A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum When is it OK to repot a plant?

I have read several comments about the right time to repot a plant and am still not sure I understand what I have read.

I have read that plants should be repotted in the spring. Then I read to repot in the spring or fall. Since I just bought a couple of small philodendron plants in very small flimsy containers and a fair sized pothos in a cheap container, is it better to repot them now since they are in small pots, or wait till spring before repotting?

The pothos is in a somewhat larger plastic pot and it will probably be divided when it is repotted. Are there any special thoughts about when to repot when dividing a plant.

Thanks
Tom

All I could find on the philodendron said to repot them annually as needed. No reference to time of year anywhere that I found. Since these are in small pots I think I would repot them now. Use pots 3 to 4 inches larger than the current pot.

You can always look at them next spring & see what you think about repotting again then if repotting in the spring works better for you.

about the pothos:
Eventually it will become pot bound. You willknow because the leaves will droop no matter how much or often you water them. This is an indication that the roots have possibly filled the pot. To check this, carefully lift the plant out of the pot, to check to see if that is the problem.
If this is the case, you should now repot ths plant in a pot 1 or 2 sizes larger, with fresh soil.
It helps to trim the plant back at this time also. At this time, if you do not want a larger plant, you can try dividing it or simply takes some cuttings and start over, if that is a better option.

I have simply put cuttings from both of these plants in water to grow new roots.
I have read if you once put them in water (or dirt) they will not grow well if moved to the other medium. Personally I have had no problem with the switch. I often take cutting when I trim mine back & stick them in water until they grow roots then I repot them in an appropriate sized pot.
Good luck !

Thanks JunieGirl,

Very informative. I had read if they have been grown in water that they do not normally switch over to a soil media very well and vice versa. One post I was reading said if you wanted your flower pot fuller to just take a cutting and then just punch a hole in the soil of that pot and insert it.

I have been trying to decide whether I wanted to go with hanging the plants or making a trellis for them to climb on. Since I have two, I may try both ways.

Thanks again
Tom

Yes, as I have said, I read that too. BUT I must say that I have not ever had a problem. When my grown kids were small, I thought I had to root them in water before planting them in soil, (My grandma taught me to do that) and so I always have.

Yes for a fuller pot, as long as you do not let the soil dry out too much, you sure can just stick cuttings into the soil. Do you have some root hormone ?? you could dip the cutting in it and then put it into the soil to give them a head start.

I do not have any rooting hormone right now but I have a place close that I think I can get it. We have a "Worms Way" close and I think they will have it. I wanted to try to make my own out of weeping willow stem tips just to see how it would work. Tiny slices off of the end tips soaked in water is supposed to be a strong rooting mixture to water the plant with. Just something else I read.

Thanks for the help
Tom

Let us know how that goes.

Just in case anyone is interested in working with some willow branches to get natural rooting hormone, googling for this youtube video will get you started on how simple it is and how it is done.

"How to Make Organic Natural willow Rooting Hormone For Propagating"

I had nothing to do with making the video, just something I ran across that sounded interesting. Just something else that shows how amazing plants are.

Tom

Yes, willow bark was the original aspirin before it was chemically produced. Aspirin will also act as a root stimulator. I keep one live willow just for just-in-case. They are also pretty trees.

I had a large willow tree about twenty-five feet from the edge of a 2 acre lake, but during a drought a couple of years ago, it died. I have never figured out what killed it, since it was very close to a lake there should not have been a water shortage. I have several hundred trees on the property and have become accustom to loosing one now and then although I always wonder what the problem was that caused it to die. I should probably plant another willow tree to take the place of the one I lost.

Tom

Yes, I have trees and lose one on occasion. I may never know what killed them.
You can take a willow branch and just plant it where you want it to grow. Keep it damp and it will grow. willow is like that.
We had a hollow log and put it over a pipe where we had a water fall cascading down our hillside. Just to make the pipe more natural looking. A couple months later that hollow log began sprouting twigs and leaves. It was a willow. We didn't want a tree right there so we replaced that hollow log with a different one that wouldn't sprout.
willows are very easy to grow.