Houseplant Care

Hi, I’m Jessica.  I’m an associate at the Scotts Company and I’m here today to talk to you about how to repot your houseplant.

Houseplants aren’t just for your house.  They’re also a great way to liven up your desk or work space.  I like to keep this one at my office, but as you can see, it’s kind of outgrown its pot.  So today, I’m going to talk to you about how to repot your houseplants.

Here’s what I’ll need to repot my plant.  I’ve decided to use Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix because it will feed my plant for up to six months and has super absorbent core fibres that will help protect against over- and underwatering, so I don’t have to worry that my plant is getting too much or too little water.

I’ve also selected a pot that’s about two sizes larger than the current pot that my plant’s in, and it’s important to make sure that your pot has drainage holes at the bottom.  And then since I want to keep this at my desk and I don’t want it leaking, I’ve also selected one that comes with a saucer that snaps into the bottom like this.  And finally, I have my watering can to water my plant after I’ve repotted it.

So the first thing I’m going to do is fill the pot about one-third of the way with the potting mix.  Now I’m going to remove my plant from its old pot.  I want to separate the roots so that they’re able to settle in and spread out into the new, larger pot.  You can also use a garden knife for this.  I’m going to place the plant into the new pot and then continue filling with more potting mix, up to about 1 inch below the rim of the pot.

After you’ve finished filling your pot with the potting mix, you want to lightly pack it down, and now it’s time to water.  You want to water a newly repotted plant pretty thoroughly so that it’s able to settle into the new pot and you want to make sure that the water soaks all the way through the potting mix.

And that’s it.  Now my plant’s roots have more room to grow and I can continue to enjoy it at my desk.