Disconcerting Droplets
Question: My Ivy plant will have water drops on the leaves in the morning, what causes this and do I need to do something?
Water droplets on leaves can pose some problems, but the key is finding out why they are there.
Answer: Well, first we must figure out the “when, where, and how” of the water droplets.
“When”: You say it is in the morning, which leads me to believe that the droplets are simply dew. You didn’t say if the plant is inside or outside, but I’m going to assume the plant is inside. (Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t be concerned. Also, if it is, indeed, outside, you have nothing to worry about.)
“Where”: Are the droplets on top of the leaves? Is something dripping on your plant? Is it splash up from over watering?
“How”: Water in the atmosphere (this atmosphere can be inside or out) vaporizes when the temperature is higher during the day. Dew is condensation that forms when the temperature falls at night. When you see these droplets in the morning, it is because the temperature has not warmed enough for the water to re-vaporize and evaporate. Also, plants use evaporation to get rid of excess water.
It’s possible that you are over-watering your plant, and the water that’s evaporating from the soil is condensing on the leaves of the plant. Dew itself is not really a problem. The concern here is that standing water on the leaves of a plant can promote fungus, mildew, or any number of other problems. It can also promote pests that like high humidity.
If there are simply a few drops on the whole of the plant, this is natural, and not going to affect the health of your ivy. Actually, it’s a good sign your plant has a healthy metabolism. The problem only arises if there are many, many droplets (especially if your plant is soggy, or dripping wet), and if the droplets don’t evaporate quickly.
You could be over watering. I would suggest not watering for several days. If you have a humidifier in the same room as the ivy, I think you should move it or the plant to an adjacent room for a while and see what happens. The humidity and temperature variance tends to increase near windows. Move it a few feet away, maybe to another table.