Pay attention to plant signals telling you its time to freshen soil in containers.
And compacted soils do not drain as well.
Younghouseplantsand outdoor container gardens can also quickly outgrow their planters, another reason to repot your plants.
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If you watch plants carefully, youll notice several signs indicating a plant has outgrown its container.
These signals along with seasonal growth habits will help you determine the best time to repot plants.
Spring potting prepares plants for the approaching growing season.
Plants put on the bulk of their root and shoot growth during the spring and summer months.
Spring planting also allows plants time to settle into their new containers before the heat of summer sets in.
It is a good idea to repot outdoor plants in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler.
After the first year of growth, few houseplants will need to be repotted more than once per year.
As plants age, their growth slows down.
Older houseplants benefit from repotting every three to five years to replenish soil and stimulate new growth.
Some plants may need to be repotted even if they have not outgrown their container.
Bonsai trees and other slow-growing houseplants benefit from repotting to loosen and freshen the soil.
you could repot these plants in the same container with fresh soil.
Sometimes plants grow too top heavy for their container and start to fall over easily.
Look at the proportion of top growth compared to the container size.
Choose a container one size larger than the current pot or one to two inches wider.
Gently loosen the roots when repotting plants.
If roots are circling the container, twisted together, or densely packed, they will benefit from trimming.
Plants with circling roots can eventually girdle themselves, essentially cutting off the flow of water and nutrients.
To prevent this, work circling roots loose with your fingers to straighten them out.
Dont worry if some of the roots break.
If they are wound too tight, cut through them with a sharp knife or pruning shears.
Sometimes plants are so root-bound that they slide out of their pots as one dense cylinder.
These need to be worked loose to reestablish contact between the soil and roots.
Start by cutting off as much as one-third of the roots from the bottom of the root ball.
This may be enough to allow youto work your fingers into the remaining root mass to untangle it.
Some gardeners and houseplant parents prune plant roots to keep plants on the smaller size.
Repotted plants may take some time to recover from the move but will soon respond with renewed vigor.
