Repotting Festival –
Create indoor containers among friends
Do you have plants that have outgrown their container? Is there an empty corner that could use a splash of color to brighten your home? Does the colder weather make you dread repotting outdoors? Join other My Texas Garden Club members at the Repotting Festival and replant in comfortable greenhouses on potting benches in the company of other Texas gardeners. Help yourself to Calloway’s Premium Potting Soil and one feeding of Calloway’s Lasting Beauty plant food. Take home a freshly planted container to liven up your indoor spaces for the Winter months!
Bring your plants or empty containers and leave the mess at home! Or come and pick out new plants and containers to purchase and pot them up while you’re here.
The free Repotting Festival on Saturday, January 14, 2012 takes place from 9 am to 6 pm at every Calloway’s and Cornelius Nursery garden center (link to store locations).
If you brought in houseplants from the patio before the first freeze in November, and there they’ve sat, now’s the time to give them a fresh, nutrient-rich home. A larger container, fresh potting soil and a dose of plant food can take a plant from “survival mode to “thriving.”
How to determine if a plant needs repotting:
If a plant doesn’t look as healthy as it once did or if the plant has lost the brilliance of color it once showed, this can be an indication that the plant needs repotting. Often times the signs are so subtle that your plant’s need for a new container goes unnoticed until it’s too late to save it. Because plants grow at varying rates, it’s important to check their growing environments several times a year.
Determine whether you need to repot your indoor plants.
Consideration 1: Root crowding
Look at the root systems. Gently slip plants out of the existing pots and look at the roots. If plant roots are growing through drainage hole or tangles of roots in a mass virtually have no soil left, then it is time to replant.
Consideration 2: Plant crowding
Sometimes an indoor container garden may look lovely for some time and then it is taken over by one of the more dominant plants in the mix. When the plants become crowded, it’s time to separate the plants so the less dominant plants can thrive and survive. In addition, many beautiful indoor plant arrangements are sent as gifts throughout the year. Unlike fresh flowers, the plants in these arrangements are long-lasting. However, the plants are typically placed very close together to create a nice presentation upon delivery. Because the plants aren’t arranged for their growing needs, often have little soil and are frequently in containers of a temporary nature. It’s best to replant these arrangements before they crowd each other so the arrangement can be enjoyed for years to come. You can recreate the arrangement in a larger container or use the plants individually to create several smaller containers. The important thing is to get the plants in containers that best allow them to grow and provide visual enjoyment.
Consideration 3: Mismatched plant needs
If a mixed plant container includes plants with different sun light and water needs it’s time to repot! If you have a container in which one plant is doing better than the other you may have mismatched plant needs. Bring the container to the repotting day (link to event page) to get expert garden advice about how best to plant and care for your indoor container garden.
Consideration 4: Water absorption loss
When you water your plant, if the water runs immediately out of the drainage hole the plant has likely used up all the soil’s water storage capacity. Replanting will replenish the water absorption capacity and improve the nutrient mixture of the soil.
Consideration 5: Low to no response to fertilizing and feeding
If your plant hasn’t been responding to fertilizing it may be time to replace the soil to replenish a well balanced offering of organic material and nutrients so the plant can best grow and flourish.
Repotting tips:
Choosing a container:
Plants that need repotting generally benefit by moving up to a container that’s about 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter than the current container.
Use fresh soil:
Nutrients are leached from the soil over time from plant absorption and watering. For best results, always use fresh potting soil with each planting project to provide the healthiest most nutrient filled growing environment. What’s more, using fresh potting soil reduces the spread of garden pests or plant disease. Old potting soil can be spread in the yard where extra soil is needed in the lawn or mixed with native soils in garden beds to loosen and enrich the growing area.
Preparing a container:
Clean older or previously used containers out with warm soapy water before repotting in them. Like humans, plants can spread germs and bacteria. If a plant previously growing in the container you plan to reuse died from bacteria in the soil, you’ll want to make sure the container is fresh and clean to create a healthy growing environment for your repotting project.
Use clean tools:
For any gardening or repotting project, use clean tools to provide the freshest and healthiest growing environment. Cleaning tools after each use reduces the spread of pest or plant disease.
Top dress containers:
Cover the surface of the soil around the plant with a top dress like mulch, moss or pebbles to reduce water evaporation and create a neater more finished looking container project.
Learn proper plant care:
Read the tag that came with your plant and provide the appropriate water and sunlight to meet the needs of the plant. One of the leading causes of indoor plant death is overwatering. Push your finger two inches below the surface of the soil to determine if the plant needs more water. If the soil is still moist wait to water. If you have questions about your indoor plant, bring the plant or a sample of the plant to Calloway’s or Cornelius Nursery (link to store pages) garden centers to get help.
Free Indoor Plant Repotting:
Find a garden potting station set-up in the greenhouse with free potting soil, fertilizers and items to top-dress your freshly repotted plants at each Calloway’s and Cornelius Nursery garden center on January 14 during the Repotting Festival.
Bring your own plants and containers for repotting or select beautiful ceramic pottery and fresh tropical interior plants for your indoor gardening project. Let Texas garden experts help you with your indoor garden project. Leave with a fresh, beautiful, properly planted container project and leave cleaning up the mess to us.
Bring your “green friends” in for a little TLC!