How To Transplant And Repot Plants

I’m sure we’ve all experienced the horror of trying to move a plant from one place to another only to find it dead within the week. I remember once, I tried to to a plant out of a pot so I let the soil dry out a little and grabbed it by the stem to yank it out. Big mistake! I ended up with the top half in my hand and the rest still in the pot; I don’t think there’s an emoticon for how shocked I was when that happened.

After that incident I decided to learn how to properly transplant in a way that will keep them living afterwards (probably one of the best ideas I ever had). Turns, out, it’s best to remove everything from the pot and just replant that. How you do it depends on the type of pot you have but it’s pretty simple either way. Before you start, cut off the majority/all of the flowers and harvest any fruit.

Plastic or any other soft-walled pot

Squeeze the sides and roll it in your hands a few times. Be sure to release any roots that may have travelled out of the pot. Once the soil around the edges feels pretty loose, put your hand on top of the soil and tip the pot upside down, the plant should fall into your hand so grab hold of it and get ready for the next step.

Clay or any other hard-walled pot

This might be a little more difficult if your soil is very firm. If it is, make sure to make it a little looser after you’ve transplanted to make things a little easier for the root system. What you’ll want to do is use your fingers pressed against the side of the pot to help release it, being careful to avoid the roots. When you’re confident it’ll come out easily, tip it up and let it fall into your hand.

Now we have a plant ready for transplant, the next step is the prep. Gently remove as much of the soil as you can and move the roots so that they’re all facing outwards to promote wider growth and place it into your pre-dug hole.fill up any spaces with soil and press it down tightly around the base of the stem. Give it a good, deep watering (now is a good time to use your compost tea).

That’s it! Once you know how to do it, transplantation process doesn’t take long at all. It’s important to note that this should be done either early in the morning or late afternoon. Be sure to avoid doing this in bright sunlight or mid-afternoon heat.