Have you ever rooted a houseplant in water and then transplanted into soil and the plant died? The roots created when you root a plant in water aren’t the same type of roots that a plant needs to root in soil. Find out how to get a plant grown in water to convert to soil roots and survive. This procedure features half soil and half water.
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Hi, today we are going to be talking about how to transplant plants that have been growing in water into soil.
Okay, so that seems like, “Oh, it’s easy, I’m just going to take it out of the water and stick it in some soil.” It’s not quite that easy. The reason it’s not quite that easy is because—and a lot of people don’t know this—the roots that are created when you root a plant in water are not the same roots that are used when a plant is grown in soil. The plant will make soil roots at that point. It’s not going to happen overnight; it’s not something that’s going to happen. You’re not going to stick it in the soil and then a day or two later it’s going to have soil roots. It takes a while.
So what you need to do is make sure that the plant is going to be able to create these soil roots as easily as possible so that the plant survives. The soil roots are much thicker and sturdier than the roots that are created for water growing. With that in mind, you need to be real careful with those water-growing roots because the plant still needs those roots to transition into soil roots. It’s going to be getting its water from those roots that were formed when it was in water before until it gets enough of the soil roots to grow well in the soil.
Okay, so this is a wax plant, Hoya carnosa. This plant was rooted in water. We’ve got some nice roots going on in here. This plant, or these different plants—there are about five cuttings in here—were featured in another video on rooting in softened water, and that’s why that’s a no-no. This plant is fine now; they weren’t before though, so I do have a video on that to show you, and I’ll put the link below.
So anyway, these are ready to go. I’m going to show you a way to transition them into the soil, which makes it a lot more likely that the plant is going to start forming those roots for soil and grow really, really well for you. You can go from the water roots directly into soil. A lot of times you’ll have some good luck with that, or you can do the procedure that I’m going to show you, which is half soil, half water for a while until the plant starts to grow those soil roots.
Okay, if you do decide, “You know what? I’m just going to put this in soil; I’m going to just get this done,” be very careful with those water roots because they are delicate. If you pull them off, the plant is not going to make it at all. Right? If you do pot up a plant that has been growing in water into soil and you think that you may have knocked the roots too much—maybe the roots fell off or maybe the roots aren’t doing well—you can always take the plant out of the soil, do some more rooting in water, and try again.
I would recommend this with the method that I’m going to show you in a minute. However, do keep in mind also that the plants have to acclimate to the fact that they are now needing to grow roots for soil.
Okay, so that being said, the plant may droop a little bit. The plant may not look too good for a week or two until it starts to grow the roots for soil. In the meantime, what you want to do during that period is keep it very well watered because remember, the plant has been used to 24/7 water whenever it wants; it’s just soaking up water.
So you’re going to keep plants that you have rooted in water and put in soil wetter in that soil than you would a plant that has always been growing in soil. You pot it up to another pot in the same soil, in the same manner, and the same growing. Okay, so that’s something really important to keep in mind. You’re going to be doing more watering initially until it gets those soil roots, and then you’re going to pull back on watering, especially with something like the Hoya because the Hoya does not like to be in a lot of wet soil.
All right, okay, so I’m going to show you this method. I am using a jar, and we’re going to be able to see—later on, I will do another follow-up video—there we’re going to be able to see the soil roots starting to grow because you will see them growing within the potting soil. Right now, this doesn’t have any drainage holes because this is not its permanent pot; this is just the interim until we get it to start creating soil roots.
So what I’m going to do, I’ve chosen the bigger one. I’m choosing a big one; this one has a lot of nice roots on it, as you’ll see. Some of the other ones are nice too but not quite as much roots. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to have a lot of roots so that the plant will create a lot of roots. What this is more for is the fact that the plant will be able to stay hydrated because it has more of these water roots on it, so that it can then get to that next level of growing the potting soil roots.
So I’m just using the strongest plant in terms of having the most luck. Okay, so I’m putting this guy into this nice little jar here. You can use any jar, but do one with a bigger mouth. An even bigger mouth would be nice because when we go to repot this guy, we want to be able to get it out without breaking roots and that sort of thing.
Okay, so I’m going to put some water in here. I’ve also pre-moistened this soil. I’ve also added some worm compost. I love worm compost; I have lots of videos on it. You can add a little compost into the soil. I wouldn’t add any other fertilizer into the soil. A lot of soils have fertilizer; this is Pro-Mix BX. I’ll put a link below.
It already has some fertilizer, but it’s a light fertilizer because it’s an organic soil. So use an organic soil that just has a little bit of nutrients. You don’t want to be giving these water roots a whole bunch of fertilizer right now. That will burn those roots, which, as I mentioned, are already delicate. Right? So you don’t want to give the roots—those water roots—any reason to start falling off and dying before the soil roots have come in.
The worm compost, though, is very low in nutrients; it’s very gentle and will help those soil roots grow. Okay, so we are going to add soil to this jar here. I have pre-moistened the soil so that it doesn’t float to the top right now, and where I would have to start mixing, which you wouldn’t want to do with those delicate roots. The Hoya water roots aren’t as delicate as some; you’ll notice with things like coleus, for instance, when you root in water, and pothos, even—they’re finer and more delicate.
Okay, so the point here being is that you want to keep things moist as the plant then acclimates to potting soil. Okay, so you put it in, pot it up a little bit, check it out. You can see I’ve got a good, boggy situation in there. Right? I’m going to add a little bit more soil and then I’m going to top with water because we don’t want any of those roots up top to be exposed to air and dry out, which would be bad for the plant.
So I’m going to fill it almost to the top there, and then this will go in there. So we’ve got a really good situation here. Now what I’m going to do is I’m going to wait. It’s going to stay nice and moist, so the plant will be fine; it’s used to soaking up water from its roots, and it’s going to continue to do that. But at the same time, it’s going to start to find that soil; that potting soil is going to start to grow into that.
I’m going to wait a week, and then I’m going to add some more potting soil. Then I’m going to wait a week, and I’m going to add some more potting soil. About two to three weeks from now, it’s going to pretty much be in the soil that it needs to be in, but it’ll still be pretty moist. By a month, I should be starting to see some of those soil roots coming out, and at that time, depending on how many—if it looks like there’s a fair amount of them—then I’m going to be taking it out of the jar at that point and putting it into its own pot in soil.
Now, there are a couple of different things you can do to encourage those soil roots to start growing. One thing is you can make sure that the whole thing stays humid, so you can create a humidity dome of sorts. I’m going to put this wooden dowel in there to hold things up. Okay? And so it’s pretty easy, as you can see too.
Is this going to be a perfect humidity dome? No, but it’s going to give the plant a little extra humidity in there to help it start, and I can tighten that as well to help it start growing those roots. You can see it’s already getting a little condensation in there, which is good. Do make sure that it doesn’t start to look like it’s rotting or anything, and you can poke a little hole in there too if you need to.
But this will create some good moisture. The plant can use that moisture for now. So just keep it moist until you see roots, and we’ll see roots hopefully within about a month. And I will do a follow-up video once those soil roots are visible.
So there we go! Thanks so much for watching today, and we’ll see you again next time.
[Music]FAQ on Transplanting Water-Rooted Plants into Soil
What is the difference between water roots and soil roots?
The roots created when a plant is rooted in water are not the same as the roots that are formed when the plant grows in soil. Soil roots are thicker and sturdier than water roots.
How should I transition my water-rooted plant into soil?
To transition a water-rooted plant into soil, you can either plant it directly into soil or use a method that involves half soil and half water until the plant starts to grow soil roots.
What should I do if the plant droops after transplanting?
It’s normal for the plant to droop a little after transplanting as it acclimates to growing soil roots. Keep the plant well-watered during this adjustment period.
How often should I water the plant after transplanting?
Water the plant more frequently than you would a plant that has always been in soil, as it is used to constant water from being rooted in water.
Can I use any type of soil for transplanting?
It’s recommended to use organic soil with minimal nutrients, such as Pro-Mix BX, to avoid burning the delicate water roots. Adding worm compost can also help promote healthy soil root growth.
What should I do if I damage the water roots during the transplanting process?
If the water roots are damaged, you can remove the plant from the soil, root it in water again, and try the transplanting process once more.
How long will it take for soil roots to start growing?
Soil roots typically begin to grow within a month after transplanting, depending on the plant’s acclimation to its new environment.
What can I do to encourage soil root growth?
To encourage soil root growth, maintain humidity around the plant, possibly using a humidity dome, and keep the soil consistently moist until the roots develop.
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