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Neighbor told me to stop overwatering my basil and she was totally right
I was drowning my basil plants every single day because I thought they needed constant moisture on a hot balcony. My upstairs neighbor saw my yellowing leaves and said 'you're killing them with love, give them a break.' I changed to watering only when the top inch of soil felt dry, maybe every 2-3 days now depending on the sun. After just 2 weeks the leaves perked up and turned dark green again. Has anyone else had to unlearn some bad habit from beginner gardening guides?
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caseywest1mo ago
Yeah I was totally guilty of that too! Thought more water = happier plants but turns out I was just giving them root rot.
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Read something in an old gardening book once that said "plants don't need love, they need neglect"... sounds harsh but it's kind of true with water. I think @caseywest is spot on about the root rot thing, that's exactly what happens when you're too generous with the watering can. The book said most houseplants and herbs actually want their soil to go through wet and dry cycles, not stay constantly damp. I feel like we get told "keep the soil moist" and take it way too literally, forgetting that "moist" still means it dries out a bit between waterings. My basil did the same thing yours did, yellow and sad until I backed off hard. Now I only water when the pot feels light when I lift it, which tells me the roots have used up the moisture.
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