Potting and Replanting

How can you tell if it is time to replant? You will need to replant if your plant is no longer growing, or if the leaves start to turn yellow. Another way to tell if you need to replant is to gently remove the plant from its pot. If you can see more roots than soil, the plant has become root-bound and you need to re-pot.

How large should the pots be? It depends on the plant. For hanging plants, such as ivy, use deep pots. For flowering plants with large leaves and long stems, like African Violets, the pot should be fairly wide. A good rule of thumb to use is that the pot should be as wide as the bottom leaves of the plant.

What kind of soil should you use? Compost soil is rich in nutrients. If you don’t have compost soil available to use, visit your local nursery or garden centre. They will have bags of soil ready for use. There is soil for seedlings, tropical plants and potting plants. When adding soil to a container, just make sure the soil has some compost, moss or peat added to it. If you use soil from the ground, it will become too compacted when watering and will actually damage the roots of the plant in the pot.

When you are ready to re-pot, begin by gathering all your supplies in one area. To make clean up a breeze, lay down newspaper on your work surface. If you are using a pot that has been used in the past, wash and thoroughly rinse the pot before re-using. Put a thin layer of stones at the bottom of the pot to prevent soil from escaping through the drainage holes. If the pot is too deep, you can put more stones in the bottom. This will allow you to use less soil. As the plant grows larger, simply lift the plant out of the pot, remove some of the stones and replace with more soil. Fill the pot with soil and dig a shallow hole in the middle to place the plant in. Gently pack the soil around the plant and fill the soil to a few inches from the top, which will leave room for watering.

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