I don't know either, but rot doesn't travel top down from what I've ever seen. I haven't grown Fabian but have had other Aralias, they did well on pebble trays, but their watering can be tricky; also they need fast draining mix. I'd suggest any soft mushy plant tissue is rot & should be cut immediately; it won't recover & it's likely to spread (sorry to be a downer, but you did ask). What I'm going to say next is severe, but really the only way to learn what's going on w/ the plant. I'd unpot it just to take a look, just turn it out upside down over newspaper. You can smell if the're rot involved, whether there's root loss involved & maybe whether it's worth saving. Mind you, I've never done this w/ a plant taller than 1 ft., but really that's the only way to know.

These are beautiful plants, but can be a bit fussy. I bought a sick looking one about 4 years ago. I had to keep moving it from one room to the other but finally found one it liked, and it's just grown wonderfully. It's in a brightly lit room but never in direct sunlight. It's actually quite close to my gas fireplace (about 2 ft away to the side), so I guess it likes it warmer than some plants do. I agree with tapla about using your pot as a cover for a smaller pot with drainage holes. What I do is find a pot with the same diameter as the top of the covering pot, but one which is about 2 inches shorter. This way you have good drainage, and can have some water underneath to provide the extra humidity this plant likes, much like a pepple tray would do. This plant does NOT like wet feet, but does like extra humidity, which by using this method would work well for you.

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! Sorry your plant is ailing. From what you said, these are the important clues. "my window sill is right above the heat vents." This sounds like it's getting directly blasted with hot, dry air occasionally. Plants don't like that, intermittently, in a generally cold room. "The soil was slightly moist at the base after weeks of not watering." This sounds like the roots have rotted and are unable to deliver moisture to the plant. So the foliage wilts. Adding more water won't help that, just exacerbate it. This is what overwatering means but it's not your fault. It's the soil holding too much moisture, so the problem is really underdrying. If there are no tiny particles in a pot, it will dry soooo much faster. People who lose plants because they forget to water would have a hard time with this, but if you're the more common 'overwatering' type, which it sounds like you are from reading about your Aralia, this can mean the difference between plants that stay alive vs. those that die. I used to kill plants by 'overwatering' too until learning how to fix things through the great info here at GW. I might recommend an alternative source of water other than tap water, such as rain, melted snow, condensate from dehumidifier or A/C, distilled. It makes a huge difference if tap water is making one visibly ill (which it usually does over time.) Due to genetic reasons, these Aralias have been renamed Schefflera. Your plant's correct name (for today anyway,) is probably Schefflera elegantissima 'Cultivar name here.' That gives us more clues about its' preferences. Mainly, that the roots can't survive sitting in soggy, dense, airless soil (if we didn't already know that when it was Aralia.) To fix that, we need to give them something much more chunky, porous, airy. Most plants can survive getting too dry once in a while. OTOH, getting soppy wet too often and taking forever to dry out is fatal to most. More light sounds like a good idea. I have several cultivars of S. elegantissima that grow outside, with the sun hitting them for a few hours in the afternoon. Another pot that is an east windowsill, so direct sun for a few hours in the morning. I would encourage you to paste what you've written into a post on the house plant forum, to gather all of the excellent advice possible there. This informative post there will make it an easy trip via a click. (At the top of the post will be a link to the house plant forum page.) If you can add a pic, you'll get even more specific advice. Sending good vibes!

No it isn’t, although its the afternoon already so it’s a bit shady now. In the morning theres bright light though. Are the brown spots normal? Some of the leaves toward the bottom have been drying out and falling off? Also, does it look like it needs to be repotted? Here’s another picture. In the back some of the leaf tips are turning brown.