Hi,

I have a houseplant - yucca/draceana(?) - and until recently it seemed to be in good health, new leaves shooting etc. Then it just bent over at the stem when moving and on closer inspection, the point where the stem bent over was just complete mush.

A bit more poking and prodding revealed that a lot of the lower part of the stem, and the upper part of the main trunk, seemed to be quite mushy and it smelt quite bad, too (kind of like when vegetables go off).

I looked around online and it seemed to suggest root / stem rot as a possible cause and suggested to cut it back at the point where it's still healthy.

So I cut off the top of the plant above where the rot seems to have occured and so far that bit of it is now sitting in some water, as I am not sure what to do next.

I've then peeled back some of the bark on the main trunk as it felt quite loose, only to reveal big patches of black which I assume is either rot or some sort of fungus? I peeled more of the bark back and it looks as though basically the entire trunk seems to be a bit mushy and covered in this horrible smelling white/brown slimy stuff. The roots themselves are dark brown, I guess this means they are dead?

Anyway I've uploaded some photos and I would be grateful if anyone can tell me if I am correct in thinking this is root rot or something else, and whether or not there's anything I can do for the cutting I've had to salvage?

It's quite frustrating as literally 6 months ago I had a 20+ year old yucca fade away to the point of death and I am now trying to revive the last remaining tiny bit of it (that one didn't rot it just seemed to get very weak and the leaves fell off). Thinking my luck with these sort of plants is not too good at the moment - possible overwater and/or soil issues I guess?

Thanks in advance,

Danielle

This is the bit of the plant that is left

This is the inside of the stem below where it bent and was mushy.

Black stuff on the trunk inside the bark

base of the trunk inside the bark, all slimy