With the plant still in its pot, support the compost with one hand and invert the plant and pot. Remove the pot. Use an absorbent cloth or disposable paper towel to soak up excess moisture—repeated wrappings are usually needed. Leave the root ball wrapped in absorbent paper until dry, but not bone-dry. If the root-ball is packed with roots that hold it together, omit the wrapping. When the compost is only slightly moist, repot the root-ball into a clean pot.
Wilting can be the result of excessive watering.
Rescuing and Repotting a Plant with Wet Compost
Remove the pot.
Soak up excess moisture.
Wrap and leave to dry out.
Repot into a clean pot when the compost is only slightly moist.
Type of Water
Most houseplant enthusiasts use tap water, which suits the majority of plants. It is clean and readily available, and it is ideal as long as it is not too cold. However, houseplants such as azaleas dislike lime and grow best in slightly acidic soil. If the tap water is alkaline, boil it and allow it to stand until cool before use. Collecting defrosted iced water from a refrigerator and allowing it to reach room temperature is another option.
Rainwater is ideal, but ensure that it is clean and has not fallen on a dirt-contaminated roof or become stagnant in a barrel.
Stand a plant with dry compost in a bowl of water.
Humidity and Misting
The amount of humidity in the air influences the health and growth of plants. Desert cacti and most other succulents survive in areas with little humidity, but plants native to forests usually need a humid atmosphere.
Signs of Excessive Humidity
1 Leaves and flowers that are tightly packed together sometimes become excessively damp.
2 Flower petals and buds eventually become covered in a furry mold.
3 Soft, hairy leaves become damaged before shiny, all-green ones do.
4 Cacti and other succulents develop patches of decay.
5 Plants with leaves that clasp stems become damaged; water becomes trapped at the junctions of leafstalks and leaves.
Signs of an Excessively Dry Atmosphere
1 Tips of leaves become curled, dry, and shriveled.
2 Flowers fade and become discolored, with flower buds eventually falling off.
3 Tips of shoots wilt and, later, shrivel.
4 Surfaces of leaves become dull.
5 The whole plant wilts if the temperature is high, with leaves eventually falling off.
How to Create Humidity around Plants
1 Stand plants in small groups to create a humid mini-environment.
2 Stand pots in trays with a 1in (25mm) layer of pebbles in the base, shallowly filled with water to just below the top of the pebbles. Moist air can then rise around the leaves.
3 Use a mist sprayer/mister, which is inexpensive, to coat the leaves in fine water droplets, but do not spray flowers or plants with hairy leaves.
4 Mist plants in the morning so moisture can evaporate before night. Dampness remaining on the leaves in late evening encourages the presence of diseases at night when the temperature falls.
5 Mist aerial roots, such as those on Monstera deliciosa and some Philodendrons, to help them to remain soft, pliable, and active.
6 Avoid spraying plants when they are in strong, direct sunlight; water droplets may act as lenses and burn the leaves.
7 Regular misting helps to discourage red spider mite infestation.
Repotting Houseplants
Eventually, most houseplants (except those grown for their short-term display) fill their pots with roots and need to be transferred to slightly larger ones. A plant left in the same pot will slowly deteriorate. When selecting a new pot, check the following.
The new pot is clean, dry, and about 1in (25mm) larger. When a plant is already in a large pot, perhaps 6in (15cm) or more wide, the new pot can be 2in (5cm) larger.
When repotting into a clay pot, put a piece of broken clay pot (known as a crock), concave side downward, in the base to prevent the drainage hole from becoming blocked. This is unnecessary when repotting into plastic pots; these are usually filled with peat-based compost, which is more fibrous and less likely to fall out of the smaller drainage holes into the base.
Use the same type of compost in which the plant is already growing.
Step-by-Step Repotting
1 The day before repotting, thoroughly water the compost and allow the excess to drain. This is essential since a plant with a dry root ball will not rapidly become established in a new pot.
2 Place the fingers of one hand over the top of the root ball and invert it, together with the pot. Sharply tap the rim on a hard surface (without damaging the plant’s leaves), so the pot and root ball separate.
3 Fill a suitable pot with compost to about one-third of its depth and press to lightly pack it. (Add a crock in its base first if it is a clay pot.)
4 Without damaging the root ball, position it in the center of the pot. Check that the top of the root ball is about ½in (12mm) below the new pot’s rim. Add or remove compost.
5 Keep the plant and root ball upright and carefully dribble fresh compost around it. Gently pack it until just covering the root ball. When repotting a plant in a large pot, leave a slightly larger space between the compost’s surface and rim.
6 Stand the plant on a well-drained surface and gently water the compost from above, without unduly disturbing it. A couple of waterings may be necessary. Watering from above also helps to settle fresh compost around the root ball.
7 Stand the pot on a clean saucer or place it in a cachepot. Initially, position the plant in light shade for two to three days, or until established.
Use a cachepot or place the pot on a saucer after repotting.
Feeding
To remain healthy, plants need a balanced diet throughout their lives. For most, this is provided by compost in a pot, with the addition of regular feeding or, for plants in large pots, top-dressing. Regular feeding makes a remarkable difference, and there are three main ways to do it.
Liquid fertilizers are the traditional, easiest, and most widely used choice for feeding houseplants. Concentrated fertilizers are diluted in clean water and applied to potting composts. First read the instructions