How to Repot a Plant Without Making a Mess | Taste of Home

2022-07-08 20:35:40 By : Ms. amy peng

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Does your normally hardy houseplant appear to have discolored or drooping leaves? How about a lack of blooms or new growth? Your unhappy plant may need a helping hand.

To know for sure, it helps to remove the plant from the container and have a look.

Place some newspaper down to create a workspace and easy cleanup. Lay the potted plant on its side and tap the bottom a few times to start to loosen the soil at the bottom of the pot. Gently slide the plant out of the pot and on its side onto the newspaper.

Take a look at the root area. Do the roots look tangled together? The plant may have become “root bound,” or grown so many roots it has no room to expand in the current pot.

Feel the soil and see if it’s heavy or waterlogged. The plant may not be draining properly in the pot. Plants that suffer from poor drainage can bounce back and recover once they are given an indoor plant pot that will drain correctly.

When moving your plant to a larger pot, you don’t want to overwhelm it by putting it in a container with too much soil. But how do you know how much soil your plant will need?

TikTok user @lynnymillerr has a helpful tip for creating the perfect conditions to repot that plant:

This isn’t the only gardening TikTok hack out there—we’ve also learned how to grow plants in “milk jug greenhouses.”