Pot a Plant

There's no real science to repotting a plant, just a few general guidelines. Pictured in "Photo 1" is a plant from a local hardware store. Nice plant, but the small plastic pot with a barcode on it leaves something to be desired. Being in a 2.5 inch pot (it says so on the barcode), chances are the that this plant is root bound. Photo 2 shows that it indeed has roots throughout the depth of the pot and that they look a little compacted. Upon closer inspection of the potting soil, one can see white cottony "stuff" that's a sure sign that this plant has mealy bugs (click on photo 2 for a close up)! Not good for the plant and not good for a collection, because it doesn't take mealy bugs long to venture out and find new territory in nearby pots. Look at the Pests page to learn the various methods to deal with mealybugs. In this case, I used malithion as a soil drench. The plant was placed in a shallow container with a mixture of malithion and water a day AFTER it was soaked in just plain water. The reason for soaking with water first was to allow the plant to take in all the water it needed without absorbing in the chemical.

There are many types of pots out there, square plastic, round plastic, terra-cotta, glazed and unglazed ceramic, etc. I've even used old coffee cans as pots when growing plants as a kid. The type of pot is a matter of preference; it's the size of the pot that a plant will go into is of more importance.

In this case, I wanted to go with a square plastic pot, but I wasn't sure if it should be a 3 inch or 3.5 inch pot (Photo 3). I had initially thought the 3 inch pot, but then thought that the new space for the roots to grow into wasn't really that much, so I decided to use the 3.5 inch pot. Before plunking it into the pot, I used my fingers to loosen up the soil to help free up some roots. The purpose of this is to set some of the roots into the new soil so that they'll grow into it. It's rare, but I have seen cases where loosening the roots wasn't done and the roots of the plant never ventured out of their original soil. I've always made it a practice to water after I'm done repotting, but there are those who advise against it. They believe that any damaged roots from loosening the soil need time to dry out and heal over. Those people advise waiting upwards of a week to water a newly repotted cactus. I don't. I water lightly right away, for who knows if I'll remember in a week to water it (I'm forgetful and I have a large collection). Also, in my experience I've not had plant problems with watering right away. Photo 4 shows what the plant looks like in its new pot. The proportions look good to me, so I'm sure that I made the right choice in going with the slightly bigger pot.

"Potting Down"

Growers will inevitalby come across a plant that did not respond well to being put in a new pot. The reasons for a plant being unhappy can vary, but when one is in trouble try "potting down". "Potting down" is simply taking the plant and putting it in the same sized pot it came out of before repotting. Chances are a plant was taken out of the original pot because of a lack of room for the roots. Putting it back in a smaller pot will enable the plant to take in a much water as it needs without sitting in a mud ball. Also, if it's a cactus, ease way off on the watering. If it's a succulent, ease off on the watering but pay very close attention if the plant has leaves. They will tell you when watering is needed. Water if the leaves are drooping and the soil is dry. If the leaves are dropping and the soil is wet, it might be a good idea to take the plant out of the pot and assess the situation. It may very well be that the plant needs to go into an even smaller pot.

An example of a plant that had rotted roots and benefitted from potting down was a seedling Adenia glauca of mine. A one year old plant that didn't have enough roots for a 3 inch pot showed it by losing all its roots and dropping most of its leaves. It went into a 2.25 inch pot (a very tiny pot) with the loosest soil I could give it. In two months it roared back to life and has since been put into a 2.5 inch pot.