In order for indoor plants to feel good, it is important to choose the right substrate and the right pot.
Depending on the type of plants, transplanting is done every year or every few years. This procedure is important because sooner or later the soil is exhausted, it must be replaced with fresh. In addition, it helps to improve the aeration of the soil in the pot. It is necessary to transplant plants if the soil is acidified or the roots have rotted, when the earth lump is so penetrated by the roots that they broke through the holes at the bottom of the pot.
In order for indoor plants to feel good, it is important not only to transplant them correctly, but also to choose the right substrate and the right pot.
When to transplant plants?
Coniferous plants are recommended to be transplanted at the beginning of summer, at the same time azaleas and camellias are transplanted. Bulbs are transplanted after the rest period. Cacti usually take over, but if we are talking about transplanting, it is better to do it at the beginning of winter.
Young plants are transplanted every year, adults – once every few years, but palm trees in tubs can not be transplanted for up to 10 years.
Types of transplantation
Depending on how much land was replaced, several types of transplantation are distinguished:
- full, when all the earth is replaced, cleaning the roots of the plant from the old one;
- incomplete, when some part of the old earth remains on the roots of the plant;
- replacement of the top layer of the earth.
A technique close to transplanting is transshipment, the least traumatic method, which is used when the plant just has a small pot, i.e., the roots have wrapped around the entire earthen lump and climb out of the pot. In principle, if necessary, transshipment can be done at any time of the year.
When transplanting, the development of the plant can be briefly suspended, but during transshipment, such a delay does not occur.
We select a pot
Choose the size of the pot so that the old one fits freely into the new one, or the new pot should be 3-5 cm larger than the old one in diameter.
There are three types of containers for planting plants: a pot, a planter, and a container. Please note that the pot has drainage holes, but the planter does not, so do not confuse them when buying. The pot is inserted into the planter. Containers usually also have a solid bottom. Several pots are placed in it or several plants are planted.
Containers for flowers are most often made of clay or plastic. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
We choose the soil for transplanting
For plants, special ready-made mixtures are used, which are sold in stores. The assortment is quite wide and sometimes it is difficult to choose the right mixture for your plant. To prevent compaction of the soil in the pot with the plant, coarse-grained sand, small pebbles, sawdust, charcoal, and even foam balls are added to the finished mixture.
When buying a ready-made mixture, pay attention to what plant it is intended for, what fertilizers have already been added, its composition and acidity, expiration dates. Choose mixtures from proven manufacturers.
If you did not find a mixture specifically for your plant, you can choose another, but recommended for the same family. It is better to open the package before transplanting, because the nitrogen accumulated during storage must evaporate, otherwise the roots of the plant may be damaged.
Rules for transplanting indoor plants
Prepare the pot. Wash it if it has been used before. Soak the clay pot in water overnight to get rid of burnt lime, which, when combined with water, forms compounds harmful to the roots.
At the bottom of the pot, pour drainage: expanded clay, pieces of brick or shards. Cover the drainage with a small layer of soil.
Water the plant well, after about an hour carefully, holding it together with the earth lump with one hand, turn the pot over. With the other hand, carefully remove the pot from the earth lump. To make it easier to separate them, you can easily tap the edge of the pot on a hard surface. For epiphytic plants, it is better to break the pot, because it is easy to damage them when separating the roots. When transplanting a large plant growing in a wooden pot, the hoops are removed, and then the wooden parts.
The roots of the plant are carefully cleaned from the top soil with their hands or a pointed stick, trying not to damage them. Rotten roots are removed. If you still damaged the root of the plant, sprinkle the cut with crushed coal.
In a new pot, the plant is lowered to the ground so that the root neck is slightly below the edges of the pot. Fill the gaps between the old earth lump and the walls of the pot with a new moistened substrate. Compact the soil around the cone, gradually adding more until its level reaches the base of the stem.
Water the plant. Please note that some plants that are used to dry soil do not need to be watered after transplanting, they are simply planted in a slightly moistened substrate. These include vallota, orchids, thick-leaved plants, and cacti.
