Help re-potting Jade and Ponytail Palm

11 years ago

I just re-potted one large jade plant and two ponytail palms and I am worried that I did not do it correctly. Should I have washed the old soil (original soil that came with the plant at purchase)out of the roots? I have a good gritty mix that I am using with both the jade and ponytail palms but the dirt that is in their roots is quite different, not as gritty more mossy. I did not think of this issue before re-potting and now I'm wondering if I should take them out wash the roots and re pot them again? Any help would be great.

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Comments (7)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
11 years ago
Yes, it is best to remove the old soil, especially when switching to a gritty mix.

Josh
sunnysea
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you Josh, do you have any suggestions on the best way to do that? The ponytail palms are fairly easy because they are small but the Jade is really large and heavy. I am worried that I will kill it by washing the roots however it does seem weird to plant a spongy root ball in the middle of gritty mix. Is it best to dry out the roots and shake the dirt out or wash it with water. If washing with water do I need to dry out the roots before potting?
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Hi, unfortunately submerging is not right for various reasons, and watering from above like nature does is correct - just tap water, not distilled, or bottled or from a 'softened' system (too salty!). If you could post a picture of the tree on this forum's gallery (with a note here to alert us) it would go a long way to helping it.. something showing the interface of the soil and plant (but not TOO close-up). Four years is a long time without repotting, but not knowing more makes it hard to advise. One thing for sure is that they are better off almost drying right out between waterings than otherwise, and the most usual problems arise with too frequent waterings. They also need a lot of sun all day, however 'bonsai' anything is pretty irrelevant now as it's a plant that needs help first, and they are not really traditional bonsai subjects anyway despite being sold as such all over!
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I would go ahead and repot them. You can probably run a knife along the sides to loosen those rocks from the pot. Then the whole plant can slide out much easier. Even though the rocks are glued together, I doubt that they're really stuck to the plant itself, so you can probably pull them off carefully in small chunks until you remove them all When I repotted my little ponytails, the roots were all tangled up. I just worked my fingers into the soil, breaking up the soil and loosening up the roots somewhat. Knocking away as much soil as possible. After that, I held on to the trunks of each plant and kinda wiggled them back and forth while gently pulling them apart, until their roots came free. Then you just go about repotting them like any other houseplant. Preferably using a fast draining potting mix. Ponytail palms are pretty resilient and don't mind their roots being disturbed. Just try not to break them, if you can. They're pretty forgiving, so don't fret about that. My little ponytails were crowded in their old pot, and the trunks were pressed right up against one another too, which flattened the sides of them where they were touching. But once they were repotted and had more room, their trunks rounded back out into their natural shape. Well, good luck on your repotting. Your ponytails will enjoy having more room to grow and will thank you for it.
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Yeah, that's a fun pun, "weed in the pot." When I repotted, I separated 1 (of 4) individuals to put by itself, put the other 3 still in a clump in a 'mini garden.' The individual one has sun shining on it all day. The mini garden has sun hitting it all afternoon. The leaves on these plants are a little more upright than Jenny's plant. From that I might say Jenny's plant could use a little more sun, if possible. It's normal for the older leaves to be discarded. That's part of how the trunk forms. Trimming any brown tips so they look more like a point instead of straight across is more attractive, to my eye, but certainly not required.
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It's not getting enough sunlight. As you can see, the central leaves are pale and limp. They will green up in brighter light. These leaves won't firm back up, but they'll eventually get covered up by new growth. It's not that bad at the moment. Just give it some time and you won't even really notice it anymore. When mine are actively growing, I give them direct sunlight. But when I bring them back indoors for the winter, they hardly get any sunlight at all. I don't even keep them near any of my windows. They just sit on my shelves and practically get ignored all winter long. I rarely water them during their time indoors; perhaps once a month. Since their soil gets bone dry, I place them in a slightly larger bucket and let them soak for about an hour, so that it's soil gets thoroughly hydrated again. Then I drain the excess water away, before forgetting about them for another month. You won't want to water them very often, because they'll try growing newer leaves, which will cause them to grow like your's are, pale and limp. They are great at storing water in their trunks, so they'll do just fine being kept more on the dry side during fall & winter. When spring rolls around, mine start growing new leaves again. That's when I move them back outdoors, so they can get all of the sun that they could possibly want. As for the browning tips, are you thoroughly watering its soil when you water it? You have to flush the soil with plenty of water, until it's draining from the bottom, or else minerals can eventually build up in the soil and cause all sorts of problems, such as brown tips. Don't prune these tips, because you'll only cause the pruned tips to brown even further. Best to just leaves them alone, to minimize any damage.
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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
11 years ago
Left me preface this by saying that most of the cautions about washing Jade roots off
when re-potting apply to seasons other than Summer and mixes other than gritty mixes.

However, this is High Summer....and you're in zone 8, so I have very little concern advising
you to wash the old mix off the roots. It's inevitable that roots will tear, and typically
you'd want to dry the roots or re-pot into a dry medium....but, again, it's High Summer
and you're using a gritty mix, so I'm not concerned. I say rinse the old mix out, re-pot into
your fast-draining mix, and water the Jade in - wait approximately a week to water again.

I suppose I should ask how large your container is? If it's a huge container, go easy on the water.

Josh
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
11 years ago
I agree with Josh. Go ahead and use water pressure to flush old soil from the root mass. Prune roots with sharp tools. Pot into a dry soil and secure the plant so it can't move in relation to the pot. Wait an appropriate interval before you water, & fertilize at the first signs of new growth.

Al
sunnysea
Original Author
11 years ago
I am really worried about my ponytail palm. Now, after a few weeks in it's new pot the trunk is wrinkled and shriveling up. What did I do wrong? Is there anything I can do to save it?
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
11 years ago
Let's see a picture - you're not giving us enough information - what kind of soil it's in, when are you watering it, where it is, what it is....with plants, it's location, location, location, along with watering and soil, which are the three (or five) major factors, with myriad minor ones.
sunnysea
Original Author
11 years ago
Here is a photo. I don't have a photo of the trunk from before because I did not know this was going to happen but there were no wrinkles at all. Now, there are many vertical wrinkles and I'm afraid it is shriveling away. This has all happened in the last two weeks. It has been sitting in the same sunny window for the last 5 years. I replanted it into a gritty mix, before that it was in the mossy mix in the pot I bought it in for the last 5 years.

Help re-potting Jade and Ponytail Palm

Comments (7)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

sunnysea
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Help re-potting Jade and Ponytail Palm

Comments (7)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

sunnyseaOriginal Author

Related Discussions

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

sunnyseaOriginal Author

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5

sunnyseaOriginal Author

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GET HELP

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sunnysea
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