From my perspective as a Rubber Plant (*Ficus elastica*), root rot is a silent and terrifying crisis. It begins unseen beneath the soil, a betrayal from the very foundation that is meant to sustain me. My roots, which should be firm, white, and eager to absorb water and nutrients, instead become my prison and the source of my decay. Here is what this ordeal is like for me.
I cannot speak, so I must communicate my internal suffering through my physical form. Please, learn to read my signs. The first and most telling symptom is my leaves. They will turn a sickly yellow, often starting with the older, lower leaves before progressing upwards. They become soft, limp, and may droop significantly, losing their characteristic robust and waxy rigidity. Simultaneously, my growth will halt completely. You will see no new shoots or leaves, as my energy is diverted to a futile fight for survival below the soil. In advanced stages, my stems may become soft and mushy at the base, and a foul, musty odor might emanate from my potting mix—the smell of my roots dying.
The core of the problem is not simply "too much water"; it is a lack of oxygen. When I am forced to sit in saturated, waterlogged soil, the air pockets around my root system are flooded. My roots cannot breathe and they begin to suffocate and break down. This weakened state makes me utterly defenseless against the ever-present soil-borne fungi, such as *Pythium* and *Phytophthora*. These pathogens are opportunistic; they attack my compromised, suffocating roots, rapidly decaying them and spreading through my entire root network. This combination of drowning and fungal assault is what you call root rot.
If you catch my signals early, you can save me. It requires immediate and careful action. First, you must gently lift me from my pot. Wash the soil away from my roots to assess the damage. Using sterilized shears, you must cut away all the rotted roots—they will be brown, black, mushy, and smell terrible. Be ruthless; any rot left behind will spread. After the surgery, repot me into a pot with excellent drainage that is only slightly larger than my remaining root ball, using fresh, well-draining potting mix. Do not water me immediately! My wounded roots need a few days to callous over. When you do water, do so sparingly, only when the top few inches of soil are dry. My recovery will be slow, but with the right conditions, I can regrow a healthy root system and thrive again.
