I'm curious about the plant care rules that people often swear by but you choose to ignore, yet your plants are still thriving. I'll share mine: I tend to re-pot directly into decorative planters from Walmart, even though they come in all sorts of odd shapes, as long as they have drainage holes. I haven't run into any issues with this method, and my plants seem pretty happy! I also use Miracle-Gro soil, and it's been working fine for me. I usually only re-pot when absolutely necessary, leaving some plants in their nursery pots for quite a while. What about you?
7 Answers
A lot of these "rules" don’t apply to plants in nature. For example, using too large of a pot can confuse them. I just let the plants guide me instead of following all the so-called rules.
For my bigger plants, I cut back the roots every few years and repot with fresh soil, keeping them in the same pot. And when I bring home new plants, I swap out the top soil for perlite. Seems to work like a charm!
I sometimes let plants with mealybugs hang outside for the summer, hoping the local bugs take care of them. Focus on keeping the plant healthy seems to be working for me so far!
When I re-pot, I usually go for a much larger pot instead of just a couple of inches up like everyone says. I hate the thought of redoing it again so soon. So far, so good as long as I watch my watering!
That's the secret! Just make sure to have the right watering strategy.
Honestly, I’ve never bothered to untangle root balls when I re-pot. I just drop the whole thing into a bigger pot and cover it with dirt. I've had some of my plants since I was a teenager, and they’re still thriving! I like to make the process quick to minimize air exposure to the roots. Keeps everything healthy!
I feel you! I did the same and never faced shock either.
Yeah, I used to untangle them too, but that was too much work! Just a few cuts on the packed roots do the trick.
I sometimes repot plants right away if I get them home and their soil or pot looks bad. I haven't had any problems doing that!
I skip the immediate repotting after buying a plant unless it really looks root-bound. I also don’t do spring soil refreshes, just fertilize and repot when necessary. Keeps things simple!
Did that actually help with the mealybugs? I’m curious about that tactic!