Why Do Indoor Plants Drip Water From Their Leaves

You’ve seen photographs of plants dripping water on the leaves, but you never expect it to happen in your house. When you see little drops of water on your indoor plants, you immediately start to ask: why do indoor plants drip water from their leaves?

Your indoor plants will begin to drip water from their leaves because you have overwatered your plants. Your plants need some way to get rid of the excess water, so they drip the water away through their leaves.

Water dripping from your plants does not mean that there is anything wrong with your plants. The worst thing to come from a dripping plant is damage to floors, windowsills, and furniture. Keep reading to learn more about why this happens to your indoor plants!

5 Reasons Why Your Indoor Plants Are Leaking Water From Their Leaves

While it sounds simple when you hear that your plant has too much water, several things affect how much water your plant is getting outside of manual watering.

Let’s look at some of the ways your indoor plants can get too much water and drip from their leaves. 

It Is Humid In Your House 

Humidity in your house can be an important factor in how much water your plant gets and needs.

Humid air will add more moisture to your plant’s soil. This will happen more commonly when you do not have air conditioning or try to avoid turning on your air conditioning during humid days.

The humidity will:

• Make your plant’s soil take longer to dry out
• Add more moisture to the top layer of your plant
• Cause your plant to sweat

If you live in a place with excessive humidity, you should not water your indoor plants as much as you normally would when it is simply hot outside.

Morning Dew From Open Windows Collected On Your Plants

Dew can collect on your household plants, even if they aren’t outside.

If you like to sleep with your windows open – I know I am – then you might notice that your plants are dripping with a few water beads when you wake up in the morning.

Your plants aren’t outside sitting in the grass, but dew can still collect on the leaves of your plants if they are on your windowsill or near your windows.

Much like increased humidity, morning dew can cause your plants’ soil to retain water, causing them to push out extra moisture through your leaves.

Unless you live in the mountains or in more rural areas, the morning dew won’t be a major concern, though you should still know about it as a potential culprit. 

You Water Your Plants Too Much At Once

Plants will drip from their leaves if you overwater them. 

If you’re a person that forgets to water your plants, you may think that overwatering them will solve the problem of them getting too dry. 

Too much water at one time can cause your plants to have too much water, which will drip in the form of beads from their leaves.

You may also notice that:

• Your soil stays wet
• Your plant starts to rot at the root
• Your plant’s roots float out of the dirt
• There is a mildew-like smell coming from the pot, and your plant

Giving your plant more water at one time will not help your plant stay wet longer. You will cause more issues with your plant than if your plant gets too dry. 

You Water Your Plants Too Often

You can water your plant too often too, which is still a way that your plant will get too much water.

Rather than giving your plant too much water once or twice a week, it may be your morning routine to give your plants water every morning while your breakfast is cooking or in the afternoon after dinner.

Some plants will love consistent watering, but other varieties of household plants will end up waterlogged and will start dripping water from their leaves.

It’s up to you to find a happy medium with all your plants. Even the easiest plants to care for will take some research, so you know exactly when to water them and how much to water them. 

Guttation Causes Your Plant To Look Like It Is Dripping

Sometimes the water dripping from your plant’s leaves aren’t water. It is guttation.

Guttation is a fancy term for what is sap from your plants as it travels up from the stem and through your plant’s inner system. The sap is a mixture of water and nutrients from inside the plant.

Sometimes your house plants may start to leak this sap because too much water builds pressure on your plant’s stem and roots. Rather than leak the extra water, your plant will instead begin to leak this sap. 

You need to be careful, though; guttation is not always a sign that you are overwatering your plant. Do not immediately cut back on the water you are giving your plant because you think you are overwatering. 

The untrained eye may think this sap is water because it acts the same way as drops of water. 

What Plants Drip Water From Leaves

Almost any plant can begin to drip water from its leaves if given too much water.

Here are a few varieties of plants that are mentioned explicitly among gardeners and gardening blogs known to drip water from their leaves:

• Pothos plants
• Calla lilies, which are known for guttation
• Monstera

The above plants are the common culprits for dripping water – or “sweating” or “crying,” as some people say.

You may also find it easier to spot droplets of water on leaves that are a certain shape or color:

• Leaves that come to a point will help the water gather in one area
• Bright green, waxy leaves may make water droplets easier to spot
• Plants with fewer flowers will gather more attention when it comes to water droplets

How Do I Stop My House Plants From Leaking Water

Your plant isn’t in harm’s way if you notice they leak water. The water may damage the things around it more than the plant itself.

The main way to stop your house plant from leaking water is to – and I cannot stress this enough – manage your plant’s water intake.

For an amateur gardener who only wants to add some color to their home or apartment, it can feel frustrating to have to figure out what is best for each and every plant you have.

Trust me when I say that learning about your plants will help them flourish and become a beautiful focal point in any home. 

Growing indoor plants and flowers are a delicate balance of learning where your plant grows best, how much sunlight your plant needs, and how much water is too much or too little. 

Growing plants is certainly a labor of love, but it will pay off when your plants grow – happy and healthy!