plants growing in containers get root bound
after some time and must be repotted into other containers
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in today's video we will see how to rejuvenate your plants
by repotting them in bigger containers or other containers after some time
we will look at the different kinds of plants that can be re potted
and what are the signs you should look for when re potting your plants
no matter what container size you use for your plants
they will get root bound this is an example of some
kohlrabi plants that had been growing in this container
and you can see how much root bound these plants have gotten
so when they get rootbound there is absolutely no space to grow
this is the time to repot
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so geraniums are one type of plants that definitely need repotting
every one to two years
Roses fall in the same category
so the reason they need repotting is because
they develop dense root systems
and must be repotted in other containers
every year or every two years depending on how well they grow
now before you repot your plant
you need to remember two things
one is you need to make sure you prune the plants
really well
you thin out the plants well
so that you don't have a lot of crowding
going on near the growing areas
and the third thing you need to do is to split
plants in case they've gotten very big like in this case
this geranium plant has gotten really big
and you can see how you can separate it out
into these various plants
so before you even think of repotting it and setting it in a new container
you need to make sure you do these steps
now the choice of the container that you use can either be the same container
which I do for most of the time because you would need
to prune the roots as well or
you can step up to a bigger container it all depends on the size of plants that
you're using or repotting
when pruning make sure you're prone all the stems that grow inwards towards the plant
remove any dead or old branches
and make sure only the healthiest stems remain
when you repot a plant it will come back bigger and better
and will cause lush growth to occur on the plants
so make sure you keep the healthiest part of the plant and leave the rest
so once your potting
mix is ready I usually like to
wet it a little bit
before I set it out into the container
and then kind of measure your plant and see how much potting mix you need to add
before setting your plant in
you need to make sure that your plant is still at the same
surface level it was
when you started repotting your plant
so once you determine that level
you can just add your remaining potting mix all around the plant
and in the potting mix I usually add some slow release fertilizer
for flowers you can use a slow-release fertilizer
especially designed for growing flowering plants
and if you're growing veggies
you can use the ones that are formulated for veggies
so if you run a little
short of the potting mix
what I usually do is just add some wood chip
mulch on the top and its ready to go
and the results you will see are fantastic
in just a few weeks
you will see lush growth on the plants and
a remarkable improvement over what you'll have growing in your container
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when you set out the plans for repotting
make sure that the roots do not dry out
in this case I'm using
a container filled with water
you can add a couple of drops of seaweed or any other
liquid fertilizer
to make sure the plant absorbs the nutrients
perennial vegetables are another candidate for repotting
you can see this eggplant growing this is
over wintered and growing since last year and its really
time for it to be repotted
so what you should be looking for
are plants that have been growing for a long time
but are not showing signs of rapid growth
it's now time to repot them
so to re-pot container
plants like eggplant which have gotten root bound
you need to make sure you take out the plants very carefully
you can prune the roots a little bit but not too much
root pruning is good for very hardy perennial plant
like Jasmine or some other
plants which have a very dense root system
for eggplants although I did trim the roots a little bit
I was very careful
and for plants like eggplant
you need to make sure that the roots never dry out
they will be in shock for a long time
in case the roots dry out so your
number one priority went repotting
plants like eggplant is that they need to be
moist all the time; the root zone needs to be moist most of the time
so while you're preparing your potting mix
you can immerse your plants in a tub of water as we just saw
so once you lay a plant inside the new container
an add the potting mix to the side
the plant maybe dormant for
maybe a week or so maybe even up to 10 days
this is because the plant is adjusting to the new conditions
and will send out a new spurt of growth very shortly
so just make sure you take care of your plant
don't let them dry out during this time and in a week or maybe
two weeks you will see that the plants have sent out a new spurt of growth
they will start to produce bigger leaves
lushy growth
and also start to produce flowers
so one of the benefits of repotting
eggplants like this is that you can get a head start
and you have fully grown eggplants right in the beginning of spring
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hardy perennials like Jasmine are another prime candidate for repoting
just like roses, jasmine also develops a very strong
and deep root system and gets rootbound very quickly
now I've waited too long to report this jasmine plant
and what I'm gonna start with is pruning the branches
and then removing the plant from the container
now this jasmine has been in
this container for 2 years
and you can see that it's really late
for repotting this jasmine plant
I should have done it in the first year itself so since I've waited that long
this plant has got severely rootbound because of that what I need to do
is
just hack away a little bit around the
base of the roots to free up the soil
if you did not free up the soil the roots will not get rejuvenated
and they will not grow as well
so I'm just using a garden tool to
just loosen the roots a little bit remove the soil around the roots
and once I'm in a position to
prune the roots a little bit I will be using
some pruners to cut away the roots a little bit
so here are
the roots; they are a little loose now
and I'm trying to loosen it further you can see how
compact and how dense this root system system has become
and this is the reason why a
a lot of people who did not have success growing
plants in containers
container plants need to be repotted
it is not an option
you have to do it
so you can see here the roots are
pretty loose now and I'm gonna continue to areate the roots
get rid of the dirt in between the roots
and also prune the roots a little bit
you can use pruners to cut away
a little bit of the roots; just make sure you're not cutting a lot
so just like that just around the the
areas where the roots are pretty dense
you can go ahead and cut those rots
and that also makes it easier for you to plant your
your plant in the same container if you wish to
now this is a technique that I use to
clean out the roots I just put it in my garden cart
and then wash the base of the plant a little bit
to get rid of the dirt and what that lets me do is
lets me preserve some water in the garden cart itself
so that the roots to not dry out a lot
now once that is done all you need to do is
set your plant back into the container now I'm using the same container here
but as you can see it because I pruned the roots
the plant fits easily into this container
while still having about 1/3 of the space below the container
and now I'm slowly adding back the potting mix
I'm using a potting mix that I'll
probably discuss in of my future videos
this is a very high porosity potting mix that I've created
and this is great for using in your containers
although you can use any kind of potting mix I have discussed
a couple of potting mixes in my previous videos
you can use either one of them and after repotting your plant will now have more
space for the roots to breathe and consequently
you will get a plant that grows much more vigorously and
in a much better way than what was growing earlier
so in just a couple of weeks you can see how nicely this plant is growing
it's producing new growth and new buds as well
so spring is the best time to repot all your container plants
the weather had warmed up and it's time for the plant to send out
new growth anyway so repotting them
will give them that extra burst of energy because they now have more space to grow
inside the new container
I also highly recommend that you repot roses
every year or worst case every two years
so that they grow in the most optimum way
you can prune roses very heavily
almost down to like two or three branches and they will
come back up very vigorously as you can see here
this rose plant was pruned and then repotted
and it came back with a vengeance you can see
a lot of new growth; a lot of buds
and overall a very nice way to rejuvenate your plant
so let me know how you like this video I know a lot of us do not think of
repotting our container plants but remember that plants
do get root bound and that they do need new space to grow in the next
growing season
so make sure you repot your container plants and you can spring new life into them
and be very successful with your container gardening
I'll see you again soon
happy gardening!
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