You must act quickly. The excess water around my roots is suffocating me. My roots need oxygen as much as they need water, and right now, they are drowning. Carefully lift me from my soggy pot. Be gentle; my stems are brittle. Gently cradle my root ball and inspect it. Healthy roots are firm and whitish. If they are brown, black, mushy, and smell foul, that is root rot. Using sterile, sharp pruners, you must cut away all the soft, rotten roots. This is a drastic surgery, but it is necessary for my survival.
Do not put me back into the same wet soil or a pot without proper drainage. I demand a pot with multiple drainage holes. My new home must be filled with a very specific growing medium. I am a Mediterranean plant, built for gritty, lean, and incredibly well-draining soil. Create a mix for me using standard potting soil amended heavily with perlite, coarse sand, or small gravel. A good rule is one part soil to one part drainage material. This new environment will allow water to flow through instantly, giving my remaining roots the air they desperately crave.
With my root system compromised, I cannot support all of my above-ground growth. You must help me by reducing it. Prune away any dead or dying woody stems and foliage. Remove any flowers or buds, as flowering consumes energy I need to recover. Be careful not to cut back into the old, hard, woody growth that cannot produce new shoots. Focus on the softer, green growth. This pruning reduces the strain on my injured roots, allowing me to focus all my energy on regenerating a healthy root system instead of sustaining leaves that I might lose anyway.
Now, place me in a location with bright, indirect light. Avoid intense, direct afternoon sun while I am this weak, as it will stress me further. Do not water me immediately. I need a period of dryness. Let my new soil become completely dry to the touch, and then wait a few more days before even considering a drink. When you do water, water sparingly, just enough to lightly moisten the soil. My recovery is slow and depends entirely on you resisting the urge to over-care for me. Withhold fertilizer entirely; my tender new roots cannot handle it and it will cause more harm.
You must be patient. My revival will not happen in days; it will take weeks or even months. Do not keep disturbing my roots to check on progress. Instead, watch my stems and leaves for signs of life. If I am going to survive, you will eventually see tiny new green growth emerging from the stems that you left intact. This is the sign that my roots have begun to recover and are finally able to send moisture and nutrients back up through my system. Continue your careful watering regimen, and with time, I may yet thrive again.
