Carol I'm at a loss. Two days ago it looked perfect. In fact there are several buds. The roots are obviously all rotten as is the plant base. That yellow part is what was below ground. That white stuff looks like mycelia to me which only means there is some sort of fungus.

I'm thinking that ithe riots may have rotted due to all the rain we’re having. Up to this summer the pot was under the eaves of the house so it didn't that wet. Bat plants like to stay damp but maybe this weather is too damp for it. We had to move it because as it got so big it was getting sun and the leaves were burning.

I'll run my photos to the extension agent tomorrow and see what he says.

So sorry to hear about this. That was such a beautiful specimen. I wonder if since the leaves burnt, then the plant wasnt able to utilize all our extra rainwater this summer.

Its been so horrible that its hard to keep up with everything. I have some plants that I need to move to more shade and both the weeds and the edible garden have went wild. We were digging post holes the other day and hit ground water less than two feet down.

I have several older shrubs wilting with yellow leaves and I thought, surely they have been getting watered enough with all the rain. Now I am wondering if their roots are sitting in water a few feet down.

It looks like Southern Blight which is a very nasty fungal disease.

Oh no! I don't know much about bat plants, but is it possible to remove most of the leaves, cut the stem back to where there is no fungus, brush it with rooting hormone, and try to re-root it?

I've saved root rooted plants by taking off all but the top leaves, cutting the rot off, and putting it into water with some peroxide for about a day, then re-rooting it. I had to do that with my clivia that was almost killed by snails, and just did it with some peppers that were attacked by root-knot nematodes.

I hope you can save it.

I lost my three giant size bat plants last year during the very hot, humid, oppressive weather. I feel your pain. They were doing so well for many years and then <boom> they collapsed and did not recover. I tried repotting them, but they just did not want to grow. I have one little leaf about an inch long in a tiny pot that I was able to save, but it looks so sad. I wish you luck. Let us know what your Extension Agent has to say. --Linda Leaf