saucer will generally have a deep enough depression that it holds water at the bottom, rather than letting it properly flow out. Loose, fast-draining soil is the best kind of soil for just about any succulent, including Panda Plants. 

Be sure to use the correct soil and create plenty of holes in the pot so it can drain quickly when you water it. 

2. Water Infrequently

That’s not the same as not watering it at all. When you water a Panda Plant, you give it a pretty thorough drink, allowing the water to wash through and drain out of the soil rapidly. You don’t need to water the plant again until you sample the substrate by touching it. 

Only when the soil is completely dry should you water the Panda Plant again. 

3. Keep an Eye On It

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Panda Plants are not supposed to be high-maintenance plants. They are relatively low-maintenance but you should still keep an eye on them. Due to the look of the plant, it’s very easy to notice changes, especially bad ones. 

If you see any yellowing, curling, drooping, or other discolorations, you should investigate it immediately and separate the Panda Plant from all of the other plants until you discover the cause. Honestly, if you are watering it right and it has plenty of air, this shouldn’t happen much, if at all. 

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Panda Plants, as succulents, are fairly hardy plants, requiring little maintenance and infrequent watering. If you accidentally overwater it, the problem will only get worse if you don’t do anything about it. 

Careful and routine watering will ensure that your Panda Plant has everything it needs and it should grow large and strong. 

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