Potting And Repotting

The first step in repotting indoor plants is to make sure the new containers are clean and free of insects and disease. Even if the containers have never been used before, it is a good practice to wash them well with regular dishwashing liquid and a couple of teaspoons of bleach. Rinse the pots thoroughly with clear water until all traces of the bleach smell are gone.

Use a good commercial potting soil. Garden soil is not suitable for indoor plants although you can mix in up to one-half pure compost with the potting soil. There are also commercial potting soils now that contain timed release fertilizers which are excellent for use in repotting indoor plants.

The soil should be dark and moist with no clumps or rocks. If necessary, put the soil through a sieve to break up hard lumps and sift out any rocks or debris. If the soil is dry, place the soil is a bucket or pan and water it lightly, mixing the soil around in the bucket or pan to get it all moistened. Let this moistened soil stand for an hour or two to make sure the moisture is evenly distributed. If you add too much water, just let the soil dry for a day or two before potting your plants.

Transplanting

With the moist, sifted soil, fill the pot about one-third with soil. Grasp the plant by its stem and gently slide it out of its existing pot, dirt and all. Then place the plant, with the dirt, into the new pot, pressing it down lightly.

The plant’s existing dirt and root ball should come up to about one inch below the rim of the pot. This will allow you to water from the top of the pot occasionally or consistently, if you desire. The plant’s stem should not be covered with dirt or it will rot and the plant will die.

If the plant sits too low in the pot, take it out and add more dirt to the bottom of the pot until the plant’s root ball and existing dirt sits about one inch from the rim of the pot.

Carefully fill in soil around the plant to about one inch below the rim of the pot, making sure to keep the existing dirt and root ball level with the new dirt in the pot. Press the soil firmly but gently down as you fill the pot to prevent air bubbles and excess settling.

Water carefully from the top, making sure that the water doesn’t sit on top of the soil.

When your indoor plant has become root bound it will stop growing. Grasp the plant by the stem and slide it from the pot, dirt and all. It the roots are tightly packed and covering the outside of the dirt and growing out through the drainage holes, the plant is root bound and the roots will need trimmed before you repot it.

With a sharp pair of scissors or pruners, cut away about half of the tightly packed roots. Then loosen the remaining roots on the outside of the dirt so that they will grow down into the soil of the new pot and repot normally.

Planting Cuttings

When you have taken cuttings from other plants and rooted them in water there comes a time when they need to be transferred from the water to soil.

Fill the new container about one third full of the potting soil and place the cutting inside the pot, holding it so that the bottom of the roots drag slightly onto the soil. If the stem of the cutting does not come to about one inch from the rim of the pot, add more soil until it does. Then carefully fill the pot with soil, holding the cutting straight and lightly packing the soil around it up to about one inch from the top of the pot.

Water carefully from the top, making sure that the water does not stand on top of the soil.