Plant Repotter

How to complete Plant Repotter

A root-bound plant has filled its pot with a dense coil of roots and can no longer drink or feed properly, so it stalls or yellows no matter how you water it. Moving it up a size restarts its growth and is one of the most satisfying saves in plant care.

1. Choose a pot only one to two inches wider than the current one; jumping too big drowns the roots in wet soil
2. Water the plant a day before so the rootball slides out intact
3. Tip it out and gently tease apart the circling roots, trimming any black mushy ones with clean scissors
4. Add fresh potting mix to the new pot, set the plant so its base sits at the same depth as before, and backfill around the sides
5. Firm the soil lightly and water thoroughly until it drains from the bottom

Tips

• Repot in spring or early summer when the plant is actively growing and recovers fastest
• Skip fertilizer for a few weeks; fresh mix already has nutrients and feeding stressed roots can burn them

What counts as done

The plant sits in its new pot with fresh soil, watered through, and the old rootball is no longer visibly coiled.