Repotting 101

Importance of repotting:

  • Gives plants more room to grow

  • Prevents stunted growth

  • Health of roots: 

    • Provides aeration to reduce rotting

    • Opportunity to assess the health of roots- are they damaged due to dehydration or rotting?

  • Fresh nutrients in soil for growth / overall health

  • Promoting living soil - enhances immune system, creates more of an actual ecosystem within soil which benefits plant health

  • Prevents soil compaction / lack of oxygen

How to tell when plant needs repotting:

  • Combination of factors 

  • Foliage/plant itself can be a clue (if you’ve noticed a lot of growth)

  • Excessive root growth coming out of drainage holes / top of pot

  • Length of time since last repot

    • Over a year (tropicals)

    • Over 2+ years (cacti)

  • Ultimately it depends on roots (and their health)

  • Chronic dehydration

    • You used to have a longer window in between needing to water

    • Roots have displaced soil (even pushed soil out of drainage hole) so there’s less soil to keep roots hydrated, so they dry out faster

  • Type of plant and knowing what they prefer

    • Some like to get rootbound or to stay in a tight pot

      • Desert plants, vining tropicals/epiphytes

    • Others like to just have roots evenly grown throughout soil but not rootbound 

Importance of soil blends:

  • Different types of plants prefer different soil blends

    • Mimicking natural environment

    • Desert plants require coarse, fast draining soil

    • Tropical plants require a richer, more moisture retentive mix varying in chunkiness 

      • Chunky soil: epiphytes, trees, things with thicker stems, waxy leaves 

        • Need more airflow, prone to rotting

      • Less chunky tropical blend: ferns, calatheas, any tropicals that prefer to stay damp or only prefer slight dryness in between soakings

        • Thinner leaves / stems don’t store as much water and rely on damp soil for adequate hydration

  • Soil blends can also differ depending on plant maturity

    • Less mature “starter” tropicals almost always need a tropical blend without much chunk to keep young/thinner roots hydrated until they become more established

Importance of drainage hole:

  • Allows air flow throughout rootball

  • Prevents rotting, damage to roots 

How to repot:

  • Slight increases in pot size

    • Tropicals 

      • smaller/epiphytes: 1-2” wider and deeper

      • larger/trees: 2-4” wider and deeper

    • Desert plants

      • Small increases only: 1-2” wider and deeper unless very large plant with extremely rootbound roots (up to 3” wider and deeper)

  • Too big of a pot can cause rotting- large mass of soil will stay wet for too long

    • Can also cause stunted growth as plant will focus energy on rooting rather than leaf/stem growth.

  • Step by step:

    • Take plant out of existing pot

      • if plastic, squeeze pot all around and gently pull out from the base. 

      • If clay/ceramic, use chopstick or dowel to loosen soil around edge of pot, pull out

    • Massage rootball, detangle if rootbound. Let excess soil fall

    • Add 1-2” fresh soil at base of pot

    • Place plant into pot

    • Hold steady with one hand, add more soil all the way around with the other

    • Gently pack soil down until plant stabilizes

    • Unless plant is already dehydrated or new soil is very dry, no need to water until plant is ready (will likely dry out faster initially until you give that first soaking)

    • Keep an eye on plant as it adjusts to its new home

    • Your watering schedule should ideally be less frequent with more soil now added

Difference in pot types:

  • Pot material can be more or less porous/breathable, impacting moisture retention of soil

  • Clay/terra cotta = most porous, great for air flow but plants will dry out faster

  • Plastic = nursery pots / plastic planters are not porous but often have a lot of drainage holes so they can still dry out quickly

  • Thicker plastic / ceramic (especially glazed) = dry out the slowest, especially if only one main drainage hole

  • Desert plants do great in clay as they like fast drying soil

  • Starter tropicals or ones that like to stay damp do best in thicker plastic or glazed ceramic

  • Thicker tropicals/epiphytes can do great in any pot- you’ll just adjust your watering routine dependingly




Liz Vayda