Preventing Root Rot in Plants: These Few Steps Are All It Takes

Many times, due to management oversights, plants either die of lack of water or "drown" from too much of it. Plants are often prone to root rot because of uncontrolled watering, improper fertilizing, poor management and various other reasons. If an accurate diagnosis can be made in the early and middle stages of root rot and effective measures are taken, the death of some plants can be avoided. Through observation, you can manage plants effectively:

First, look at the potting soil. In summer and autumn, for a deformed flower or tree, water it thoroughly once a day in sunny weather. When you check the potting soil at the same time the next day, if the soil is dry and shows a slight whitish color, the root system is abnormal; if the potting soil has not dried out and turned white but remains moist, it indicates that root rot has already occurred in the plant's roots; if it is still moist after 2 to 3 days, it indicates that most of the plant's root system has already rotted.

Second, look at leaf color. If there are several pots of the same variety of flower or tree, place them together. If you find that the leaves of one of the plants have lost their green color and luster and turned grayish-red, or the plant's leaves are wilting, or the lower leaves turn yellow and fall off in large numbers outside the leaf-changing season, it indicates that the plant's fine feeding roots have developed root rot due to waterlogging, fertilizing, or heavy watering after excessive drought.

Third, look at leaf shape. When the leaves of a potted flower or tree show longitudinal wrinkling and abnormality, it also indicates that the plant's root system has rotted. This mainly appears in flower and grass varieties with fleshy roots, such as Strelitzia (bird of paradise) and Clivia. Because the lower feeding roots have rotted, the parts of the leaves connected to them cannot get the water and nutrients they should, causing those parts to stop growing or even shrivel, growing out of sync, which leads to longitudinal wrinkling and abnormality of the leaves. Although this condition will not cause the death of the plant, it will still affect the plant's normal growth and ornamental value.

Fourth, look at leaf tips. For some flower and tree varieties, after being grown for a period of time, scorching appears at the tips of the leaves. There are two reasons for this condition. One is that the plant's root tips extend and hit the pot wall, and when watered under conditions of higher air temperature and soil temperature, the parts of the fleshy root tips that absorb nutrients are damaged and rot, so water and nutrients cannot be transported to the leaf tips, causing necrosis of the leaf tip area. The other situation is that the pot is large and the plant is small, and the potting soil remains waterlogged for a long time, causing the root tips to rot, lose their nutrient-absorbing function, and yellow-brown patches to appear in the center or along the edges of the leaves; in that case, the possibility of disease should be considered.

Fifth, rely on touch. For some flowers, trees or tree stumps, such as five-needle pine, cypress species, podocarpus, orchids, camellias, etc., when their leaf color is found to be abnormal, you can gently stroke their leaves with your hand and judge by feel. For a plant whose leaves lack vitality due to root rot, the fingertips feel dry and warm, without the moist, cool feel of normal leaves.

When it is determined that a plant has developed root rot, the following rescue steps should be taken: take the plant out of the flower pot, pick away the old soil around the core, find the rotted root area, cut off the rotted roots from their base with scissors, then disinfect the wounds with a 0.1% potassium permanganate solution, or apply clean plant ash to the wounds, and then repot it or plant it in the ground. When potting or planting in the ground, the wounds and the seriously damaged parts of the root system should be surrounded and filled with clean wet sand, then covered with clean planting soil to promote the sprouting of new roots from the wounds. While repotting, the branches and leaves should be heavily pruned; sometimes, to ensure survival, 80% to 90% of the branches and leaves should be cut off. During the plant's recovery and growth, keep the potting soil moist, frequently spray water on the dry branches, stop fertilizing entirely, and do not let the potting soil be exposed to rain, to prevent root rot from occurring again.

Through the points above, you can effectively solve the symptoms of root rot in plants!