Make sure the plant is well watered 2-4 days in advance. You don't want to repot when it's sopping wet but being too dry will cause stress. Take the plant out of the pot. If the rootball is a bit tight, gently massage the roots to loosen them up.
It is important that a plant's roots never dry out. For this reason, many people have been afraid of correcting the root bundle before planting. While a plant's roots certainly can dry out while being loosened, this is not a reason not to correct a poor root bundle.
Always make sure soil is wet when transplanting. Don't think you can plant in a dry hole and quickly water the plant. There are good salts and bad salts. Fertilizers are good salts.
Water the garden plants to be dug and/or transplanted the day before you plan to lift them. This ensures that the whole plant will be thoroughly moist when it's time to transplant. Make it a good, deep soaking so the roots can take up as much water as possible. Moist soil will also make it easier for you to dig.
It encourages a change from soft, succulent growth to a firmer, harder growth. Begin hardening transplants 1-2 weeks prior to setting out plants in your garden. The easiest way to harden transplants is to place them outside in a shaded, protected spot on warm days, bringing them in at night.
We recommend watering heavily right after getting the plant in the ground, waiting 30 minutes for the water to soak into the ground, then watering heavily again. The deeper the water gets into the ground the better.
Effects of Planting in Wet Soil Conditions
This decreases the soil's ability to drain well and reduces the amount of oxygen available to the plant's roots. Additionally, compacted soil is heavier and harder for the plant's roots to penetrate. This limits the amount of nutrients the plant can reach.
Moisten the soil. You should definitely water your plant a little now, but do not give it a full watering. It's best to wait at least a day since you just watered it before you repotted it. Place back in its previous environment.
Rooting will generally occur in 3-4 weeks but some plants will take longer. When the roots are 1-2 inches long or longer the cutting is ready to be potted up. This plant has heavy rooting and is ready to be moved to a pot with potting soil.
A plant ready for repotting should slide out with the soil in one piece. If much of the soil falls free of the roots, the plant may not need repotting. If it does, there will likely be a solid soil-and-root mass in the shape of the just-removed pot. Roots should be white or light-colored.
When you're preparing your garden beds for a new season, don't rip your plants out of the ground, roots and all. If you do, you'll be robbing your soil microbes of a good meal and degrading your long-term soil fertility.
Allow for Good Soil Drainage
For container plants, potting soil should be used and pots must have drainage holes. Any saucers below houseplants should be emptied regularly and plants need to be potted in appropriately sized, not oversized, containers to avoid an excess of moisture in the soil.
If the plant itself makes up more than ⅔ of the height, it's time to repot. Not all plants grow taller; some grow fuller or longer (think trailing varieties). The same rule applies, though: Consider repotting whenever the plant seems to outgrow its home, Greene says.
The best time is when temperatures are moderate to put less stress on your plants. Water your plant well a few days before it is time to repot it. This will hydrate the plant and minimize the shock of transferring it into new soil. It can also make the removal process easier.
Before repotting, make up some nutrient solution and give your plant a nutrient bath a day or two before you plan to repot. I try to time this with when the plant's due to be watered anyway. You can make your own nutrient solution combo, but for my guys, I use a mix of fertiliser and seaweed.
To dry out soil quickly, you can apply hydrated lime to the soil, add compost and then turn the soil thoroughly to aerate it.
Make a ball of soil and drop it. If the ball crumbles, your garden is ready for seeds. If it holds its shape or breaks into two clumps, it's still too wet for planting. You can also step into the garden and then step back and look at the footprint you've left in the soil.
Repotting or transplant shock is a state of stress some plants experience after they're moved from one pot to another. It can manifest in a number of different ways, but there are a few key signs.
There could be several reasons for a plant dying after replanting, including: shock from transplantation, incorrect planting depth, not enough water or too much water, pest or disease problems, or improper lighting conditions.