the.com/root rot
Drowning disguised as thirst — the plant wilts because you loved it too much.
means A plant disease where overly wet, oxygen-starved soil causes roots to decay, rotting from below while the leaves above droop as if dry.
from A plain compound, not a borrowed or ancient word — 'root' from Old English 'rot' (related to Old Norse 'rót'), and 'rot' from Old English 'rotian,' meaning to decay. The phrase itself simply describes what happens: roots, deprived of oxygen in waterlogged soil, rot. Its vivid modern life comes less from word history than from garden lore, where it's become shorthand for any slow collapse caused by excess of something meant to help.
- the trick
- looks exactly like underwatering, so you water more
- real cause
- soggy soil suffocates roots, inviting fungus to feast
- the tell
- mushy brown roots instead of firm white ones
- the fix
- dry soil, sharp drainage, less guilt-watering