Root Rot: How to Spot It and Save Your Plant

Is it root rot? Look at the roots

Leaves can fool you. A plant with root rot droops just like a thirsty one, so people water it more and make it worse. The roots tell you for sure, and checking takes two minutes.

Tip the pot on its side, hold the plant at the base of the stem, and ease it out. Then compare what you see.

Can't take it out of the pot? Tick what you see

Root rot often starts with the bottom leaves wilting, then moves up the plant.

• The soil is still wet 3 or more days after watering
• It's wilting, even though the soil is wet
• The stem is soft or dark where it meets the soil
• The soil smells sour or rotten
• Tiny black flies (fungus gnats) hang around the pot

What causes root rot

Root rot is an infection. Water molds called Pythium and Phytophthora, and fungi like Rhizoctonia and Fusarium, live in soil and do best when it stays wet. Soggy soil has no air in it, the roots weaken, and these organisms move in. (UW-Madison Extension, Iowa State)

So the real problem is soil that stays wet for too long. These are the usual reasons:

• Watering on a schedule instead of when the soil is dry.
• No drainage hole, or a decorative outer pot that quietly holds water.
• Garden soil, or old potting mix that has packed down.
• A pot much bigger than the roots, so the extra soil never dries.
• Winter. The plant drinks less, but it still gets the same amount of water.
• Gravel at the bottom of the pot. It sounds like it should help drainage, but it actually holds water in the soil above it. University of Wisconsin plant scientists say to skip it.

Fungus gnats are worth knowing about too. They mean the soil is staying wet, and they can carry Pythium from one pot to the next. (Purdue Extension)

How to save a plant with root rot, step by step

Give yourself about 20 minutes and lay down some newspaper. You'll need:

• Clean scissors
• 70% rubbing alcohol
• Fresh bagged potting mix
• Perlite
• A pot with a drainage hole

1. Stop watering

   Don't add water to wet soil, even if the plant looks thirsty. The drooping comes from damaged roots, not a lack of water.

2. Take the plant out

   Tip the pot sideways. Squeeze a plastic pot, or run a butter knife around the inside of a clay one. Hold the plant at the base of the stem and ease it out. Don't pull it by the leaves.

   

3. Rinse the roots

   Swish them in a bucket of room-temperature water until most of the soil falls away. Now you can see which roots are healthy.

   

4. Cut off the rotten roots

   Cut anything brown, black, mushy or smelly back to firm, white tissue. Use the pull test above if you're not sure. Wipe the blades with 70% rubbing alcohol between cuts so you don't spread the rot to healthy roots.

   

5. Deal with the old soil and pot

   Bin the soil and any water left in the saucer. Don't reuse it or tip it into the garden. Replace plastic pots, because they're hard to clean properly. Clay and ceramic pots can be scrubbed, soaked in 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water, then rinsed well and dried. (UW-Madison Extension)

   

6. Repot in fresh mix

   Use new bagged potting mix with perlite stirred in, about 1 part perlite to 3 parts mix. Pick a pot with a drainage hole, no more than 1 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) wider than the roots. If you cut off a lot of roots, go down a pot size. No gravel at the bottom.

   

7. Take off some leaves if you lost a lot of roots

   If half or more of the roots are gone, remove a few of the oldest, biggest leaves. Fewer leaves means less for the weak roots to support while they regrow.

8. Water once, then wait

   Water lightly until a little runs out of the bottom, then empty the saucer. Don't water again until the top 2 inches (5 cm) are dry. For succulents and snake plants, skip this watering and wait a week. Keep it in bright, indirect light and don't fertilize yet.

   

Do hydrogen peroxide, cinnamon or fungicide help?

These come up in every root rot thread. Here's my honest take. Cutting out the rot and using fresh mix does the real work. Everything else is optional at best.

Treatment	Worth it?	What to know
Hydrogen peroxide	Optional	It can't bring rotten roots back, and the university guides below don't recommend it. If you want to try it, use the 3% kind from a pharmacy, mix 1 part with 2 parts water, and dip the trimmed roots briefly.
Cinnamon	Skip it	There's little proof it stops root rot in a pot. It won't hurt cut roots, but don't count on it.
Fungicide	Skip it	UW-Madison Extension doesn't recommend chemical fungicides for root rot on houseplants. They work best before an infection, not after one.
Bleach	Pots and tools only	1 part bleach to 9 parts water for clay pots, tools and surfaces. Never put it on roots.
Throwing it out	Fair choice	If the rot is everywhere and the plant was cheap, starting over is reasonable. Plant scientists often say the same. Take a cutting first if you can.

Root rot in common houseplants

The steps above work for most leafy plants. These ones need a few changes.

Plant	What rot looks like	Do this differently	Water again when
Snake plant	Leaves turn soft and yellow at the base, then fall over	Cut off mushy leaves at the base. Let the cuts dry for 1 to 2 days, then repot in cactus mix. Healthy leaves can be rooted as cuttings.	The soil is dry all the way down
Succulents and cacti	The stem base turns black or see-through and mushy	Cut above the rot until the inside looks clean. Let the cut dry for 2 to 3 days until it seals, then plant in dry, gritty mix.	About a week after potting, then only when fully dry
Monstera, pothos, philodendron	Lower leaves go yellow, roots turn black and mushy, sometimes a soft stem base	Follow the steps above. If the stem base is soft, take cuttings with a node and root them in water.	The top 2 inches (5 cm) are dry
Orchids (moth orchid)	Roots are brown and mushy, or flat and papery. Healthy roots are firm and green or silvery.	Trim the bad roots and repot in fresh orchid bark. Never use regular potting soil.	The roots in the pot turn silvery
Peace lily	Droops whether it's too wet or too dry, so always feel the soil first	Follow the steps above.	The top inch (2.5 cm) is dry

When the roots are too far gone

If there are no firm roots left, or the stem is soft above the soil, you can still save the plant by growing a new one from a cutting.

1. Cut a 4 to 6 inch (10 to 15 cm) piece of healthy stem with at least one node and two leaves. A node is the bump where a leaf joins the stem.
2. Stand it in a glass of water, out of direct sun. Change the water every few days.
3. Pothos, philodendron and monstera cuttings usually root in 2 to 4 weeks. Snake plant leaf cuttings are much slower, often 2 months or more.
4. Pot it up once the new roots are 1 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) long.

What recovery looks like

Plants don't bounce back overnight. For a leafy houseplant, this is roughly what to expect:

1. Day 1Repotted. One light watering, or none for succulents and snake plants.
2. Weeks 1 to 2Some drooping and a few yellow leaves. That's normal. Water only when the top 2 inches (5 cm) are dry.
3. Weeks 3 to 6New white root tips start growing. The leaves firm up.
4. Weeks 4 to 8The first new leaf. Start feeding again at half strength.

The most common mistake now is watering too soon. A smaller root system drinks much less than the old one did.

Illustration of a typical recovery, not a photo of a specific plant.

How to stop root rot coming back

One rule does most of the work: water when the soil is dry, not when the calendar says so. The rest makes that rule easier to follow.

• Do the finger test. Push a finger 2 inches (5 cm) into the soil and water only if it's dry at that depth. For succulents, wait until it's dry all the way down.
• Use a pot with a drainage hole. If you love a pot without one, use it as an outer pot and tip out any water 15 minutes after watering.
• Skip the gravel. It keeps the soil above it wetter, not drier.
• Use fresh bagged mix. Never garden soil, and never reuse old mix. Add perlite for plants that like to dry out.
• Size up slowly. When you repot, go only 1 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) wider.
• Check more, water less in winter. Plants grow slower and the soil dries slower, so the gap between waterings gets longer.
• Never let a pot sit in water. Empty saucers and outer pots after every watering.
• Deal with fungus gnats. Let the top of the soil dry out between waterings. They need wet soil to breed.

Questions people ask next

About the author

Sources

• Root Rots on Houseplants, Brian Hudelson and Laura Jull, University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension (revised 2024)
• Root Rots of Houseplants, Erika Saalau, Iowa State University Extension (2014)
• Pythium Root Rot of Herbaceous Plants, Purdue Extension (BP-181-W)

Sources checked October 22, 2026.