---
title: "Back in May I ended up being gone almost a whole month and couldn’t…"
description: "Back in May I ended up being gone almost a whole month and couldn’t water my Brazilian philodendron. It used to be so bright and beautiful and has just…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/640509f59205b73f4a02763e"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "Jessie Stratton Zhou"
published: "2023-03-05T21:30:29.657Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/yp4w1VlSpDZJoYT3DMqm_kvwBP5MprCGUo0mCVTOcug/1ce46ba8dcac4bcd98766fa2b466be8d.webp?size=large"
---

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# Back in May I ended up being gone almost a whole month and couldn’t…

_Posted by Jessie Stratton Zhou on 2023-03-05_

Back in May I ended up being gone almost a whole month and couldn’t water my Brazilian philodendron. It used to be so bright and beautiful and has just shriveled away over the last year. It had been in an 8” pot because it was fairly big, and now all that’s left is a tiny sprout. I’ve never repotted a plant backwards (going from a bigger pot to smaller one).

People have mentioned root rot but I can’t tell what that looks like. I moved this sprout from the 8” to the 6” pot today. Can anyone tell me if this was the right move? Can you tell if there was root rot from before? I’ve had philodendrons and pothos now for 2 years but still feel like a beginner.

Thanks!!

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/yp4w1VlSpDZJoYT3DMqm_kvwBP5MprCGUo0mCVTOcug/1ce46ba8dcac4bcd98766fa2b466be8d.webp?size=large)

## 5 comments

### Jessie Stratton Zhou commented on 2023-03-05

Hoping I can still save him even though it’s just a little sprout left 🫶🏻

### MattCT commented on 2023-03-06

I think if it was something like root rot, the soil would’ve been very wet and the roots probably would have been mushy? From your pictures it doesn’t look like either. So maybe it just didn’t enjoy the month without water? In anycase, I think you made the right call to downpot it. You looked at the roots, cleaned it up and now, with good care and all that, it should pop back for you, if it hasn’t already!

#### Jessie Stratton Zhou replied on 2023-03-06

Thanks, Matt!

### WesternEverest commented on 2023-03-07

Tried to take a screenshot but don’t think I can reply with a picture on here, so I’ll try to say it clearly:  
In the first picture where you are holding the plant, just above where you are pinching with your fingers. See how the stem is brown and thin, and then suddenly becomes thicker and green? The brown part is dead, and as that is the part leading down to most of the roots probably all the roots are dead. Essentially what you have now is a sprouted cutting. This bit will last for a while, but without roots soon, it will dry up. There are many ways to get cutting to root, you can look that up online. Probably the easiest way is just putting the main stem and a node or two in a cup/pot of water, with the leaves in the air still. Roots will sprout from the nodes, and not much maintenance is required, just make sure to keep the water level up.

Good luck!

#### Jessie Stratton Zhou replied on 2023-03-16

Hi, thank you! Unfortunately I’d already reported but I think you were 100% right and I should have propagated the green part!

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