Do you have any plants in your house that have always thrived, but are now struggling to stay alive? If so, it may be time to give them a new home.
When you think of plants covering the lush forest floor, it’s easy to imagine their roots slinking through the soil, shooting forth in their heroic hunt for water and nutrients. When we take those plants inside and put them in pots, often times their roots don’t exactly know how to obey the new confines. They keep growing and growing, winding around themselves in a tangle until the plant becomes root-bound. At that point, growth is inhibited and the plant begins to suffer.
The solution is to put your old plant into a new pot with fresh soil. To do this successfully, the first thing you need to do is water the plant well the day before; this will lessen the stress to the plant and make the roots more pliable. Then, remove the plant from the pot. If it doesn’t budge, you may need to break the pot (in the worst-case scenario). Once you’ve liberated the plant, you need to loosen up the compacted roots. Gently pull and detangle the roots using your fingers and redirect them from their pot-shaped tangle.
Afterward, add some potting soil to the bottom of a larger pot, place the plant on top of it, and add some more soil on top of that. Make sure to tap the pot along the way to remove air pockets from the soil. Lastly, water the plant and let it recuperate out of direct sun for a few days. Once you’ve done all this, your plant should start thriving again in no time.
