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Time to Re-pot?
Posted on: Wed, 10/29/2008 - 3:28pm
Time to Re-pot?
I've heard that you should re-pot your potted plants every so often to keep them happy. I guess putting them in an entirely different pot because they are getting too big is easy enough to judge just by eyeballing it, but if the size is doing okay, I'm wondering how you can tell whether its time to give the plant some fresh soil.
It probably depends on the type of plant, I imagine, and whether you are adding some good stuff like compost for nutrients... but is there some kind of universal signal or time frame? Is it even necessary if you are putting nutrients into it somehow?
The rules for potted plants are not really complicated. As you mentioned, eyeballing the size of the plant in the planter will tell you if it looks balanced, meaning the pot is not too small or too large for the size of the plant.
If you just purchased your plant, it need to be repotted right away. The soil mix plants come in has nothing to offer the plant for the long run.
Potting soil will become depleted quickly as most commercial types have very little long lasting nutrients for the plants. Potting mix should be amended with compost at 50% when you repot. Remove as much of the old potting soil from around the roots when moving them up. You can even soak the root ball or gently spray it to remove more of the old soil. (The old soil can be added to your compost bin to recycle it). Even if you are not moving the plant up a pot size, repot it in the same pot using compost amended fresh potting soil mix every 12 months.
Watering should be done deeply, frequently and using a weak worm tea approximately once a month will make your plant happy. If your plant is happy, it will tell you-by being bright, standing tall, the right color and not dropping a bunch of leaves. If it's a flowering plant, it should be blooming as expected or better. The worm tea watering will encourage blooming and new growth, as it's nutrient value is immediately available to the plant. And you can always ask the plant if it is happy.
Breathing on your plants is good for it. Plants also like classic classical music and dislike hard rock music. Enya would be good for plants. They are rather nuetral about the old Beatles music, but do not like their later stuff. Plants also do not like to be kept in a stuffy, overheated room with no fresh air circulating around them, or icey drafts. Most indoor plants like to be able to cool down a bit during the night time hours, one reason being near a window is helpful, as temperatures are usually a little cooler near windows.
One proviso here is, if you are not able to repot your plant when you usually do, watering with a weak worm tea every time you water will maintain the plant as long as you do not let it dry out too much. You should also water well after transplanting to help it establish itself into the new soil. Commercial potting mixes tend to dry out quickly, which is one good reason to mix it 50/50 with moisture retaining compost.
You can purchase bags of worm casting at some hardware or garden stores, or better yet, make your own, just to keep your houseplants happy. If you asked them, they would say yeh!
Thanks for the great answer Becky! I think I will be buying a composter in a few months, when I will be moving and will have a lot more gardening space by the Springtime.
I remember seeing a Mythbusters episode where they test that idea of whether or not music and talking to plants helps them grow. If I remember correctly, the plants for which they played hardcore death metal grew the best of all, followed by the ones that were talked to. That would make sense to me (though an expert botanist I am definitely not) if the theory is correct that vibrations help boost plant growth, then death metal would certainly be at the top of the list in terms of amplitude and tempo.
It would be interesting to see how plants react to music with lots of heavy bass, like hip-hop, it seems like that would be good for them. If they could understand lyrics, then I would think that the late Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" would surely be relateable to plants.
The reasons why humans like classical music would probably be different from the reasons plants would like it, as we can appreciate the intellectual aspects of the beautiful melodies, progressions, and subtleties, which they might not pick up on. My guess is that plants would prefer the bold music of Beethoven over the more elegant pieces by someone like Mozart, though both can be dissonant at times and I think plants would react more to resonant pitches. I wonder how they would like the mathematical formulas of Bach's music... this is all an extremely fascinating subject to me.
I guess it matters more what the gardener's taste in music is. Talking to them and blowing on them would make sense, especially if talking up close, because you would be exhaling some fresh CO2 while simultaneously giving them some vibrations and air circulation.
Actualy, I think people respond to music the same way plants do. Humans are not always tuned into their body responses, but when you hear a certain tune or style of music that you love, you feel good about listening to it, and it lends a sense of happiness. There is one piece of music I think is equally moving to both people and plants, which is, 'Amazing Grace' done on a bagpipe. It goes right through you to the bones. Surely, plants would love the vibrations of bagpipe music as well.
Matt, you might get a big kick out of an old book named "The Secret Life of Plants" it's quite good if you are really interested in plants. Even better is an old David Attenborough 6-part documentary on plants called "the Private Life of Plants" in which all you have to do is sit there and be stunned by how intelligent plant life is. The only problem with this is, that as far as I know, (which isn't much) it's only available in VHS, but well worth seeing.
That could probably work. It was proven i think.
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