Mushy Stems

What is going on

Soft dark stems and a sour smell from the soil. This one is urgent: act the same day. The full guide walks through the checks in order, fastest first, so you can find the cause before trying a fix.

The fix, in order

Start with the check that costs nothing: light, water, and where the plant actually sits. Most cases of mushy stems trace back to one of those three, and the guide for your specific plant will narrow it further.

The step by step fix

1. Stop watering immediately and take the plant out of any decorative outer pot. Every hour in wet soil spreads the rot further.
2. Slide the root ball out and inspect. Healthy roots are pale and firm. Rotten roots are brown or black, slimy, and smell sour. A mushy stem is rot that has already climbed out of the soil.
3. Cut back to healthy tissue. With clean scissors, remove every soft root and every soft section of stem, cutting a little above the damage into firm healthy growth. Soft means gone; there is no saving that part.
4. Let the wounds dry. Leave the trimmed plant out of soil for a few hours so the cuts can seal over before they meet fresh mix.
5. Repot small and dry. Use fresh free draining mix and a clean pot with drainage holes, one size smaller if you lost a lot of root. Water lightly, then wait several days before watering again.
6. Take insurance cuttings. If the rot reached high into the plant, cut a healthy section well above the damage and root it separately, in water or in gritty soil. Even if the mother plant fails, the line survives.
7. Reset the routine that caused it. Rot comes from soil staying wet: a pot too big, no drainage, or watering on a schedule instead of by feel. Fix that, or the new pot ends the same way.