Vent: People in my plant group keep mistaking root rot for underwatering, and I finally counted how many plants it killed

Stella Roberts · 2026-10-02T01:10:03.216036+00:00

I run a small houseplant swap in my neighborhood and I kept seeing the same thing over and over. Someone would post a pic of a droopy pothos, everyone would yell "water it more!" and then it would be dead in 3 weeks. I started keeping track of every "help my plant is drooping" post in a notebook since January, and out of 28 cases, 19 were actually rot from soil that stayed wet too long. The leaves look sad in both cases, but if the stems feel soft and the pot smells like a wet basement, adding water is the worst thing you can do. So what's your go to way to tell the difference before you grab the watering can?

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Vent: People in my plant group keep mistaking root rot for underwatering, and I finally counted how many plants it killed | Ask Anything - The Community Guide