We’ve probably all had houseplants that we’ve neglected—perhaps life got too busy or we went on vacation and forgot about them. If you’ve got houseplants that are wilted, sick-looking, or have yellow or brown leaves, and you’re fretting over the idea of throwing them out and starting over—take a deep breath! Unless the plant is clearly dead, there are things you can do to resurrect it.

This pothos plant was underwatered and had sun-scorched leaves from being left outside in direct sunlight. Start by removing all of the dead, diseased, yellow or brown leaves on the plant. All but the diseased foliage can be composted.

Take the plant out of the pot and very carefully remove all of the old soil from around the rootball. Now’s the time to either thoroughly clean out the old pot or start fresh with a new one. Add new potting soil and repot.

Once your ailing plant has been repotted, add some fertilizer and thoroughly water it in. If you have a plant with trailers, like a pothos or ivy, cut the trailers back by 50%. This will allow the plant to focus on developing good roots again, as well as encouraging it to become more lush and bushy.

Sometimes when I repot or transplant a pothos, I’ll have some stems that will break, or parts of the rooted plant that will break off. Don’t throw them out! Pothos is one of the easiest houseplants to propagate. Simply put the clippings in a jar or glass of clean water and within a few weeks, you’ll see healthy white roots sprouting. These can be easily transplanted in a small pot with new potting soil.

Now that your sick houseplant is on the mend, be sure to give it some extra love in the next few weeks. Move it to a window where it will receive bright, indirect light, keep up with your watering, and fertilize according to the plant’s needs. Within no time at all, you should be seeing your old plant spring back to life!