How to Transplant Your Pot-bound Plants Before the SoCal Growing Season Starts

Written by Kelsey W.

Putting your plants in pots gives you an excellent opportunity to display them in beautiful ways, and it also makes it easy to move them around when lighting conditions change with the seasons, and they need a new or different window or placement.

However, your cute little plants will eventually outgrow their pots, which will require you to decide how to get them a new place to live. Will you repot them? Will you move them to the ground? If you don’t upgrade their pot or move them, you risk having the plant become pot-bound or root-bound, which is a state where their roots fill their pot, and there’s not enough room for them to continue growing.

Let’s learn how to care for your plants when they get pot-bound and need a new home.

How to Repot Your Poor Root-bound Plants

Putting your pot-bound plant in a new pot isn’t as straightforward as taking it out of one pot and putting it in a larger pot. There are a few things you’ll want to accomplish to ensure the plant experiences an easy transition from its old home to the new pot.

First, you’ll want to get a new pot that’s at least a few inches bigger on all sides, which will give it some more room to grow for the next year or two. You don’t need to select a giant pot or something that’s twice the size of your plant. Simply taking a measurement with a measuring tape and getting something a few inches bigger when you’re at the garden center is the way to go.

Second, as you remove the root-bound plant from its pot (carefully!), you’ll need to loosen all the dirt from around its roots, as well as try to detangle the roots, especially if they’ve grown into a hard, tight ball in the pot.

Loosening the roots will encourage them to grow outward and away from the compacted root ball, which will be healthier for the plant in the long run. If any of the roots are particularly tangled around one another, you can also trim them, but don’t get too crazy with the cutting shears. Just trim a few really tangled areas.

If you trim the roots, it’s a good idea to hold off putting the plant into its new pot immediately. Let the freshly sheared roots heal over for a day or two before you put the plant in its new pot. Waiting can help you avoid having any unwanted bacteria or contaminants getting into the plant.

After prepping the plant for its new home, you’ll need some fresh new soil for the pot that will fall gently around the roots when you place the plant into its new pot. Try to place the plant at the same height as it was in its old pot. Don’t put it further into the ground or higher than it was in its old pot.

Once your plant is installed in its new home, you can water it a little to help the soil settle around the plant. Don’t overwater the plant, though. Just water it as you normally would to get things settled and then wait to water it again until it needs another drink to continue getting the soil settled down.

Tip: When you select a new pot for your plant, make sure it’s a type of pot that’s appropriate for that type of plant. For example, don’t put your fern in a big terra cotta pot. And try to avoid plastic pots for your cacti and succulents.

Ask your garden center for advice on pot type if you’re unsure, as the material you choose may have a rather dramatic impact on how the plant fares after you repot it.

What Do You Do When Your Plant Is Stuck in a Pot?

The best way to remove a plant that’s stuck in a pot due to being pot-bound is to break the pot. If you yank and twist and turn the plant too much, you risk breaking the plant off from its roots, which will almost certainly cause the plant to go to its final resting place.

Many decorative pots have a bulbous section that bends outward where roots congregate and thicken. When the roots become too thick, it becomes almost impossible to remove the plant without breaking the pot or the plant. Unless you’re working with a pot of great sentimental value, you may need to break the pot to remove the plant safely.

Signs a Plant is Pot-bound or Root-bound and Needs a New Home

One of the sneaky things about plants is that they don’t always let you know they’re pot-bound until the issue is quite advanced. Most plants can tolerate a tight pot for some time, but it’s important to look at characteristics in addition to what the leaves look like like to determine whether it’s time to repot.

The simplest way to figure out whether a plant needs a new pot is to pluck it out of its pot and inspect the roots. If they’re all thick and twisted and curling around the bottom with almost no soil left around the big, tangled mess, your plant definitely needs more space.

But here are a few other simple things you can look for that don’t actually require taking the plant out of the pot, which can represent a minor hassle with the dirt and the mess.

1. Roots Above the Soil Line – If you see roots coming out of the soil like the roots of a giant tree, there might not be enough room for the roots in the pot, and the plant might need a larger pot.
2. Requiring a Lot of Extra Water – When a plant seems to require a lot of extra water without any change in environmental conditions, the increase might be due to the plant not having enough room in the pot.
3. Yellowing, Drooping, or Losing Leaves – If you can’t figure out the cause of your plant dropping leaves or looking poorly, it could be stressed due to needing a bigger pot.

If you can’t figure out why a plant isn’t looking too swell, and you’re certain it’s not suffering from some sort of insect infestation, and you haven’t really changed anything about its care or feeding, there’s a solid chance the root of the problem could sit inside the pot.

It’s helpful to check the roots of your plant on a yearly basis, or even more often if you’re growing something that seems to look taller and bigger every time you walk over to it with your watering can. If your plant is particularly happy, it could have some very happy roots, which could mean a potential pot-bound issue.

Different Plants React in Different Ways to Having Small Pots

Some plants require a lot of room to grow, while others aren’t so bothered by having a small pot in which to grow. Generally, plants that grow swiftly don’t enjoy living in small pots for that long, while plants that grow slowly aren’t really bothered by a small pot and can live without complaint for a while.

A few examples of swiftly growing plants that aren’t a fan of becoming root-bound include perennials like irises and peonies, swift growers like bamboo plants, and plants with deep roots like coneflowers and black-eyed Susans.

All of these plants have enough root activity that a small pot will definitely cause some issues in allowing the plants to grow without feeling stressed. If you have a swiftly-growing plant or perennial growing in a pot and it looks a little peaked, you might consider putting it in the ground when it gets big enough.

On the other hand, cactuses and succulents are often quite at home in small pots as they tend to grow more slowly. Small pots also make it easier for you to keep your plants growing healthily, because a small pot is more difficult to overwater, to which cacti and succulents are particularly vulnerable.

Cacti and succulents also tend to have fairly shallow roots, which means they don’t need a big, deep pot anyway to spread out and grow. You can choose a pot that’s just a few inches larger in diameter than the plant, and the cactus or succulent should feel right at home for quite some time.

Find All Your Gardening Supplies and Help at Green Thumb Nursery

Bring your sleepy winter garden into a bright and beautiful spring with help from Green Thumb Nursery. You’ll find gardening supplies, plants, and advice that will help ensure you have the happiest and healthiest plants on the block. Stop by a Southern California location today to find out how you can help your plants live their best SoCal lives.

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