How to Know When Your Houseplants Want a New Pot
Repotting your houseplants is something many people do every year. But it’s not always required. Many plants can live happily for several years in the same pot. So how do you know when you should repot your houseplants?
Here are some tips to help you determine if your houseplants need a new pot and new soil or if they’ll be just fine in their current home for a while longer. We’ve also got some tips to help your repotting tasks go more smoothly.
How to Know When You Should Repot Your Houseplants
Many people assume that they should repot a new houseplant immediately, as soon as they get it home. Or that you should repot a houseplant every year—neither of those are necessarily true.
Some houseplants grow fast and need to be repotted every year. Some grow much more slowly and may not need to be repotted for five years or more, while others prefer the tighter quarters of a snuggly-fitted pot. If you’re deliberately controlling the size, like with bonsai, you may never want to move the plant to a larger pot.
Knowing when to repot depends on how much you want the plant to grow and how fast the plant grows. If you want it to keep growing fast, repot into a larger pot every year. If you want to control the size a bit, don’t give it a bigger pot.
Generally, it’s recommended that you only repot houseplants in the spring because some plants are dormant during the winter, and they could develop root rot from being in soil that stays too damp.
If you pick up a new plant from a nursery and it’s completely rootbound, i.e., you can’t even see dirt because of the mass of white roots, then it needs to be repotted soon. But, it’s still a good idea to wait a week or two after bringing a new plant home.
Here are a few things to think about that can help you decide if you should repot your houseplants:
- If your plant grows quite fast, and you want it to continue growing fast, you can repot it.
- The plant seems to need water every day and the leaves start to wilt shortly after watering, it’s probably rootbound–repot it.
- If your plant is in a container with no drainage holes, it should be repotted.
- It’s been several years since your plant had new soil, you should repot it.
Fall weather is also helpful for root establishment because the days don’t get too hot anymore, but the soil is plenty warm from soaking up the sun all summer long. The air temperatures are generally more relaxed, so plants aren’t experiencing heat stress. Most trees prefer and grow better during moderate weather than in the heat of summer or the deep cold of winter. The cool air tells the tree that winter is coming, which translates into root growth to help it survive the winter and give it a strong base to withstand any storms.
How to Repot Your Houseplant
If your plant is rootbound and grows fast, choose a container that’s 2-4 inches larger than its current container. Always use containers with drainage. If your stylish container of choice doesn’t have a drainage hole, put your plant into a nursery pot that has drainage holes so that you can empty any excess water if needed.
A plant that grows really slowly, like a snake plant or ZZ plant, only increase by one container size, approximately 1 inch bigger. If it’s not rootbound but could use a soil refreshing, keep the same pot but wash it thoroughly.
- Thoroughly water your plant before you start, so it’s easier to remove it from the pot.
- Fill the new clean container 1/4 with pre-moistened potting medium. We’ll talk about potting soil and soilless mixes in a second.
- If your plant is exceptionally rootbound, gently tease out a few roots on the sides and bottom to encourage them to branch out.
- If your plant hasn’t been repotted in a long time, you can wash all the old soil out of the rootball.
- Place the root ball of your plant in its new pot, and fill in around the sides of the root ball.
- Water your plant well, let it drain, possibly add more soil if needed and then return it to its home.
How to Choose a Growing Medium
Most houseplants will grow very well in all-purpose potting soil, but there are a few exceptions. Generally speaking, you should try to repot your plant in potting soil similar to what it is currently growing in.
Plants like ZZ, cacti, orchids, African violets, bonsai, and succulents need very free-draining soil. Epiphytic plants, like most orchids, generally do best in an entirely soilless mix, like straight orchid bark. The other succulent-type plants above will generally do great in cactus mixes.
You can also amend your potting soil to improve drainage by mixing perlite, vermiculite, sand, or shredded bark. Adding drainage amendments to your soil will benefit all of your houseplants and can help prevent root rot.
If you need houseplant supplies to keep your indoor jungle happy through the winter, or if you want to add some new green friends to your home, stop by Mother Nature. There’s always new stock coming in, and you never know what you’ll find!