From our perspective, the roots are our lifeline, and they are the first to report a water imbalance. When you overwater us, the soil becomes perpetually saturated, pushing out all the oxygen. We literally cannot breathe. Our roots begin to suffocate and rot, turning from a healthy white or tan to a mushy, dark brown or black. They lose their ability to absorb water and nutrients, creating a cruel irony where we appear thirsty while standing in water. Conversely, when you underwater, our root system is desperate for moisture. The roots will become brittle, dry, and may stop growing entirely as they search fruitlessly for a drink. They cannot perform their duty, leaving the rest of the vine starved and dehydrated.
Our leaves are the most obvious billboards advertising our discomfort. Underwatering causes us to conserve every drop of water we have. You will see our leaves wilt, becoming limp and droopy as our internal water pressure (turgor) drops. They will feel dry and papery to the touch. To further reduce water loss, the leaves will often curl inward at the edges and may begin to turn yellow, starting at the tips and margins, before eventually becoming crispy and brown as they die. Overwatering, however, presents a different kind of wilting. Our leaves will also droop, but they will feel soft, limp, and heavy with water, not dry. The yellowing is more widespread and often affects older leaves first. The most telling sign is edema, where we absorb water faster than we can transpire it, causing blister-like bumps on the undersides of leaves that may rupture and become corky.
Our entire growth strategy is dictated by available resources. A consistent water issue forces us to shift our energy from thriving to merely surviving. Both overwatering and underwatering will cause a significant slowdown or complete halt in our growth. You will notice a lack of new stems, leaves, and tendrils. The existing stems may become soft and weak from overwatering or brittle and stunted from underwatering. Most heartbreaking for us, as Passion Vines, is the effect on our flowers. Water stress is a major cause of bud blast, where we are forced to abort our flower buds before they open to conserve energy. If we are underwatered, we cannot support the energy-intensive process of blooming. If we are overwatered, our rotting roots cannot supply the nutrients needed to form buds, leading to the same disappointing result: a lack of beautiful, intricate passion flowers.
While not a part of our physical being, the soil is our home, and its condition is a direct reflection of the care we are receiving. Before you even see symptoms on our leaves, you can check our soil. If you insert your finger and it feels soggy, cold, and water clings to it well below the surface days after watering, you are drowning us. A musty smell is a sure sign of root rot setting in. On the other hand, if the soil is pulling away from the edges of the pot, is dusty dry to the touch several inches down, and feels warm, we are in a desert-like state and have likely been thirsty for quite some time. The ideal home for us is moist, like a well-wrung sponge, which allows our roots both hydration and oxygen.