potting up

[chilehead70301]

What's the best and safest way to re-pot? Should I get some sort of root solution and should I remove all of the soil from the roots? All of my plants are in styrofoam cups, 8 oz size. Some of my plants appear in need of a re-pot and I just want to make sure it is done right and I don't lose any.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[jjs7741]

I never use a root solution or wash the roots. They are tough, so unless you destroy the root system or break the stem, you should be ok. Just loosen the root ball a little if they are root bound.

jacob

 

[Mister_Al]

I grow all my seedlings in styrofoam cups and I just pop them out and put them in the soil. After they're planted I give them a good watering and that's all. But, I do water the seedlings before I remove them from the cups to help keep the roots from sticking to the styrofoam and possibly injuring them.

A little high phosphorus plant food might help the plants avoid some degree of transplant shock, but I've never used it and my plants usually do just fine.


Alan

 

[pvaudio]

What I do, which some people seem to think is contrary to common sense, is to take the plants out of their little plastic or foam shellsin which they're root bound, then roll it between my hands just like if you were rollling dough into a ball. That drops the previous soil out and breaks up the roots. Some people seem to think that it harms the plant because you're tearing some of the roots in doing so. Instead, what ends up happening is that they get a bit stressed for a little bit, but then once they stabilize, the roots are pointing in all directions instead of in a rectangular container shaped pod and the plant goes bonkers instead of fighting through its previous root ball shape then expanding outwards into the new soil. It makes the plant's roots grow out in all directions immediately.

 

[DarkTrak]

What I do, which some people seem to think is contrary to common sense, is to take the plants out of their little plastic or foam shellsin which they're root bound, then roll it between my hands just like if you were rollling dough into a ball. That drops the previous soil out and breaks up the roots. Some people seem to think that it harms the plant because you're tearing some of the roots in doing so. Instead, what ends up happening is that they get a bit stressed for a little bit, but then once they stabilize, the roots are pointing in all directions instead of in a rectangular container shaped pod and the plant goes bonkers instead of fighting through its previous root ball shape then expanding outwards into the new soil. It makes the plant's roots grow out in all directions immediately.

interesting...

 

[AjarnV]

What I do, which some people seem to think is contrary to common sense, is to take the plants out of their little plastic or foam shellsin which they're root bound, then roll it between my hands just like if you were rollling dough into a ball. That drops the previous soil out and breaks up the roots. Some people seem to think that it harms the plant because you're tearing some of the roots in doing so. Instead, what ends up happening is that they get a bit stressed for a little bit, but then once they stabilize, the roots are pointing in all directions instead of in a rectangular container shaped pod and the plant goes bonkers instead of fighting through its previous root ball shape then expanding outwards into the new soil. It makes the plant's roots grow out in all directions immediately.

+1 Yes, break up the root ball. I've yet to lose a single plant.

 

[UltraZelda64]

Last year, I just tore the peat pot away from the root ball (for those that were in a peat pot), then loosened a few of the roots near the bottom that were really root bound by tearing them a bit. Being my first year, I was paranoid--I didn't want to damage them.

After some research (including reading some topics on this site), I decided to do all my transplants a different way this year. I removed them from their pots (or tore the peat pot away from the Bonnie plants), used a knife to slash the outer roots on four sides (one shallow slash per side, especially the most root bound areas), and then slashed the very bottom of the root ball, either a shallow line or an X shape. When planting, I held the plants by the side of the root ball (to prevent dirt from falling out or it falling apart) and grabbed the slit in the bottom. Gently pulled the root ball apart, and laid the plant down, then covered.

All plants are doing great, no sign of shock. Yet, I tore some of them up pretty good. However, they're of decent size too; for younger plants, I'm not sure if this is a good thing to do.

To be fair, in most cases I wasn't "potting up." I only potted up a red scotch bonnet, two habaneros and a stevia plant this year. The rest went into the ground.

 

[AjarnV]

Last year, I just tore the peat pot away from the root ball (for those that were in a peat pot), then loosened a few of the roots near the bottom that were really root bound by tearing them a bit. Being my first year, I was paranoid--I didn't want to damage them.

After some research (including reading some topics on this site), I decided to do all my transplants a different way this year. I removed them from their pots (or tore the peat pot away from the Bonnie plants), used a knife to slash the outer roots on four sides (one shallow slash per side, especially the most root bound areas), and then slashed the very bottom of the root ball, either a shallow line or an X shape. When planting, I held the plants by the side of the root ball (to prevent dirt from falling out or it falling apart) and grabbed the slit in the bottom. Gently pulled the root ball apart, and laid the plant down, then covered.

All plants are doing great, no sign of shock. Yet, I tore some of them up pretty good. However, they're of decent size too; for younger plants, I'm not sure if this is a good thing to do.

To be fair, in most cases I wasn't "potting up." I only potted up a red scotch bonnet, two habaneros and a stevia plant this year. The rest went into the ground.

Yup!
I'm a big advocate of that and have said so here many times as has Blister.
I just re-potted 11 plants to get the coir puck and netting off of my seedlings and slightly older ones as well. Only new roots feed; the more the merrier.

 

[UltraZelda64]

Yup!
I'm a big advocate of that and have said so here many times as has Blister.
I just re-potted 11 plants to get the coir puck and netting off of my seedlings and slightly older ones as well. Only new roots feed; the more the merrier.

Actually, it was probably your and/or Blister's posts that convinced me to try transplanting that way this year. I'm happy with the results so far--so far they are taking off quicker than last year.

 

[AjarnV]

^ Yowza; glad to hear that. I always try to speak from experience and not theory. Cheers.

 

[POTAWIE]

Personally I prefer not to fuss with the roots at all and just gently surround the whole root system with new "soil". Many landscaping plants/trees prefer to have roots disturbed but I haven't found this with chiles. From my observations, I find that less fuss and less transplant shock, the healthier the chile plant

 

[AjarnV]

^ Interesting differences; one should go with that which experience dictates works the best. Viva la differance'. Love your avatar by the way; is that you?

 

[UltraZelda64]

Personally I prefer not to fuss with the roots at all and just gently surround the whole root system with new "soil". Many landscaping plants/trees prefer to have roots disturbed but I haven't found this with chiles. From my observations, I find that less fuss and less transplant shock, the healthier the chile plant

I don't understand root shock. I mean, I understand the theory, and I always hear people or read articles about their plants suffering from it. Yet the only plant I ever seen suffer from shock after transplanting was a peppermint plant last year. As a last resort, I decided to put the plant in the ground, see if it recovers, and go wild. Turns out, it did just that. And it's spreading like wildfire [yes, I was fully aware of its ability to spread when I planted it... that was the intention]. I'm thinking maybe it just didn't like the pot. Haha.

Either way, whether I mutilated the root ball or left it intact, I have yet to see any other plants suffer, or even look any different after transplanting. Even common mint, spearmint and catnip, peppermint's relatives, handled it fine. I'm still trying to figure out the specific conditions that cause the shock, because from what I read, many of my transplants surely should have gone into shock for one reason or another. Maybe I'm just getting lucky... being my second year growing plants, I would definitely not consider myself experienced. Not even close. There's a lot to learn.

Edit: I dropped the peppermint plant in the pot with its roots largely intact, but when putting it in the yard I broke it up a bit. I know mints have wild, fast-spreading roots that eventually get so bad they "suffocate" themselves, so maybe that is what was happening, it just happened around the time I transplanted?

 

[chilehead70301]

Thanks for all of the advise. I do appreciate it.

 

[POTAWIE]

If your not disturbing your roots too much when re-potting/transplanting then you should experience very little transplant shock. Here's a good article that explains things better
http://www.northscaping.com/InfoZone/TS-0011/TS-0011.shtml

"During a transplant, these fine roots are usually destroyed either by being cut to keep the root ball size down, by drying out (some accounts say it only takes 3-4 minutes of exposure to air for these to die), or simply by being jarred and jostled around in the move. As a result of the loss of these feeder roots, the plant is not able to draw the amount of moisture it requires to thrive and grow. The resulting imbalance between the moisture demands of the top-growth and the reduced ability of the roots to meet those demands manifests as transplant shock. Besides major effects on the roots, plants can also sense subtle changes like wind, light and temperature, and take some time to re-adjust themselves to these new factors and cues after a move.

Transplant shock usually appears as some form of stunting of the new growth of the season. The plant may grow vigorously for a time and then suddenly stop growing. It may grow lackadaisically all season, or the buds may barely break and produce the smallest, most stunted leaves and virtually no new branch length. In severe cases, the buds may not break at all for an entire season, which usually comes with the worst prognosis. Transplant shock may manifest in other ways as well. It can cause unusual development of leaves and stems. Leaves can emerge and then promptly start browning along the edges or at the tips. Often times transplant shock can mimic other troubles like insect damage or disease.

No thats not me in the avatar

 

[MrArboc]

I always try to speak from experience and not theory.

So I gather you've done it both ways a huge number of times taking careful notes of the results, monitoring all variables?

 

[pvaudio]

If your not disturbing your roots too much when re-potting/transplanting then you should experience very little transplant shock. Here's a good article that explains things better
http://www.northscaping.com/InfoZone/TS-0011/TS-0011.shtml

"During a transplant, these fine roots are usually destroyed either by being cut to keep the root ball size down, by drying out (some accounts say it only takes 3-4 minutes of exposure to air for these to die), or simply by being jarred and jostled around in the move. As a result of the loss of these feeder roots, the plant is not able to draw the amount of moisture it requires to thrive and grow. The resulting imbalance between the moisture demands of the top-growth and the reduced ability of the roots to meet those demands manifests as transplant shock. Besides major effects on the roots, plants can also sense subtle changes like wind, light and temperature, and take some time to re-adjust themselves to these new factors and cues after a move.

Transplant shock usually appears as some form of stunting of the new growth of the season. The plant may grow vigorously for a time and then suddenly stop growing. It may grow lackadaisically all season, or the buds may barely break and produce the smallest, most stunted leaves and virtually no new branch length. In severe cases, the buds may not break at all for an entire season, which usually comes with the worst prognosis. Transplant shock may manifest in other ways as well. It can cause unusual development of leaves and stems. Leaves can emerge and then promptly start browning along the edges or at the tips. Often times transplant shock can mimic other troubles like insect damage or disease.

No thats not me in the avatar

This is good information, yes, however the article that you're quoting is mostly in reference to trees and shrubs: plants with far more sophisticated root systems during transplantation than chile plants which usually go from a Solo cup into a garden or 5 gallon container. When they're at that stage, they really aren't that old or large yet and won't be shocked as much.

 

[POTAWIE]

Personally I pot up as many as 8 times with each chile, and to me it doesn't matter if its a seedling or in a 20 gallon pot I treat them the same and usually have great results. If you wait until you have a good root ball, transplanting is simple and much easier to avoid any shock
Shrubs and trees can usually take more root abuse than chiles in my opinion, especially young chiles with small root sytems

 

[AjarnV]

So I gather you've done it both ways a huge number of times taking careful notes of the results, monitoring all variables?

Yes. In fact I've been keeping a daily diary (on Habaneros) since last year. The other 39 years is learning from professional gardeners and my own failures and successes with about 200 species from all over the world. My other favorite hobby is orchids of which I have 10 wild varieties and 50 cultivated varieties.
Oh, and I forgot to mention my Excel Data Base spreadsheet for scheduling, applications, feeding, transplanting, germinating, etc., etc., etc.
Cheers.

 

[AjarnV]

^ In my above post I mis-spoke when I said 200 "species"; what I should have said was 200 varieties. Such as the Hoya; I grew 3 or 4 different types for example. Sorry about that.