This video checks back in with Humphrey, the dumbcane dieffenbachia we revived nearly a year ago. Humphrey gets a repotting in this video. See how well Humphrey is doing and learn tips for reviving a dieffenbachia and keeping it healthy for the long-term.
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Hello and welcome to HealthyHouseplants.com, where we teach you all about gardening in the great indoors. Today’s video is sponsored by our Amazon affiliate link, which you’ll see in the description below. You’ll also see in the description below any links to videos I mentioned in this video.
Today, we are stopping back in with Humphrey, the Dieffenbachia, commonly named dumb cane. However, Humphrey doesn’t really like being called a dumb cane, so I tend to call him a Dieffenbachia. We’ve been working on reviving him for quite some time now. The original revival was actually a year ago, on June 21, 2019, when he wasn’t doing so great. He is doing good right now; however, he does need a repotting. He has surpassed the two-thirds plant to one-third pot ratio that I talked about, and now he’s more like a quarter plant to a quarter pot, so he needs a repotting today, which is really nice.
As you can see, he is doing really well, but he has lately been drying out very frequently. This is an indication that a plant needs repotting, and I cover that in my repotting series that I recently did, so you can check that out as well.
Now, it’s time to repot him. One of the big questions for Humphrey here was about the size of the pot to put him in. I am wavering between these two pots. To be perfectly honest, Humphrey would love this pot; he loves the look of it. Recently, I took another plant out of this pot, and he said he wanted it. So we’ll see. However, I’m going to take him out of his pot right now and see how his roots are doing. He has a lot of roots, and I could go with this one, which is a pretty good size. I think the one thing you can do is put the plant in the pot and see. It’s pretty close—a teeny tiny bit bigger than I’d like, but it’s close.
This pot is also a pretty good size, so he may have to go into this one before he can go into this one, but we’re going to find out in just a minute.
I’m going to get him out of this pot now. The soil in here is pretty new because it has been healthy; it’s fine. If you have soil that has had root rot or something like that, you definitely want to keep that soil away from your new soil when you’re repotting. Since this soil is healthy, it’s fine.
Actually, it doesn’t hurt to keep some of the soil on a plant when it’s a real healthy plant during repotting because there’s a lot of good bacteria in there. However, you also want to brush your hands a little bit on the roots to break them up a little so that they will develop contact with the new soil.
Okay, so I’m seeing that he has roots, but he doesn’t have a ton of roots. One thing I mention frequently is not planting it up into too big of a pot. Even though he has a really nice upper foliage, I don’t want to say, “Oh, let’s put him in a nice big pot and then he will grow huge and I won’t have to repot him for a long time.” That’s not a good idea because he will probably die; he will get root rot. He was having problems when we revived him, as you will recall and see in prior videos.
So I’m going to check out this pot and look. When you put the plant in the new pot, you want to see about an inch, no more than two inches around the outer part of the root ball. This is called the root ball. I am seeing a nice inch in that. Now, I’m going to try this because he is dead set on this pot.
There is just a little bit too much space in this pot around his root ball. If he were very tightly wound with tons and tons of roots—what’s called root bound—I might go to this bigger pot. Since he has roots but we’re not talking about a lot of really root bound roots, I think this next size up is going to be perfect for him. So he will have to wait. His reward for growing nice and big will be to get into this pot. If I can’t, if he grows and is not able to go to this one, I’ll have to look for one similar.
Okay, so I’m going to, as always, screen to put some sort of a screen at the bottom of the pot so that the soil stays in rather than going out. Now, you always want to add some of this. This is a Pro-Mix potting soil. I talked about that in my video on choosing soils. I am going to add some of my Green Gourmet house plant food to this Pro-Mix as well for a little extra. I have already added pumice to this, actually in a prior video about adding pumice, so it’s a perfect consistency of having really good drainage with the pumice.
You always want to moisten potting soil before you repot. This is lukewarm to tepid water as well, so I’m going to do that. I don’t necessarily going to do all of this soil because there’s quite a bit. I’m going to do the top part that I need, but what you want to do is not make it soppy. You want it to be moistened but not soppy. If you were to squeeze it, you don’t want water to come out. You want it to form a light ball in your hand that could easily be crumbled, but you want some moisture in it.
The reason you do this is when you repot, what will happen if you do it with dry soil is that once you water, the soil will sink and then you’re not going to have enough soil in the pot for the plant. You’ll have to go back and repot, so rather than doing that, just do this instead.
I am also going to add, as I mentioned, some of my Green Gourmet in here. You don’t need a lot.
Another great thing I love to add extra of—and you really can’t overdo this—is worm castings. I have a video on how great they are, as well as how to make tea with them, so I add some of that. So Humphrey is going to have really nice, healthy soil to go into. I put the link of the soil here at the bottom of the video as well.
Okay, so I’ve got it mixed up good. I’m going to put some… When you’re repotting, you should be able to put some… You want obviously the bottom of the plant to be hitting some soil. What you don’t want is a whole bunch of soil at the bottom of the plant because you want it to not remain too moist. When that happens, you’re going to end up with root rot, so I put that in there.
And if you see too, this is another cool thing to do, a very useful thing to do, is to put the root ball up against the pot. You can see it; this root ball is substantially smaller than this pot. It’s not too much smaller, but it gives you an idea.
Okay, so now I put that in there, and it’s still a little low. You want to have about a quarter of an inch around the top of the rim once you’ve planted and patted down the soil, so that when you water, the water doesn’t roll over. You don’t want it too low, though, because there are problems with planting too low. I have a video on that as well.
Okay, so here we go. We’ve got it pretty good. You can eyeball it, put it up, and take a look and see if you think when you’re done it’s going to be a quarter of an inch around, and it looks like it will be. Now I am going to go ahead and add soil to the edges, and you want to work your way around as you do it.
So, if you can see that, push it down. You want to gently push down. You don’t want to go crazy, but you do want to push down because you don’t want air pockets in there. You want some air to the roots, which is why you have draining agents like the pumice in there. But you don’t want too much air, because then the roots will dry out. However, the roots do need to breathe some as well.
That’s why we have things in very heavy soil without any drainage agents. You will tend to get root rot because the roots will basically become suffocated and then they shut down, and then the plant has root rot.
Okay, so I’m pushing down all the way around. If you do plant and you find it’s too low, or you find it’s crooked in the pot, it’s okay to take it back out. Gently take it back out and start again. The plant will be fine; now’s the time to do that rather than waiting a month and saying, “You know, I want to repot that because I don’t like how it’s on the side of the pot.” That’s always bugged me, so do it now rather than later.
Okay, so I got that. I’m making sure that it’s in a good space. Good there, and now he’s got some room for… I’m going to go ahead and water him. You want to water with warm to tepid water. This water I got warm before I started here. You want to water well.
Once you’ve watered the plant, now you will let it drain and then you’ll put it back where you had it. This plant will need watering sooner because it’s in a bigger pot. A good thing to do with any plant that has been in a pot for a while—like Humphrey here, for example—is to use a good liquid house plant fertilizer for a week or two after repotting.
You can repot any time, but in spring and summer, when the plant is actively growing, is the best time to do that. In the fall, you don’t really want to repot unless there’s something very serious going on. The plant will be slower in the fall, and when they are slower and you repot them, you have a tendency to lose them.
Thanks for joining me today as we repotted Humphrey the Dieffenbachia. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments.
FAQs about Repotting Dieffenbachia
What is the best time to repot a Dieffenbachia?
The best time to repot a Dieffenbachia is during spring and summer when the plant is actively growing. Repotting in the fall should be avoided unless absolutely necessary, as the plant will be slower and more prone to stress.
How can I tell if my Dieffenbachia needs repotting?
Indicators that your Dieffenbachia needs repotting include frequent drying out of the soil and a poor plant-to-pot ratio, such as when the plant is significantly smaller than the pot.
How do I choose the right pot size for repotting?
When repotting, select a pot that allows for about 1 to 2 inches of space around the root ball. Avoid pots that are too large to prevent root rot, as this can happen if the roots are not sufficiently established.
What kind of soil should I use for repotting Dieffenbachia?
Use a good quality potting mix, such as Pro-Mix, that allows for good drainage. Adding organic amendments like worm castings can also benefit the plant’s health.
Should I remove old soil when repotting?
If the old soil is healthy, you can leave some of it on the roots during repotting, as it contains beneficial bacteria. However, avoid using soil from plants that suffered from root rot.
What should I do after repotting my Dieffenbachia?
After repotting, water the plant thoroughly with lukewarm water and allow it to drain. It’s also beneficial to use a liquid houseplant fertilizer for a week or two to promote healthy growth.
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