Repotting time, more pictures to come
Repotting a bunch of stuff. It's that time of year. Running behind for it actually. Really positive results from the last couple of years though. Soil mix is still providing for good root growth and all the plants are trucking along marvelously. I use a gritty mix and water with DG FP at every watering. I water whenever the rain doesn't. Grow zone is 5b/6a central-ish Indiana.
Comments (13)
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
4 months agoH. limifolia that had been in the pot so long it had produced a pup that's established a root system of it's own. E. Subdenudat that I got back in March and has really surprised me with how fast it's pushed out a robust root system.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
4 months agoCrassula spp. pretty delicate roots but well-established. Overdue for a repot. M. elongata was due as well; the sides of the pot were swelling. Really pleased with the root system.
Related Discussions
Is it time to repot? Help please
Comments (5)The second "bud" on top of the flower may be a continuation of the flower spike so that you might get more flowers but i tell experienced growers to cut those flower spikes off at the base to give the plant to grow a completely new flower spike. Growing a new root is a big plus, shows that culture is on the right track, though i do not think yellow leaves on a phal are good. Maybe too much light. The Specialist Phal Grower's glasshouses ive been in are pretty heavily shaded. As for repotting, maybe not, what will winter conditions be like where you have the Phal? Spring is in the air here, almost autumn there....See MoreRepotting: How many times is too many times?
Comments (2)First, forget the pebbles or any other "stuff" in the pot bottoms. It doesn't help. Second, if you can safely remove the soil balls without them breaking up and messing up the root balls, you can safely repot the plants. If the root balls aren't sufficiently knit together so they don't break up, don't mess with them. It would be better to wait until the soil balls are sufficiently knit together so they come out whole, in one piece. If that's later this summer, do it later this summer. If it doesn't happen by late winter, early spring, when you would be planting bare roots anyway, wait until that time and repot them. If they break up and put the roses at risk because of the disturbance, at least it is the appropriate time of year for them to experience that disturbance. Good luck! Kim...See MoreThought on my first time repotting....
Comments (12)How much water does this mixture actually need? It needs enough so the soil is fully saturated and at least 10-15% of the total volume of water you applied exits the drain. Plants should be watered on an as-needed basis, rather than on a schedule. I know you're looking for an answer like every 2 days or every 4 days, but choosing a favorable depends on the relationship of soil mass to plant mass, and particularly to foliage mass because that's where the lion's share of transpiration occurs. I probably should mention that as you move toward soils that are more open and faster (draining), it becomes less of a problem if you decide to water on a reasonable schedule. Soils that hold no (or very little) perched water are very difficult to over-water, but the consequences of over-watering heavier soils can be considerable. I thoroughly watered right after planting. The next day I gave each pot about 2.5 gals of water and it ran through and came out the bottom rather quickly. You probably didn't need to. It is the nature of the soil to allow water to pass through quickly because the macro-pores are so large no water perches in the soil. What happens it the Turface grabs a ton of water quickly, and the bark grabs some, but not as much. The granite holds a little water as a film on the surface. After you've watered, the water diffuses in the soil from the Turface and granite into the bark, so the bark and Turface have roughly the same water content (based on bulk density). If you OVER-water by watering too frequently, everything gets saturated. For fresh repots you need to be sure the soil is moist-damp where the roots are. After a couple of weeks, if the soil feels damp anywhere, there is enough moisture. Soils feel dry to our touch at around 40% moisture content, but plants can still extract moisture down to 30% moisture content or lower. I also notice that this mixture is easily disturbed by pouring water so I pour around the perimeter, hoping it will soak through to the center before it runs out the bottom. I mentioned the water break in my last post. The soil will settle a little, but the reason it is easily disturbed by a jet of water is because it doesn't compact. Soak the entire surface slowly & stop when water starts to exit the drain and you're good. Let's assume each pot contains about 25 gals. of the mixture I listed above (2p. pine bark, 2p. Turface, 1p. Gran-I-Grit, 1p. Perlite). How much water should I give each pot, and how often. I'm pretty sure your answer is easily taken from what I wrote above, but if you still have questions, let me know. Lastly, how often does it get water w/ fertilizer? I'd like to know how much water each pot needs so I won't be wasting the fertilizer by pouring it through and out the bottom. It depends on what you're using, but if you're using a 3:1:2 ratio soluble fertilizer, try starting with a solution that's 25% of the recommended full strength solution (FSS) if you're fertilizing every time you water and see how your trees do. If you are going to fertilize on a weekly basis, start with a 50% recommended FSS, and if fertilizing every two weeks use a FSS. Adjust upward as required to keep the plant's color good and downward to allow for temperature fluctuations or correct any symptoms in foliage of high EC/TDS levels. As noted above, the soil holds a lot more water than you think. Once you get used to it and see how well your trees appreciate your new regimen, you'll forget all about any minor inconvenience. ;o) Wishing very good luck on you, Rob. Take care. Al...See MoreIs it time to repot?
Comments (2)In my opinion, it would not be worth repotting them to larger pots this time of year, since they're probably not going to grow much. Next spring repot to larger pots once they get growing. So you'll put off the decision about where to put them until next Fall! But by next Fall you might have a favorite-blooming one and a not-so-favorite one and that might make the decision easier!...See More
socks
4 months agoJohn (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
4 months agoJohn (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
4 months agoGot this gorgeous Trichocereus tip from a friend who's moving out of state. Nice roots already and got it all potted up as of last night. Can't wait to see what this does over the growing season.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
3 months agoLittle prop pot I left alone for too long. Unknown Echeveria/Graptoveria and Crassula picturata hybrid with some nice roots on them.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
3 months agoParodia buiningii that I repotted recently. Just a minor trim to the roots.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
3 months agoMammillaria elongata f. cristata with some nice roots and Echeveria 'Dionysos' looking good as well.
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
3 months agoJohn (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
3 months agolast modified: 3 months ago@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) I really appreciate that Al. I need to improve on taking dedicated progress pictures and/or an actual "after shot" once they're settled into the new pot, but I'm working on it. It's really been affirming to see the progress so many of my plants have made after relieving the root congestion and giving them a fresh go of things.
This is a particularly gratifying success story of mine. Echeveria 'Hercules' - a very nice cultivar and rather common, for good reason. Tolerant of a wide range of cultural conditions and grows quite fast for a succulent. The above photo is from June 21, 2021.On November 21, 2021 I decided to repot it (I grew it under lights over the winter and skipped dormancy).
As you can see the roots were quite matted and had colonized most of the space available in the pot. As is also evident, I'd been using a peat based, pre-bagged mix with extra perlite added. I didn't find it to be an overly cumbersome problem, but it was clearly evident that the majority of the roots had grown pressed up against the wall of the terracotta pot and not throughout the middle of the pot. I did find it to be quite a task to remove all the old soil mix from the roots, so much so that even were there no concerns about the overall health of the rootzone, I'd use the gritty mix just for the ease of repotting in the future. See below.
After quite a bit of work, I ended up pruning off the majority of the roots because I'd damaged quite a few in my effort to be rid of the peaty stuff and because I felt the plant had enough energy reserves to handle it. Below is what I ended up with. Most of my root pruning adventures are not quite as extreme, but it all ended well.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
3 months agolast modified: 3 months ago@tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a) This is the same plant on May 12, 2022.
Quite the number of pups grew in and as some were getting a bit squished against the rim of the pot, I decided it was time to repot it and check and see how the roots had fared in the gritty mix as opposed to the pre-bagged mix with only minor amendments.These are the results.
The difference was incredible. The roots were evenly spread throughout the soil mix, and they weren't horribly matted against the edge of the pot. It was thrilling to see quite honestly. This is just the growth from November 21, 2021 to May 12, 2022, so just shy of 6 months. And as you can see the plant was ready, almost begging, for a repot. The last two pictures below are the plant after the root trimming and settled into the same size pot with fresh mix. I also set the plant a bit higher in the pot to make sure the offsets wouldn't get squished against the edge as they grow larger.
I haven't grabbed some pictures of this particular plant in a bit now (and probably won't until it outgrows the bit of sunburn I accidentally let it get during the little heatwave we had) but it's chugging along and the pups have all about doubled in size.Really can't thank you enough Al; can't tell you the number of times I've recommended people go read your thread on container soils/water movement and to try it for themselves. Hope you've been well and are having a good summer
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)
17 days ago
Repotting time for this Haworthia 'Saiko'. Busted the side of the pot some time ago but I've been lazy.
I ended up trimming 3 of the fattest roots off and left it out overnight in order to let the tips callous. Will repot it sometime over the next few days.
John (Zone 5b/6a, IN)Original Author