When to change soil for plants
Plants need water, light and nutrients to create favorable conditions for development in a house or garden, so that they are always beautiful and lush.
In the topsoil, plants take root and receive nourishment. If the same soil is used for several years, it is likely to deplete and change. When the soil is good, the plants will grow strong and lush, and vice versa, will grow slowly if something is wrong.
To keep indoor plants healthy, they need to be transplanted into fresh soil. As a rule, change it in potted plants every two years. It depends on the condition of the soil.
Some fast-growing plants may need to change the soil after a year, while slow-growing plants may not be changed for several years. Should not be changed more than once a year.
Additional Information! Spring is a good time to transplant houseplants into fresh soil. At this time, there is a lot of sunlight, so the plants will have significant root growth.
When plant roots stick out from the bottom of the pot, this is a sign that you need to change the soil. The most common reason to replace potting soil on a houseplant is hard soil. If it doesn’t grow for a while, wilts after watering, or has discolored leaves, you can try adding fresh potting soil.
Transplanting houseplants. Soil change or transplant?
There is an obvious difference between changing the soil of a houseplant and transplanting it. They can be combined to create the perfect environment.
Soil change means replacing old soil with new soil full of fresh nutrients, and repotting is moving a plant from a container to a new larger one because the plant no longer fits in the old pot. If the soil has a fairly dense texture, it’s probably time to refresh the plant with new soil.
Note! When soil has not been changed in a plant for more than 3 or 4 years, replacement should be considered, even if the soil mixture looks and feels fine.
How to freshen up indoor plants? In case the plant has dull foliage, a batch of fresh soil should be added to its pot.
If the plant is doing well, there is no real reason to completely change the soil. Instead, replace some of the existing potting mix with fresh, healthy material.
- Remove about a third of the existing potting mix, along with clods or remaining plant roots.
- Add a healthy layer of fresh compost, sprinkle the mixture with a little slow release fertilizer.
- From above, fresh, high-quality seedling mixture is poured into the container.
- Mix fresh materials with the old mixture using a trowel.
A slow release fertilizer provides the roots of the plant with nutrients over a period of time.
Do I need to change the pot?
To maintain plant size, use the same pot but change the soil.
If you need to give the indoor flower more room to grow, use a new pot a few centimeters larger than the one in which it was located. When something is wrong with the soil, you need to make sure that the pot is correct in both shape and size. It is a mistake to plant a small plant in a pot that is too big! It will be difficult for him to get enough air, and without an air supply, he will not last long.
What soil to use for flowers
Houseplants are nourished by potting soil, which is a light and fluffy combination.
It must have certain properties: be well aerated, retain moisture, contain nutrients and conduct heat.
Note! Never use garden soil that is too dense for a potted plant. It contains clay or sand which does not allow the plants to breathe or get enough oxygen to the roots and the plants will not thrive. This can lead to plant diseases and pest problems.
Potting soil enriched with fertilizers will provide the plants with essential nutrients. Potting mix can be found at any garden store or nursery.
A healthy potting mix should be loose and fluffy. When the soil is poor in essential nutrients, they act by regenerating it. Soil regeneration means returning to it all the nutrients that it has lost over time,
If the leaves start to fall, black spots appear on some of them, but it’s not time to repot, just add some fertilizer. The easiest way is to mix humus and compost into the depleted soil. Let her rest for about a month before planting a plant in her. Thus, the soil structure will improve significantly, enriched with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Regeneration may not always be the right solution. If there are parasites or fungal diseases in the soil, it is enough to carry out a good disinfection, and the soil will be like new! The easiest of them is to sprinkle the earth with lime or bicarbonate? This raises the pH of the soil, destroying parasites.
The effect of soil change on houseplants
The plant will start to grow. Sometimes it just lacks fresh, nutrient-rich soil, just what it needs to grow and thrive.
If a houseplant has not had new shoots for a long time, you will notice a rapid improvement in its growth. It can be expected that new tiny leaves will soon appear and young flowers will bloom.
A soil change or transplant can be quite stressful for a houseplant. Improvement may not occur even if the soil has been changed for a number of reasons. Perhaps the plant is not so demanding on the soil, but this is very rare.
A houseplant can wilt and shed a lot of leaves as a result of changing soil. If this happens, then the change was a real shock to the plant, which felt content in its old soil. In this case, you need to be patient and give the plant time to adapt. Provided that the plant is provided with sufficient light and water, it will quickly recover.
You can reuse potting soil if the soil is still light and loose. Houseplants can become attached to the growing medium so the old mixture is still usable.
Apply it again, but first you need to do the following.
- Turn over the old soil, carefully examining it. It shouldn’t have bugs. If any of this happened, dispose of the soil.
- Get rid of all old roots if they don’t look healthy. If the roots are creamy white and strong, the plant is healthy. Yellowish or even brown, pruned to give the plant a chance to grow new healthy roots.
- Add nutrients to old soil. Over time, its nutritional qualities have faded. Enrich the old soil with fertilizer before putting it back into the pot.
If the plant is healthy, you do not need to remove all the old soil. Just loosen the soil at the bottom of the pot so that the roots can grow freely. Fill in any gaps, especially at the bottom and sides of the pot, with fresh potting soil.
