Water thoroughly after repotting to help the soil settle around your plant's roots. Plenty of moisture will also help your plant recover from the move better. If you have a saucer under the pot, make sure to empty it, so your plant doesn't get too soggy.
Remove about one-third or more of the old potting mix surrounding the plant's roots. As it grew, your plant removed some or all of the nutrients in the current mix, so you'll want to give it fresh potting mix or soil. Pour a layer of fresh potting soil into the empty planter and pack it down, removing any air pockets.
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.
Plants can get stressed, just like us. Whether it happens overnight after being repotted in your cute new pot or over the course of several days after their environment drastically changes, they are great at communicating their stress with us.
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.
If you plant a pot-bound plant into the ground or into another pot without first loosening the tangled and overgrown roots, they will continue to grow in a circle rather than reaching out into the soil to anchor the plant.
Rocks in the bottom of containers do not contribute to better draining soils and healthier plants. Instead plant roots encounter saturated soils that don't drain efficiently. It all has to do with something called a perched water table.
The 'best of the worst' is simply that plants stop growing for a while after repotting. But done right, they will quickly bounce back and grow better than before. Symptoms of transplant stress from repotting include yellowing leaves, leaf drop, wilting even when watered, no new growth or root damage.
It could result in death, or the plant wilting after transplant. Plant shock happens to seedlings, bedding plants, trees and yes even cannabis plants. While the thickest roots are closest to the root ball, the most important roots are those necessary for the plant to survive and thrive, are farthest from the plant.
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.
For larger plants or trees, it can take months or even years for all problems caused by transplant shock to resolve. A simple case of wilting after repotting can be resolved with good care and often the plant has no residual signs of damage. A more severe case can result in dead or damaged foliage.
Trees provided with regular irrigation through the first growing season after transplanting require approximately 3 months (hardiness zones 9-11), 6 months (hardiness zones 7-8), or one year or more (hardiness zones 2-6) per inch of trunk diameter to fully establish roots in the landscape soil.
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.
Recently potted or repotted plants will not benefit from fertilizer. Their fresh potting mix is packed with nutrients they have yet to use! To avoid potentially damaging recently repotted plants, wait 2–3 months after freshly repotting before fertilizing actively growing plants during the growing season.
African violets (shown) and the related cape primrose do well when kept root bound, as do peace lilies, sansevieria, spider plants and ficus. In fact spider plants and sansevieria can continue to thrive even until their steel-like roots break the container in which they're grown.
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.
Yes you can reuse soil with roots in it. However, try and remove as many as possible. Especially the larger roots left behind. Leaving some smaller ones shouldn't hurt anything.
Many people think that they should leave both burlap and wire in place when they plant a tree, but this is wrong. Leaving these materials wrapped around your tree's rootball will damage roots and can kill your tree.
Signs of Shock:
Leaf scorch first appears as a yellowing or bronzing of tissue between the veins or along the margins of leaves of deciduous plants (those that lose their leaves in winter). Later, the discoloured tissue dries out and turns brown.