Repotting Houseplants

Stay cool this summer by tending to your indoor garden

July weather is hot and dry , so why not detain deep down with the melodic line - conditioning or a fan and catch up on your indoor horticulture ? Indoor plant need beloved too , so get out a tarpaulin and get quick for some repotting . Without the benefit of outdoor soil and natural rains , indoor plants build up SALT in the soil , so it is important to repot your indoor works with new filth every one to two year .

The first step of the repotting process is to stop by your local nursery for some potting grime and organic fertilizer . You should pick a potting - soil mix that bring indoors ; it should have becoming drainage but also be able to restrain and store water . If you have succulents , use a cactus and succulent mix . It ’s also a good idea to observe a few extra pots , as you may be able-bodied to divide some of your indoor beauties in the process .

Once you bring your supplies ( and maybe a few unexampled plants ) home , lay out a tarpaulin in your work sphere and get to workplace . snap up a big container for your old soil , which can be tote up to the compost pile as long as your works are disease complimentary and your compost is out of doors and will find rain to wash out the salt .

Next , remove a works from its kitty and criticise off most of the old soil . Take a flavour at the roots — most likely they have begun to encircle the pot , so you will want to untangle them from this situation so that they do not strangle the plant . If you are using the same pot , lop off some of the roots if you need more room for soil . If the works is too fully grown , you may need to move it to a larger pot or divide it in two , look on the specie . You may be able to reckon out by yourself if a plant is getting too self-aggrandizing for its position , but some general rule are that there should always be room for soil , and the raft should not be less than one - third the size of the plant . Most indoor flora that have develop too big can be divided , including Swiss cheese plant ( Monstera deliciosa , Zones 10–12 ) , snake plant ( Sanseveria trifasciataand cvs . , Zones 10—12 ) , ivy ( Hederaspp . and cvs . , Zones 4–9 ) , and philodendron ( Philodendron spp . and cvs . , Zones 9–11 ) . These plants can also be regrown from cutting . I usually use an sometime steak knife to saw through the roots and jacket crown of plants that require to be divide .

lend new dirt and repot , making certain to get soil firmly pressed into the nooks and crannies around the roots . Do not overfill the pot — ensure to leave about an in of space below the flange of the potbelly so you may easily water profoundly .

The last tone is a recondite watering . I like to keep an eye on the soil level for the first week . If the grunge settles , add a bit more until it is an inch below the rim of the potentiometer . This is also a swell time to set a calendar alerting to cue you to fertilize every six weeks or so .

Your plant should pick up up and raise new foliage over the next few weeks so that you could love your indoor paradise while your out-of-door garden heats up .

— Rachel Young is the former director of horticulture and garden operations at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada , California .

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