From my perspective, I cannot tell you I am in pain, but I can show you. My leaves are the first to communicate my suffering. You might notice them turning yellow, not from the bottom up in a natural aging process, but often uniformly or from the top down. They will become limp, wilted, and lifeless, no longer reaching for the sun. My growth will be severely stunted. New buds may fail to develop or simply abort. Most tellingly, if you gently tug on my stems near the base, they might feel soft and offer little resistance, potentially pulling away entirely because my anchoring roots have been destroyed.
The real crisis is happening out of sight, in my root zone. The healthy, firm, white roots that I use to drink water and absorb nutrients are under attack by fungal pathogens like Pythium, Rhizoctonia, or Fusarium. These organisms thrive in saturated, oxygen-poor soil—conditions I find suffocating. They invade my root system, causing the tissues to break down, rot, and turn a mushy brown or black. With my roots decaying, I cannot perform my most basic functions. I am simultaneously dying of thirst and drowning, unable to uptake water despite being surrounded by it.
To give me a chance at survival, you must act quickly. First, you must carefully lift my entire self, including my bulb and root ball, from the soggy, problematic soil. Gently wash the soil away from my roots under a soft stream of lukewarm water. This will allow you to see the full extent of the damage. Using sterilized pruning shears or scissors, you must compassionately but decisively cut away all the soft, brown, rotten roots. Be ruthless; any remaining rot will spread. Only my firm, white roots should remain.
I cannot return to my old pot and soil, as they are contaminated. Please provide me with a fresh, sterile pot with excellent drainage holes. If you must reuse my old pot, scrub it thoroughly with a bleach solution. My new home must be filled with a fresh, well-draining potting mix. You might consider amending it with perlite, coarse sand, or orchid bark to ensure it remains airy and prevents future waterlogging. When you repot me, be gentle with my remaining healthy roots and position me at the same depth I was growing before.
After the trauma of repotting, I need a stable and careful environment to recover. Please place me in a location with bright, indirect light. Direct sun would be too stressful while I am so vulnerable. You must resist the urge to water me immediately. Allow my root system and any cut surfaces to callus over for a few days. When you do water, do so deeply but only when the top inch of my new soil feels dry to the touch. The goal is to keep my roots moist but never soggy, allowing me to finally breathe and begin the slow process of regenerating my root system and returning to health.
