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When to Re-pot Houseplants

You can of course re-pot a house plant any time you want to change containers for decorative purposes but there are times you will need to re-pot for its health.

When a plant outgrows the soil and space in its container it is time to re-pot. At this point you can pot up, which is moving it into a bigger pot, or you can simply re-pot into the same container or one of similar size. Any re-potting should preferably be done right before the most active growth period. For most indoor house plants this is early Spring. Although most healthy plants will be fine if you re-pot later in the year try to avoid doing so in the dead of winter. If you do need to re-pot during the dormant period, be extremely gentle with the roots to ensure best results.

Here are some of the indicators that it is indeed time to re-pot:

You are starting to see very little or no growth of the plant. The little growth you do see is producing leaves that are smaller than usual. This means the plant is root bound or roots are too crowded to sustain any more growth.

You can see roots through the drainage holes or you notice the center of the potting soil is elevated which means the roots are pushing up on the plant. In this case you may also notice that the mature leaves are turning yellow.

The plant is toppling over or it is top heavy. When the foliage becomes much larger than the pot which contains the roots it means the roots cannot spread enough to sustain the plant.

The plant needs more watering than usual. This indicates that there is not enough soil to hold the water for the roots to absorb over time.

You notice salt deposits on the inside of the pot and on top of the soil. In this case you can first try to flush the plant but you are better off re-potting to ensure the roots are not sitting in soil with high levels of salt.

Every so often, if possible, move your plant out to the patio or balcony for some fresh air and light. Of course this needs to be done during temperate weather months and only for short periods of time. Do not let you house plant get direct sunlight when outside.

Re-potting can help a generally healthy plant thrive but a plant with disease or other problems will not be helped by re-potting. After re-potting you may notice a surprising growth spurt or you may see some shedding of leaves. Don't be alarmed by either of these as this is just a sign that the plant is trying to adapt to it new environment. The plant is essentially trying to get to a good balance of roots and foliage and will be completely settled in within 4 to 6 weeks.

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