– Why is it so easy to overwater a plant, but sticking the roots directly underwater is how you propagate it?

Question

Title. It’s just funny to me how cautious I am not to overwater my plants when in soil. But if I cut a piece of a plant and stick it in 100% water it thrives. Wouldn’t the roots being literally underwater be “overwatered” as well?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Overwatering refers to how often you water, not how much water you use when you do water. 

In general, each time you water a plant you want to completely soak its root system. How often you water depends on the plant – some plants need their soil to completely dry out before watering again, others might only need the top 10% of the soil to dry before watering again.