Repotted this without breaking up the roots a bit 10 days ago.
Now I’m thinking I should’ve broken up the roots or sliced the bottom off or something.
Will this root well into the new substrate? 30%pumice, 20%perlite, 50% tomato soil
Im probably not going to take him out again to break up the roots again. But maybe poke around the root edge with a chopstick?
by restoblu
10 Comments
Idk, but I* personally think he’ll be fine
It’ll be fine, roots will grow.
Honestly I don’t like messing with the root progress and just stick it in a bigger pot. For slow growers maybe.
I never break up roots. Leave em be
I got a degree in horticulture like 8 years ago and I somewhat remember being taught to not break up roots. You’re doing more damage than good. They are perfectly designed. Getting your grubby fingers in there and mess up the design to satisfy your monkey brain is silly. Also in all of the horticultural industries messing up the roots is never preformed in any transplanting process.
Its my experience that you have a core of soil in the middle of that root ball and getting an even thorough watering can be difficult by just watering as normal, now that is got an new outside layer of soil with no roots around that ball. If you dont feel like busting apart the root ball maybe use a saucer to get a good soaking every now and then. Im sure every species is different as well, some might just throw out a bunch of new roots some might just want to stay corked up in that root ball.
I don’t break up roots when I transplant…. Seems counterproductive…
I would leave it be and definitely wouldn’t just poke around with a chopstick after the fact. All that will do at this point is break roots and create wounds.
I don’t think it’s necessary to break roots up in most instances. Most of the time transplanting anything the goal is to damage the roots as little as possible to avoid creating open wounds on the roots and minimize shock to the plant. Really I prefer a plant be a bit root bound before transplanting, because a plant that has filled up its pot tends to transplant smoother and more cleanly than one that has only half filled it’s container.
When I have done this to put my cactuses in new soil I just use my garden hose to get all the dirt off. At least this way you can see what sort of damage is getting done to the roots, you can remove broken off strands, you can let it heal before putting it in dirt again. If you poke around with a stick in an already planted cactus you won’t be able to see what you’re doing, you will break roots, and they will be left in the soil where they can rot next to the open wound that was just created.
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I do this all the time,with lots of different plants. The best way imo is to use a garden hose sprayer, and spray the dirt away from the roots. Getting most of it is fine, doesn’t need to wash 100% away. Then report in larger pot, adding soil slowly and tapping the pot a bunch so it settles in between the roots. Then water it in. I personally would not leave it like this, however if repotted into a larger pot, with appreciate soil it would likely be fine.