Monstera: root rot from overwatering — what does it look like?

Yellowing that starts with the lowest, oldest leaves and moves up. Stems soft or mushy near the soil. A sour smell from the pot. Black or slimy roots instead of firm white ones. If any firm white root remains, cut everything soft away and repot into chunky mix. If the base of the stem crushes between your fingers, it is over.

Monstera: no drainage hole — what does it look like?

Plant declines steadily despite apparently reasonable watering. Water never appears to leave the pot. A decorative pot with no hole is a bucket. The plant drowned. Not your judgement so much as the pot's design.

Monstera: cold damage — what does it look like?

Sudden black or dark brown patches after a cold night, often on the side nearest a window or door. Below about 50°F the cells rupture. Damaged leaves will not recover, but the plant often survives if the roots stayed warm.

Field Guide/Monstera

What went wrong

Monstera

Monstera deliciosa

The one everybody starts with. Also the one everybody drowns.

A monstera almost never dies quickly, which is precisely the problem. It declines over months while its owner interprets each new symptom as a request for more water. By the time the stems go soft, the roots have been gone for weeks.

The honest verdict on most monstera deaths is that the plant was watered on a schedule rather than on inspection. It is a hemiepiphyte — in the wild its roots are half in leaf litter and half in open air. Permanently wet soil is the one condition it has no defense against.

Usually one of these

3 Likely Causes

Ranked by how often it is actually this.

01
Root rot from overwatering
By far the most common
What you saw
Yellowing that starts with the lowest, oldest leaves and moves up. Stems soft or mushy near the soil. A sour smell from the pot. Black or slimy roots instead of firm white ones.
What it means
If any firm white root remains, cut everything soft away and repot into chunky mix. If the base of the stem crushes between your fingers, it is over.
02
No drainage hole
Common and entirely avoidable
What you saw
Plant declines steadily despite apparently reasonable watering. Water never appears to leave the pot.
What it means
A decorative pot with no hole is a bucket. The plant drowned. Not your judgement so much as the pot's design.
03
Cold damage
Seasonal
What you saw
Sudden black or dark brown patches after a cold night, often on the side nearest a window or door.
What it means
Below about 50°F the cells rupture. Damaged leaves will not recover, but the plant often survives if the roots stayed warm.

The question you actually have

Dead or dormant?

Scratch the stem near the base with a thumbnail. Green underneath means it is alive and can be salvaged from a cutting. Brown and dry all the way down, with no firm roots, means it is finished. Monsteras do not go dormant in a heated house — a monstera that has done nothing for three months in a warm room is not resting.

If it did not make it