Why Do Plants Wilt? Whether in the office or outdoors, plants wither in most situations when they run out of available water. You might think that most of the water (95% or more) is wasted. Water moves through the soil, roots, stems and leaves of a plant. When water enters the leaves, most of it escapes into the air through the leaves through tiny holes in the leaves called stomata. This process is called transpiration and is similar to sweating in humans.
That is why it is necessary to have something of it at all, and sometimes all at once, sometimes all at once.
The process of transpiration
One might think that with a tall tree, which is about 1.50 meters high, water is constantly channeled to the leaves at the top of the tree. Otherwise the leaves would wither and die. Water escapes from the leaves into the air through transpiration and provides a traction force. The pulling force draws water into the plant through a tiny tube called xylem.
Xylem is present in every part of a plant, from the roots to the stems to the leaves. The Xylem pipes can be thought of as the pipes of the plant, which channel water into all parts of the plant. When water is drawn into the plant through the tubes, water molecules are connected by capillary forces in long chains. These tubes are effective in stacking water molecules into long chains that pull the water molecules outwards, leaving the plant.
The tensile forces generated by transpiration pull the long water chain outwards and away from the leaves. This creates turbidity, which means that the plant is rigid and strong and upright (the opposite of withering). Plants have no bones to sustain them, so they rely on this “turbidity” to keep the plant upright and strong.
When this happens, the plant loses its turbidity and begins to wilt. When the soil around the plant becomes scarce with the available water, the water chain (xylem) becomes thinner and thinner with less water. The plant loses water faster.
Low soil moisture is often the reason for this, but other factors can also play a role. Plants with high water requirements wilt faster than plants with low water requirements such as cacti and other succulents. If the temperature is too high, it is either too warm or too hot and the plant loses more water through transpiration, causing it to wilt before the water requirement is high enough to be available. Even if the air is too dry, it can wilt.
For example, Spathiphyllum peace is notorious for withering when stirred up by water. Verticillium wilt is another common example of tomato trees. Vascular fungal diseases can clog the xylem tissue and cause withering.
How to keep plants from wilting
The most practical way to overcome plant wilting is to provide sufficient soil moisture and take into account plant type and environmental conditions, whether it is hot or cold. For plants and trees in the open air, it is important to remember that they consume water throughout the winter, so it is very important to water them in autumn and winter before the ground freezes, especially for evergreen plants. People often spray desiccants to reduce dehydration and prevent the drying out of trees and evergreens in winter by reducing water loss through perspiration.
This botanical lesson will help you understand why plants wither and what you can do to overcome them. Extreme watering of indoor plants can cause plants to wilt in some situations. When the soil is saturated with water and without oxygen, the roots fail and cannot absorb water.
