Cheapskate Rural Dweller: repotting

Showing posts with label repotting. Show all posts

GARDENING: The Charlie Brown Christmas Cactus

Our Christmas cactus has seen better days. My wife said to do something about it so I'm repotting it. This is how it looked before I started.

First, it's off to the store to get some cactus potting mix.

Next, with some gloves because there is still a few small and sharp needles, I remove it from the hanging basket and knock off all the old mix.

I find an appropriate pot to put it in.

Fill about half way with mix...

...and tamp down.

The plant kind of fell apart when I removed the mix from it so I pick the healthiest looking piece and put it in the pot, fill the rest of the way with mix, and tamp down the mix very firmly with a hammer handle.

Water it in with B1...

...and put it where it will get normal watering.

Let's hope it come back strong.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

Preparing for Christmas in March

It's way overdue but I'm finally tackling the Christmas cactus this weekend. By my reckoning, it's been in it's basket for at least 6 years now.

In that time, another plant...a kalanchoe 'mother of thousands' (bryophyllum diagremontianum)...volunteered into the basket (that's the leaves with all the little leaflets in the picture above...the pink flowers are the Christmas cactus).

Removing the plant from the basket, I see the only soil left is whatever the roots could hang onto for themselves.

It's a bit of a delicate operation to remove it from the basket without too much damage.

The kelanchoe is in bloom. It has pretty flowers, I'm going to save a piece and put it in it's own pot.

Here's a few pieces of the kelanchoe that I'm putting aside for later.

A coconut husk mat goes in to line the basket. This will provide a good rooting medium and also help keep the soil intact. It's very well draining and should help prevent rot, which is never good in a succulent like this.

I put in some fine orchid bark in the bottom to assist in draining. It will also break down slowly and extend the life of the potting soil I'm putting on top of it and, to be honest, I don't really have enough potting mix to go around today so this helps me to fill the basket properly.

Once I get the plant in place where I want it, it's just a matter of filling in and tamping with potting soil then watering in.

There, all done. Just hanging it back up on its original shepherd's hook to recuperate. I'll be moving it under the eave later and giving it a dripper to irrigate.

The kelanchoe gets similar treatment but will now be growing in its own pot on the orchid bench.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Hanging by a Thread

I love this dendrobium. It has beautiful flowers, is very prolific, and grows very well under our eaves.

It's so prolific that it's grown way to big for the pot it's in. Time for a repot.

I've separated it into two plants and will plant it into two pots (follow along with our epiphytic orchid repotting instructions here).

It's an epiphyte (meaning it grows on the side of trees in nature) so I'm planting it in bark chips. A hammer helps to make sure the new potting mix is very tight on the roots.

Time to water in.

All done, now I have a fresh, hanging basket of orchids. I'll give the other pot away.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

Orchids of the Earth

It's time to repot some cymbidiums. As my mother-in-law would tell you, it's a chore I should do more often.

In general, cyms should be repotted every 2-3 years. It's not a tricky process but it is hard work and messy at times.

First, to determine which plants need to be repotted, look for plants that have filled up the entire pot. Maybe they look more dead than alive and the mix is broken down, that would be another sign that they need to be repotted.

You'll need the plant, a pot (usually I put them back in the same one, on very vigorous plants I might increase the pots size a bit), mix, trowel, hammer, and pruning seal (not shown above).

Knock the pot off. You can see this plant is more root that soil, indicating it needs repotting. With your fingers, reach in and break up the root ball. Remove as much soil as you can, along with dead roots. I also remove the dead-looking back bulbs and maybe even some green growths to make a more centrally-shaped plant.

You can also pot the dead looking bulbs, as long as they feel very hard and firm to the touch, and new plants will grow from them.

Cymbidiums are terrestrial orchids, meaning that they grow in the ground in the wild unlike epiphytic orchids (like cattleyas, dendrobiums, and phaleanopsis), which grow on the side of trees.

This means you can't use straight bark chips on them like the other orchids. I buy a pre-made mix from an orchid nursery but you can also make your own using 50% small to medium bark chips, 25% perlite, and 25% peat moss.

You can see that there's a hole in my bag. Want to know where the Cheapskate is? Just follow the trail of cymbidium mix.

Put an inch or two of mix in the bottom of the pot. Spray pruning seal on any wounds left by tearing off old bulbs. Find the leading growing edge of the plant. Cymbidiums don't grow out in all directions, the green point at the bottom of the bulb above is the new growth. The plant will grow in this direction.

Put the none-growing edge up against the edge of the pot and the new growth facing the center. Fill with mix all the way to the edge of the pot. Use a hammer handle to pound the mix down as tight as you can.

If you've pounded the mix tight enough, you should be able to lift the plant by the leaves and the pot will not fall off.

Once done, it should look something like this with the growing edge given room to grow across the pot for the next two or three years. Water it in and put back on your orchid bench.

Darryl
Copyright 2014 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

An Abusive Parent Tries to Make Amends...

One of my horticulture professors used to tell us that we should know all the plants in our garden like they were our children.

Didn't really catch on to what he said at the time but now I understand. I know each plant intimately, although I have to admit, I like some more than others and tend to play favorites sometimes.

Such is the case with my zygopetalum orchid. Not that I don't like it...I do. It's got spectacular flowers with an amazing scent but a few years ago we had the worst freeze in my memory. Two weeks of sub-30 nighttime temperatures with most nights getting to 27-28 degrees. These guys don't like that.

I had two plants, one didn't make it and I didn't think the other one did either but it eventually came back. I left it alone to see what would happen.

Nothing. It grew but went from being a consistent "bloom every Halloween" to never even thinking about throwing a spike.

I neglected it and moved on to other things.

This year, after another year of no blooms, I decided to return and show it a little more love by repotting it.

Pulling it out of the pot, it came like this...no soil whatsoever. I'm surprised that it still grew.

The plant naturally fell into two pieces when I took it out so now I have two plants to repot.

Since it's an epiphyte, the process is exactly the same as when I repotted our phalaenopsis orchid.

Just Waiting to Go Postal...Taming a Gorgeous Plant that Just Wants to Eat Your House

Bougainvilleas are gorgeous plants. They bring a touch of the islands to your home and are seen throughout the world climbing over tropical ruins (like above), swallowing them up in a riot of color.

That's the problem...it doesn't take but a moment of inattention and they will go wildly out of control. Not far from where I live, the largest of these plants in the United States has established itself over three blocks of residential Glendora, California.

Still, they can be grown and kept under control in containers. I get a lot of compliments from my bougainvilleas...I have four different varieties with four different colors...but I keep a short leash on them.

Originally, I just planted like I did every other plant and then I noticed they will root right through the drain holes in the pot. Not good...that's how they escape.

My solution was to get plastic pots without drain holes and drill holes in the side of the pot for drainage instead of the bottom to keep the roots contained.

Taming the Wild Orchid...Repotting Epiphytic Orchids

Today, I repotting an orchid. Specifically the phalaenopsis orchid from my previous post. It's finishing its bloom so it's a good time to repot.

The phalie is an epiphytic orchid. That means when found in the wild, it grows on the side of trees, not in the ground. There are orchids that grow in the ground, the cymbidium is the most well known, and are called terrestial orchids.

Since they do not grow in soil in nature, we do not use soil when growing them in pots in the garden either. Most commonly, epiphytes are grown in chopped up chunks of bark. Some times, people will mount them on cork oak or tree fern bark and hang them on the wall too. I'm using the bark-in-the-pot method.

First, you need to know when to repot. With orchids, it's pretty simple. When they are about to burst the seams of its pot or the potting mix is completely disintegrated is a sign that they need to be repotted. I do mine every 2 - 3 years.

After the bloom is done is the best time unless it's the dead of winter. If it is, wait until freezing temperatures have passed and the weather is warming up.

You'll need the following to repot:

1. A pot to put the plant in. You can use the same one if there is enough room. There should be at lease 2 inches on each side of the plant. A phalaenopsis is a bit unique in that it grows up more than it grows out, so it doesn't need a whole lot of room to spread. Something else, like a catteleya orchid...which grows bulb after bulb on a creeping rhizome...will need more room to expand.

2. Pruning shears

3. Pruning seal. This is a tarry like substance that you spray on plant cuts like spray paint to prevent pathogens from entering into a plant wound.

4. Vitamin B-1 solution. This is sold commonly as plant starter or transplanting solution.

5. A flame source like a lighter or candle.

6. A hammer

7. Orchid mix. This is sold commonly at garden centers or online. It is chopped up bark and comes in various size chunks. I prefer the small to medium chunks.

Remove the plant from it's pot. You can see that this phalie, like most that you'll find in supermarkets or drug stores, was grown at a factory nursery in a plastic bag-like pot in sawdust. A few taps on the size of the pot will help it slide off easily.

Remove the mix from around the roots as much as you can. Pull off any dead roots. If you need to cut anything off of the plant with shears, run the blades over a flame first to kill any pathogens that might be there. If you cut off a piece of the plant, seal the wound with pruning seal.

Put an inch or two of orchid mix in the new pot. Hold the plant centered over the mix with the roots spread out with one hand and fill the pot with orchid mix with the other hand to the brim.

When filled, take your hammer with the handle down, and use it to pound down the mix to compact it (they make tools specifically for this but they're based on hammer handles anyway...no need to spend money on them). Do this repeatedly...fill and compact with hammer handle...until you have a tightly compacted mix filled to withing a half inch of the rim of the pot.

Mix a half capful of B1 solution into a half gallon of water and thoroughly water the plant. Now, let sit for 5 - 7 days in a shady area with absolutely no water. If you water too soon, the damaged roots can rot. This gives the roots time to heal. After this, go ahead and put it where it will be permanently...see my phalaenopsis post for tips on where to grow it.

Other chores this weekend:

Sweep the patio...probably my least favorite gardening chore.
Prune the lavender and baby's breath.
Fertilize...for the roses, this will be the last feeding of the year.

Darryl
Copyright 2012 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved