Troubleshooting A Sickly Pot Plant

You can tell when plants are healthy. They kind of glow with energy. Hard to explain. But you'll know when you see it.

This pot plant isn't glowing - the first sign of trouble. What's wrong?

When troubleshooting any plant, the first thing to do is: EXAMINE THE ROOTS. If these aren't healthy, the plant won't be, either. Most healthy plants have at least some white and fresh roots.


REMOVE PLANT FROM POT
Place one hand over top of pot so plant stem is between fingers. Take care not to damage the plant.

Invert pot, now supported on palm of hand.

Grip rim of inverted pot with fingers of other hand, and press centre of base with thumb(s). This slight movement is usually enough to release plant onto palm of other hand. If it doesn't release, give base a sharp tap. Make sure you catch it. Failing this, cut round edge with a knife (not recommended).


The side of the pot shows roots are not too bad. But compost gets quite wet (dark) towards base. Pot is heavy. Suspect over-watering.

These mouldy, brown, rotting roots are the problem: Over-watering confirmed.

PROGNOSIS
ON NO ACCOUNT WATER until plant is almost wilting. Might be several weeks later. Rotten roots could have been removed, and plant re-potted. Will only do this if it fails to recover. Check regularly for signs of new white root growth. And try not to give too much water (usually caused by watering too often - see last year's earliest posts on watering) in future.