Why Repot New Houseplants

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 can see in the comment section below.

Today, I’m going to talk to you about why it’s a good idea to repot houseplants soon after you get them unless they’re coming from a source that you know has been growing organically and you know that it’s just a really good source. They’re careful with their plants; they’re not using a lot of chemical fertilizers and growth hormones and that sort of thing. Otherwise, it really is a good idea for various reasons.

Now, here we go! This is Matilda; she is a Ficus Lyrata, and she was in a recent video last month when we were doing a rescue on her. She is a very good example of why it’s a good idea to repot once you get a plant because what we found during her rescue—and she is doing better; she’s feeling better from the last video—she doesn’t have any new foliage yet, but I’m waiting for that because that will be a sign that she’s going to get kicked and get through it. She is hanging in there; she’s doing good, and I think she will be okay.

However, what happened in that repot is one of many examples of why it’s a good idea to repot when you soon get a plant. Matilda was potted in a pot that was double the size of what she should have had at the time, and that caused her to get root rot. It hadn’t yet set in, but it was going to set in real soon. The plant lost a bunch of leaves; she was about twice this size when she was bought, and that was because she was in way too big of a pot. Most likely, they had used growth hormones in synthetic growth hormone on her. I talked about that in another video, and what those are is they get plants to grow quickly.

So when you repot, you can replace the plant’s need for synthetic growth hormones with something like alfalfa meal or a sea kelp, which will contain natural growth hormones. Essentially, you will give the plant what it’s looking for when those synthetic ones are no longer being mainlined into the plant. I talked about a lot of this in my book, “Indoor Gardening the Organic Way,” where I discuss many other topics on how to grow healthy plants.

The thing to keep in mind with growers is that they’re in the business to grow plants as quickly and efficiently as possible to get them to you, to get them to the nurseries, and to get them to the home and garden center so that you come along and buy them, right? That’s what they’re trying to do. However, the problem with that is they take many shortcuts when they do that, and that’s why it’s good to repot.

For instance, Matilda was in too big of a pot. By repotting her, if it had happened when she was first bought, I would have discovered that and would have been able to put her in the right-sized pot for her root ball. She would be two or three times this size right now instead of half the size of when she started. That’s something they will do, and the reason they put them in bigger pots is that they can sell bigger pots for more money. Little do you know that you’re not getting a bigger plant.

Some of the tell-tale signs will be that you get a plant that’s in way too big of a pot. I have another video where I talk a lot about this and preach about it all the time: you want a 2/3 plant to 1/3 pot ratio. So say you see a plant, and you think, “Oh my gosh, I love that plant; it’s gorgeous! I’m going to get it,” but if it’s not 2/3 plant to 1/3 pot, maybe it’s 1/3 plant to 2/3 pot. Just know that when you get that plant home, you should repot it as soon as possible. Otherwise, you may have root rot, and most likely, you will have root rot setting in soon.

Another thing to keep in mind is that plants in the nursery industry, as I mentioned, are using not only synthetic growth hormones but also synthetic chemical fertilizers to get them to grow quickly. You’ve probably seen those commercials where things grow before your eyes. Well, that’s what they’re aiming for because once again, they want to get them to the nurseries and garden centers so that you will then buy them. However, what happens afterward is that the plants go into detox.

So you take them home, you put them in the right light, you’re watering them as you should, you’re talking to them, and everything seems fine, but then the plant starts to go downhill. If this has happened to you, most likely it’s because your plant is detoxing. Your plant is asking for its drugs, and you don’t know any better because, frankly, you don’t have that many of those chemical fertilizers that they’re using anyway, so you couldn’t do it even if you tried.

So, I suggest switching to an organic form of fertilizing your plants. It’s a lot like going from a fast-food diet to a very nutrient-rich diet that’s good for the plants. This is another good reason to repot. You can repot in a really good organic potting soil; look for things that have additives such as mycorrhizae. I have a video on the importance of mycorrhizae, which is a tiny fungus you can’t see, but it’s naturally occurring and helps plant roots grow much quicker and stronger than they would on their own.

That’s a good nutrient! Other things like guano and worm compost are also good nutrients. I also have those in my Green Gourmet houseplant fertilizer. So what happens when you get them out of that chemical fertilizer situation and you get them into your green gourmet, your very healthy organic situation is that the plant is going to thrive. It’s going to say, “Hey, I’m okay! I don’t need those chemical fertilizers I was getting because now I’m getting a really good diet of organic fertilizers and nutrients, the way Mother Nature feeds her plants.”

So, that’s quite another reason for repotting. There are some good soils out there; my favorite is ProMix BX, but there are other very good ones as well. I just happen to like ProMix BX because it isn’t very barky. So try to avoid those soils that are very barky, those that look like ground-up bark. Those don’t hold enough nutrients, and they won’t hold the water that your plants need. The water tends to rush through them, so that’s why I use ProMix BX as well.

Another good reason to repot when you get plants home is that you will be able to get them out of potentially salty soil. High salinity can come from chemical fertilizers. If a plant’s been growing for a while—especially if you get a bigger plant—it’s definitely going to have a lot of salinity built up in the soil. I have another video on that as well. So, this is a good way to get it into new soil where it doesn’t have too high salinity because salinity can cause toxic root shock, which can shut down the roots and cause the plant to die.

So, you can avoid that as well; that’s another good reason. One more reason is that you will be able to see if the plant has any pests or diseases when you go to repot it. You can look at the root base; are there mealybugs down there or something like that? Is it starting to rot? Those sorts of things are going to be shown at that point. You will get a really good up-close and personal look at the plant. You can also, at that time, cut out any dead and dying foliage and check the roots to ensure they’re healthy. If they aren’t and you suspect root rot, I have a series on root rot where you can get some treatment before you repot to hopefully stop the root rot.

So, those are some other really good reasons to do that. If you see any pests or diseases, you will want to quarantine the plant, which I am doing another video on as well. These are really good ways to get the plant to be nice and healthy because let’s face it: you didn’t buy the plant for it to die. You bought the plant so that it would do well.

Another thing to keep in mind is to give the plant some pumice. I do this as well; pumice gives the plants similar benefits to perlite, but it’s heavier. So, something like perlite or pumice is good to give the plant drainage. When you repot, you can give the plant nice drainage as well. I would suggest making sure that most houseplants like really good drainage.

So, repotting soon after getting them gives you an opportunity to make sure they have sufficient drainage as well. Another good reason is that you may have bought a plant that is in a pot without any drainage holes, and that plant won’t last long without getting root rot. So, this is your opportunity to get it into another pot where it has some drainage holes.

Those are some really good things to keep in mind. Now, say you get a plant and you just don’t have time; maybe you just don’t have time for two weeks, three weeks, or a month. In that case, what you want to do is leach the plant. I have another video on that. What you want to do is run through the plant slowly the equivalent of three times the size of the pot of the plant.

So, if you have a 6-inch pot, you want to run through about 18 ounces of water; if you have a 10-inch pot, you want to run through about 30 ounces of water to leach out all the salts and those nasty chemicals that are in the pot. You want to give it some good leaching and do that on a regular basis until you can repot.

In summary, repotting is a great thing to do once you get a plant home. You can switch it out of synthetic growth hormones and fertilizers into an organic form, you will be able to assess the roots, and you will also be able to check for any signs of pests or diseases. These are all important things to do when you are introducing a new plant into your home.

Please give this video a thumbs up if you found it helpful, subscribe to the channel for more videos, and please leave your comments and questions down below. We love to hear from you!

Thanks for watching!

Patreon:   / healthyhouseplants  

One-time donation: https://ko-fi.com/healthyhouseplants

Sign up for my monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/g1PCSH 

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I may earn commissions for purchases made through the links below.

Espoma organic houseplant food: https://amzn.to/40U51xe

Full-spectrum Light Bulb-Large: https://amzn.to/3yR6VBu