I recently repotted my pothos and it went through a lot of stress. I tried to carefully untangle the roots and separate them from the soil, but my plant struggled to absorb water for nearly two weeks. I know this can happen, but I'm looking for the best practices for handling a root-bound plant. I've found mixed advice online about whether to keep the root ball intact or detangle it. I want to know if I can skip detangling next time and how much loosening is really necessary. Should I completely remove old soil or just loosen the ball a bit?
4 Answers
If your plant is really root bound, I usually loosen the root ball a bit and try to knock off some excess soil. Sometimes, I’ll prune the heavier roots to encourage new growth in the new pot. This seems to work well for me!
You really don't have to detangle the roots or remove the old soil. Just take the entire plant with its root ball and drop it right into the new pot. Add fresh soil around it and give it a good watering. That's how I’ve been doing it for over 12 years, and the roots will adapt just fine!
It varies depending on the type of plant. Some, like roses, benefit from a drastic cut-back of spiraled roots and removing old soil. Others, like plumerias, need to be treated very gently, so you shouldn’t touch the roots if possible. Just keep in mind it depends on the plant.
You probably don't need to go all out detangling, but doing a little can speed things up. At a nursery, we were often asked to untangle the roots or even trim them, but at home, just shaking off some excess should be enough to keep it simple.