Pot-bound
A root system that has filled its container and has nowhere left to go: roots circling the inside of the pot or emerging from the drainage holes, compost that dries out within a day of watering, and growth that has stalled despite feeding. The plant is short of both water and nutrients because there is almost no compost left to hold either.
What brings it on
A plant that has been in the same pot for several years, or a fast-growing plant in a pot chosen for how it looked rather than for the root ball. Note that some plants — moth orchid, strelitzia, snake plant — flower better slightly pot-bound and should not be moved on automatically.
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Potting on
Checked 2026-08-13
Preventing it
Ordered by how much difference each measure actually makes, not by how often it is repeated.
- Check the roots each spring by sliding the plant out of its pot. Pot on into a container one size larger when roots circle the outside of the root ball, not before.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Potting on
Checked 2026-08-13
Dealing with it once it is there
- Pot on one size, teasing out the circling roots so they grow outwards rather than continuing to spiral. Going up several sizes at once leaves a large volume of wet compost around the root ball and causes the opposite problem.
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Potting on
Checked 2026-08-13
Signs that lead here
Each of these lists the other things that produce the same sign, and how to tell them apart.
On sprays and treatments
GrowingHQ does not tell anyone what to apply, at what rate, or how often. Pesticide approvals differ by country, change without notice, and the product label is legally binding — it is also the document you are holding. What is described here is cultural and physical control, which is what a home grower can act on without a label in front of them.
Plant-specific guides
Where this is one of several causes that look alike on a particular plant, GrowingHQ publishes the differential rather than the general answer.