Painless Repotting Plan

"I need to repot my plants, I'm afraid I'll kill them. Will you do it for me?" We hear this over and over again.Well, at Weidners' Gardens we don't do the work for you, but we love to teach you how to do it yourself.

It's like the old saying about the poor hungry peasant. "Give him a fish, and he is full today but hungry again tomorrow; teach him to fish, and he need never be hungry again."

Here is Weidners' Patented Painless Potting Plan

Start with the plant you need to repot.Water it, knock it out of its pot, look at the roots. Plants that need to be repotted have lots of roots going round and round and become more difficult to keep watered.

Note: Almost all hanging baskets in Southern California need to be watered every day or two.

If the plant has been in the same container for a year or more and has become more difficult to keep watered, that is a sure sign that it needs a bigger home.

You need to decide how big your plant's next home should be. The general rule of thumb is go up 2 to 4 inches in pot size. House plants grow more slowly and are usually transplanted up no more than two inches in the pot size. For example, a 6" plant can go up to an 8" pot. A one-gallon outdoor plant could go to a three-gallon or even a five-gallon size, because it is going to grow faster. If you put a small plant in too large a container, it can get overwatered and die. If you just bought a gorgeous, new, huge pot that you want to use, then fill up the rest of the pot with fast-growing annuals. This will balance the amount of plants with the size of the pot. As your main plant grows, you can take out some of the other plants.

Now, take your new container, and put a layer of good planter mix in the bottom. Take the old empty pot that your plant came out of, and center it on the layer of soil. Adjust the soil so that your new plant will be at about the same depth as before. You usually don't want your new plant much deeper than it was.

Fill in the soil all around the empty pot. Don't worry about what falls into the empty pot; you can just dump it in. This is a quick-and-dirty job (excuse the pun) because you can't hurt anything. There are no branches to break, no roots to damage–just the empty pots and soil. Push or tamp the soil down really well all around the center pot. Add more soil, and do it again as often as needed.

Now comes the fun and painless part. Water the soil in your container with plenty of water. You want the water to soak well into the soil. So, now you may go in and have a drink. A glass of wine or a beer makes it painless. Ice tea or a soft drink makes you more healthy!!! Take your choice! After you have finished your drink–one, not more, or you will abandon the whole project–you are ready to work again.

Take a good look at the roots of your plant. You can often remove a few of the extra roots. You do want to loosen them if they are all wound around, or at the very least, take your fingernail or a knife and score the root ball down on all four sides and across the bottom. This interrupts the way they are growing and forces them out into the new soil.

Hint: Sometimes people plant into really heavy, hard soil, especially in the garden. They come into Weidners Gardens and wonder why their plants are not growing well. Think about it: would you leave a nice comfy home and try to grow in that rock-hard, ugly cement? I don't think so! Make sure that your soil is nice, soft, porous soil, so the plant roots will be glad to go there.

Next, look at the top of the plant. This is a good time to do some pruning and trimming. Cut out the weak branches and any that cross over other branches. Almost all plants benefit by a good trimming-back once in awhile. A little like getting a new haircut. New growth comes out; you get more flowers; and it keeps the plant from getting ugly. It is a good idea to always leave some green growth on the plant.

After you have done all this, remove the empty pot from the new container, and you will have a perfect mold that is just the right size. It is quite easy now to put one hand under the root ball, one on the main stem, and, with a nice quick motion, put it into its new home. Press down hard on the root ball with your fingers to make sure it is well seated, water it again, add more soil if needed, and you are done. Do not fertilize your plant at the same time you transplant it. Wait about a week or so for the roots to establish. and then you may begin to feed as usual.

Now that your plant is potted, we hope it was a painless job, and that you are not too potted, and everybody is happy.

If you liked this little lesson or have a special request for a mini-lesson, let us know at our E-mail address weidner@weidners-gardens.com or just drop us a line the old fashioned way to 695 Normandy Rd. Encinitas, Ca. 92924. Tel. 760-436-2194 Remember we'll be open again March 1st until Labor Day. Daily except Tuesdays.

Let us know if this was a helpful lesson. e-mail staff@weidners.com

Good Gardening,
Evelyn Weidner