I bought it 2-3 months ago and I’ve been meaning to repot since I got it because I haate the soil it was in but I only just got around to it. Some of the roots are greyish and dehydrated and there are other very large roots that have some brown in the middle but white on the ends. Do I need to snip all of these off??
Also when I’m done trimming can I pot it up in dry soil immediately or should I let it sit out a day or two before repotting?
by wha7themah
5 Comments
Untangle them an snip off the dry and broken roots. You don’t have to be careful, they’ll regrow new root very quickly.
It’s not necessary. I don’t bother removing old soil unless it’s clearly bad — like long haired sphagnum.
I don’t see huge benefits unless you need to squeeze the plant into some smaller decorative pot
Look at it this way, those dried out or rotted roots aren’t helping the plant anyway! I would repot in all fresh soil. You can sprinkle cinnamon on the cut parts, it helps prevent bacteria and stuff from entering the roots, so you can pot it up right away. The plant looks healthy so it should have no problem making new roots!
You don’t leave root balls exposed to dry. You’re thinking about maybe rhizomes, like on snake plants. Most plants don’t want their root ball exposed to air – they’re roots and grow underground for a reason. You’re increasing the shock of transplanting by leaving it out to dry and risking damaging the plant. You won’t read to do that anywhere reliable, so why do it?
Just loosen the root ball lightly. Knock out any loose chunks of soil. But don’t untangle it. These do much better in tight pots with little soil. The pot should only have about 2″ space around the base and the rim of the pot.
And don’t sprinkle cinnamon on it, as someone mentioned. There is absolutely no reason and no benefit. Be careful with plant advice in here. 80% of it is garbage. Youre better off finding a reliable .edu website.
My big fat one
https://preview.redd.it/y24rqyhc48nf1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b08d7be91d0b8fb52720edb88125f523b89a6a90
Root trimming is more of a thing in Bonsai culture… it’s actually an interesting question.
Plant roots are complex organs that carry out multiple functions. As the root develops it thickens. Different thicknesses of roots do different things. Some nutrients are absorbed near the growing tip, some nutrients are absorbed further up where root hairs are emerging. Larger roots may serve mostly as anchorage and as ‘pipes’.
In Bonsai culture they are growing woody trees as dwarfs in pots. Naturally these plants can grow large woody roots. Inevitably the roots thicken over time, and these big thick roots eventually take up more and more space in the pot. In order to leave space for the fine feeder roots you trim.
Your plant is a monocot! Mono its have a different growth form. Typically instead of thickening roots they lack true secondary growth. The roots thicken to a point then stop thickening, and eventually the whole root dies and a new root emerges from the base of the plant. With monocots it can be good to cut or gently pull off old dead roots, but there is no need to ‘trim’ per-se. you learn this growing orchids, because orchids are monocots and their roots tend to be fragile the orchid growers are super careful repotting, and they try not to break any roots!
We also don’t really trim roots as much on smaller dicot plants, and some dicots simply have a root growth pattern that’s a bit more like that of monocots (old roots die and new ones grow). It’s generally a good idea to shake off loose substrate and remove dead plant material at repot, but you don’t always need to aggressively strip and trim roots on all plants.
So the long and the short is that trimming and stripping are important but only in some cases.