As many of you know, I frequently comment (preach?) on the problems associated with unnecessary repotting and have often stated that this is the single most common cause of
plant problems.
I want to share a recent e-mail I received because it is an excellent example of the kinds of problems that occur following repotting. It is just one of many similar e-mails I have received.
"I have recently taken on about 15
plants we received recently for my grandma's funeral. The
plants were doing very well until my very sweet but apparently not so good with
plants mother came to visit. She convinced me to repot several of them, and they've been going down hill since then.
"I had what I think was an English Ivy that has already died. I have another type of Ivy that is almost dead. It's very droopy and all the new buds turned brown and shriveled up. I think they are too wet. We used Scott's potting soil, but it just seems to hold the water forever. When I test to see if the
plants need watered I usually stick my finger down in the soil about an inch to see if the soil is moist. This morning I decided to go down a little deeper because the soil felt dry, but some of the leaves are yellow. When I go down about two inches the soil feels like a chewy brownie. That"s the best way for me to describe it. It's very sticky and compact. It's very wet, and I don't see how it will ever dry.
"Also, in the soil of one of the
plants I found two very tiny bugs. I'm pretty sure they were either dark red or black, but the crawled into the soil before I could be sure. I also now have quite a few gnats in the house around the
plants which I think came in with some apples the other day."
Note that the
plants were fine until they were repotted. The repotting led to inadvertent overwatering (all that added soil retained moisture for too long) and root rot. The potting soil that she used was too heavy (dense) and lacks the porosity that a good peat-based soilless potting mix has. The fungus gnats were most likely introduced with the potting soil that she used to repot, not the apples.
Repotting can introduce a lot of problems if not done properly. That means waiting until the
plant is very, very potbound. It means using a pot only one size larger. It means using a potting mix that is appropriate for the
plant and that is sterile and pest-free. Repotting should not be done willy-nilly and without considerable understanding.