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My new babies- to repot, or not

10 years ago

So I always get S.A.D this time of year and end up buying seeds(in the past) to try and grow, but this year I've gone a different route- found these at walmart, the sansevieria was a dollar, the schefflera was 3. They're both bone dry but I haven't even had them in the house for 2 hours, and I usually wait 24 hours to water. My question is, should I repot them tommorrow? The plastic seedling pots are in paper cup sleeves, the sansa's pot is bent into an oval shape and about to do that classic "Will break the container it's in when it's time to repot" thing. But it's the middle of January, and not exactly growing season, and I don't want to kill them. I have a potential spot right next to a northeastern exposure window for the schleff(gotta see if my cat is going to ignore it or try to kill himself- he doesn't bug my violet but he did eat a drac.. something or other last year). And I can put the sansa pretty much whereever. I cannot see roots on the scheff, but it did pop out of the container pretty much intact when I checked the root pack. Thanks for replying!

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Comments (7)

zzackey
10 years ago
I would repot them now.
jean001a
10 years ago
Water them first.
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I heartily agree with Dave. That's a nice looking plant. Is the potting mix fine grained and peaty or more coarse grained? Fine grained soils usually stay soggy long after you water, which suffocates and kills the fine roots that are responsible for taking up water and nutrients. The challenge, then, is to figure out how to make sure the roots spend most of their time in an environment that's moist, not saturated with water. As you'll learn by reading the posts Dave linked, the solution is to repot the plant into a fast-draining highly aerated mix that will retain very little or no water after watering. Don't despair, though, because there are ways to keep your plant healthy until next June. First, you need to monitor soil moisture in the bottom of the pot, which is where roots get damaged by excess or 'perched' water. The easy, sharp, and reliable way to monitor moisture is to sharpen a thin dowel (1/4" or 3/8" work well), push it all the way through the soil to the bottom of the pot, and water only when the dowel comes out clean and dry to the touch. A wooden skewer or disposable chopstick work too. Check daily until you know how fast it dries up, at which time you'll know how long after watering it needs to be checked. Once the dowel comes out dry, water evenly and thoroughly so all the soil gets wet, until 10-15% of the water exits the pot. Leave it upright until water stops draining, then prop it up at 45 degrees for 15 minutes; if your drain holes are around the outside of the pot, most of the perched water will drain out while it's tilted, and for spot with a hole in the center it will drain out when you set it upright. Repeat the last step if you think you didn't get it all.
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christine1950
10 years ago
I would re-pot them also. I wouldn't put them by the window right away, looks like some frigid cold is coming to the north east. They both look nice & healthy, congrats on your new additions..
Christine
User
10 years ago
Hope you'll be adding perlite to the mix for the Sans. It needs to be much faster draining that peaty mix will allow.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
10 years ago
There is no rush to repot them now - they don't appear to be at all root bound. The soil does look like it will retain a lot of water, especially in that shallow container, so potting up would likely be over-potting, and probably not be in the best interest of the plant at this time.

I'd take some time now to learn about what kind of soil they would prefer to be in, and plan on bare-rooting and repotting into a good soil next June. A good soil is a soil you can completely saturate, so plenty of water exits the drain hole when you water (there ARE drain holes?) - without having to worry that the soil will remain wet so long the roots will rot or root function will be impaired by the lack of air due to a soggy soil.

Growers with green thumbs usually have a plan, and it's usually conceived while looking at things from the plant's perspective.

Al
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
10 years ago
I had a little Sans like that last winter, waiting for spring. I cut the side of the pot so the pup could break free while waiting. I was able to slide my plant out of the pot with the soil/root ball intact, so I knew what was going on in there. Will yours slide out like that so you can see what's going on?

These are cheerful little plants, healthy looking. I hope they help! I get the winter blues too, stuck inside most of the time. Planning what to do with the plants in spring helps some, a lot. Virtual hug!
Heartlostangel
Original Author
10 years ago
The Sans was completely root bound, and I ended up cutting it out of the plastic pot, and while I was at it, I broke it into 3. "Baby" 1 has an inch of new growth. Baby 2 is just hanging out and mama is a bit grumpy and the top half of one of the 2 remaining leafs has flopped over, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything else at the moment. I'm a bit worried and furious, I saw some primula on sale at my local high end grocery store and grabbed it and sat it with all the other houseplants for 72 hours. The leaves started curling under so I began investigating, and saw some sort of little bug crawl right across the leaf. So I banished it to my daughters room as she's been begging for a plant of her own, so I'll let her drown it up. But now I have to keep an eye on them all- is there something preventative that I can do with stuff around the house(like cinnamon powder for that mold on seedling dirt) that won't hurt them as they start to come out of dormancy?

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