How Long Does Transplant Shock Last?

New pot – Be sure to pick a new pot that is slightly larger and has drainage holes. With some simple tips and tricks, potting your houseplants is easy.

If you must put a plant in a dark area, install a little grow light, or even an LED light above it, that comes on regularly for at least eight hours a day, she said. This is a serious problem for people who water on a schedule every week, never noticing whether their plants are wet or dry. Improper watering is the most common cause of plant fatalities, Lawrence and Gutierrez said, usually because well-intentioned people end up drowning their plants. You can still use your pretty pot, Lawrence and Gutierrez say. Just slip the new plant, plastic pot and all, into the decorative pot and cover the top with Spanish moss or rocks to cover any gaps.

You’ll be encouraging deep, healthy roots that anchor the plant AND provide it more access to water and nutrients. If it doesn’t, try drilling a hole or two while the plant is still potted to avoid moving the plant unnecessarily. When a plant suffers from wilted leaves after repotting, along with a host of other symptoms, it’s usually caused by the way it was treated during the transplant process.

Cut around and under the plant’s root ball, removing both roots and soil. You can be pretty aggressive, cutting away both large and small roots.

Now that you have everything you need to repot your plant, you’re ready to get started. Spanger says your first step is inspecting and loosening up the roots. You can do so by gently untangling them with your fingers, starting at the bottom and working your way to the sides. However, if your plant is super root-bound with a really tight root ball, you might need to use a clean knife.

We wanted to use a clear container for our example so that you can easily see the layers throughout the process. So if you can’t beat them, maybe you can learn to love them. After all, many weeds are native plants that Mother Nature intended to thrive in the area, which may be why the weeds are so difficult to kill in the first place.

The plant is basically parched, Gutierrez said, and the salt and minerals in our water tend to accumulate unhealthily in the soil. They thought they were helping, she said, but instead the plants were suffocating in standing water or rotting from perpetually soggy roots. The nursery pots have excellent drainage, unlike a lot of decorative pots.

multiple soil testsand checking fertilizer on a regular basis. Water the plant before and after transplant as well so there is enough moisture. If this seems like too much work to create two plots with identical soil, then carry some soil from the old location to the new. The first step to understanding the length of transplant shock is knowing what the condition is. Many gardeners assume shock occurs when the roots are mishandled during the moving process.

Use a sharp knife or pruning shears for this job, removing as much as the bottom third of the root ball if necessary. Don’t be surprised if what you cut off is a thick tangle of root tissue. Also make three or four vertical cuts about a third of the way up the remaining root ball. Now your plant is ready to be watered—and even though the plant now has proper drainage, you still want to plant community be sure not to overwater it.

Thump the edge of the pot on a table until the soil and rootball slide out of the pot and into your hand. Water the plant until the excess drains from the bottom of the pot, indicating that the entire rootball is moistened.