From my roots outward, I feel a profound sickness. My once firm, white, and thirsty root tips, which I used to push through the soil to drink and gather nutrients, are now failing me. They feel soft, mushy, and have turned a dreadful dark brown or black. This is not the healthy, vibrant network that sustains my beautiful leaves and potential flowers. A foul, musty odor begins to emanate from my base, a clear signal of decay. This is the internal reality of root rot, a condition where I am literally drowning and suffocating in an environment that has become hostile.
My distress underground quickly manifests in my above-ground parts, which you can see. My leaves, usually stiff, waxy, and a proud green, begin to lose their vigor. The most telling sign is the yellowing of my lower, older leaves. This yellowing starts at the edges or in patches and is a direct result of my damaged roots being unable to deliver water and sustenance. Following the yellowing, my leaves wilt and droop pathetically, losing their characteristic rigidity. They may feel soft and limp to the touch. In severe cases, the base of my stems, where I emerge from the soil, becomes soft, mushy, and may even appear darkened. If you gently tug on me, I might offer little resistance because my anchoring roots have disintegrated.
This condition is almost never my fault. I am designed for a cycle of thorough drinking followed by a period where my roots can access air. The primary cause is consistently waterlogged soil. This can happen if my pot does not have a drainage hole, if I am watered too frequently before my soil has dried out, or if the soil mixture is too heavy and retains water like a sponge. In this saturated environment, the air pockets in the soil are eliminated. My roots cannot breathe and begin to die. As they die, opportunistic fungi and bacteria in the soil, like *Pythium* or *Phytophthora*, attack the weakened tissues, accelerating the decay.
To save me, immediate and decisive action is required. You must gently remove me from my pot and carefully wash the soil away from my root system under lukewarm water. This will allow you to see the full extent of the damage. Using sterile, sharp pruning shears, you must cut away all the soft, brown, mushy roots. Be ruthless; only healthy, firm, white roots should remain. After the surgery, dip my remaining healthy roots in a fungicide solution to prevent further infection. Then, repot me into a clean pot with excellent drainage holes, using a fresh, well-draining potting mix. A blend designed for cacti and succulents or a standard mix amended with perlite and orchid bark is ideal. Do not water me immediately. Allow my wounded roots to callous over for a few days to a week in a shaded, warm area before giving me a very modest drink. From then on, please only water me when the top few inches of soil are dry.
