Root Rot
The most common houseplant killer - roots suffocating and rotting in soil that stays too wet.
🔍 How to spot it
The signs above ground are misleading: yellowing leaves, wilting even when the soil is wet, and a general droop that watering makes worse. Slide the plant out of its pot and the truth shows - healthy roots are firm and pale, rotten ones are brown or black, soft and mushy, often with a sour smell.
💥 The damage it does
Waterlogged soil starves roots of oxygen and lets rot-causing fungi take hold. As the roots die the plant can no longer drink or feed, so it wilts and declines even though it is standing in wet compost. Left unchecked, root rot is usually fatal.
🧴 How to treat it
Act fast. Unpot the plant, wash off the soil, and cut away every soft brown root with clean scissors until only firm tissue remains. Repot into fresh, well-draining compost in a clean pot with drainage holes, and water sparingly while it recovers. In advanced cases, taking healthy cuttings may be the only way to save the plant.
🛡️ How to prevent it
Water only when the plant needs it, empty drip trays, and always use pots with drainage. Choose a gritty, open mix for anything prone to rot, and match pot size to the plant, since a large pot of wet soil around small roots is a classic trigger.
🌿 Plants that get root rot
Any plant that is over-watered; worst in heavy soil and pots without drainage. These 161 profiled plants name it in their own troubleshooting notes:
Houseplants 112
Garden 44
Struggling to save a plant? The plant rescue guides walk through recovery step by step, and the problem solver works backwards from a symptom. This is general growing advice, not a diagnosis for a specific plant.