Remove old, tired soil from your plant by lightly scraping away the soil with a garden knife. You'll want to do it carefully to avoid damaging the roots of plants like perennialss during the repotting process.
Yes. If a plant had root rot, the potting mix it was growing in should be discarded. Anything else grown in that soil could suffer the same fate. Also, if you intend on reusing the original pot, it should be washed with hot, soapy water and rinsed well.
Loosening the root ball when repotting is only essential when the plant has become completely root bound. In cases where they are not completely rootbound, you may be able to plant directly into the next pot. If the roots are not wrapped tightly around each other, there is no need to cut and disturb them.
Over the years, I've learned that you absolutely can mix old potting soil with new soil, and sometimes, it's even beneficial. Old potting soil, over time, loses its nutrients and structure. But instead of discarding it, what I do now is revitalize it by adding new, nutrient-rich soil to the mix.
The recommended watering schedule for a houseplant after repotting is to water the soil thoroughly as soon as the repotting is done - that means water enough that plenty (1/4″ - 1″ depending on size of pot) comes out the drainage holes.
You can combine equal parts of new potting soil with the old and add a dose of slow-release fertilizer pellets (available at The Home Depot) according to package directions. Or, you can mix in one part compost to three or four parts of your old potting soil.
Compost heap - Here is the easiest option of all: Simply toss the old soil or unused half-bags of soil right on the compost bin. A good compost pile should be a balanced mix of green material, brown material and soil.
Raised Bed Soil: Where Garden Soil and Potting Soil Combine
You want to use far more garden soil than potting mix, around a 5:1 ratio. You can also make your own raised bed mix by mixing all the individual parts of garden soil and potting soil, so topsoil, bark or peat, compost, and perlite or vermiculite.
If the plant is planted too deeply, it will lead to stem rot, and if it is planted too shallow, it will expose its roots and lack support. Try to plant it at the same depth as in its previous pot. 4. You repot at the wrong time.
Cut through any roots growing in a circular pattern to help prevent the plant from strangling itself with its own roots as it grows. If the roots are thick along the sides of the root ball, shave or peel away the outer layer. Or gently untangle the root ball with your fingers as if you were mussing someone's hair.
Plants need to adjust and rebuild their root systems, a process that can span several weeks. During this period, it's essential to provide consistent care, including adequate watering, proper sunlight exposure, and regular monitoring for any signs of stress or nutrient deficiencies.
Depending on your soil, you could end up with a hefty root ball, and you may wonder if you should break it up or keep it intact. Both have potential advantages, but in different circumstances. If you're moving the plant from like soil to like, it is fine to keep the root ball intact.
“Signs of stress might include the leaves starting to curl or turn yellow or the plant starting to wilt,” explains Morag Hill, co-founder of the online plant shop The Little Botanical. “These typically occur if some of the plant's basic needs are not met during the repotting process.”
The soil around them harbors those carbon exudates. They also serve as organic matter ready for decay by microbes. There are some concerns with using old soil. The first is that if harbors some kind of disease, it will pass that on to the new plants.
Remove old, tired soil from your plant by lightly scraping away the soil with a garden knife. You'll want to do it carefully to avoid damaging the roots of plants like perennialss during the repotting process.
Viruses, fungi and bacteria will remain in the potting soil long after the life of the plant. “It's possible to destroy these pathogens, but it isn't worth the risk. The time, effort and money you put into gardening outweigh the cost savings of reusing an infected potting medium,” he said.
Fight the urge to flush excess potting soil down the kitchen drain. I'm admittedly guilty of this one. The kitchen sink seems like the perfect place to transfer an indoor plant from pot to pot, but soil and other dirt types can very easily clog your drain.
As long as used potting soil still looks fairly fluffy and doesn't emit a rotten odor, gardeners should be able to use it again with good results. However, if the plants formerly grown in the potting soil struggled with disease or insect problems, it's probably best to discard the mix and start fresh next season.
We recommend letting most newly-transplanted houseplants – especially cacti and succulents – go a few days without additional water so their new roots can breathe and begin growing into their new space. For moisture-loving plants – like maidenhair fern, for instance – you'll need to water sooner.
2. Foul Odor. A foul, rotten eggs odor indicates that your potting soil bag has gone bad. This bad smell results from anaerobic bacteria that grow in old, damp, and compacted soil.
It can be quite normal for plants to temporarily stop growing after repotting, especially if you went up a lot bigger in pot size. What you want to try to avoid is transplant stress, such as yellowing, wilting, dropping leaves, roots that don't recover, root rot or even plant death.
Instead of fertilizing after repotting in Arizona, wait at least a month after your plant has become comfortable in the new pot. After that month has passed, we recommend fertilizing every two weeks.
You should always loosen plant roots before you put a plant into a new container or the ground. This is because the roots have grown to the shape of their previous container, and may continue growing in that shape even once they have more space. Loosening them encourages them to branch out.