I’ve started a new feature on 2nd Floor Living. Introducing the “How To” post. I’ve actually already written a few how-to’s in the past, they just weren’t labeled as such. But now you can easily access all “How-To’s” in the sidebar. Hopefully, this will be a helpful resource for you. Next time you aren’t sure how to do something, check and see if we have a How-To on it. And if we don’t then suggest it!

I tend to write How-To’s when I myself don’t know how to do something, so when it came time to re-pot my new plants I felt like I needed a little refresher. The plants I needed to re-pot were a Ficus Lyrata or “Fiddle Leaf Fig” and some basic herbs – basil, oregano and rosemary. So three small plants and one giant one. Here’s a step-by-step and some tips I picked up.

Tips:

• It’s a good idea to water the plant you are re-potting the day before so that the soil is a bit softer and easier to work with
  
• You always want a pot with an air hole in the bottom. This allows for ventilation which is very important! If your pot doesn’t have one, then you should add a layer of rocks or pebbles before your soil.
  

Step #1: In the new pot, fill up the bottom with about an inch of potting soil. In the end, you will want the re-potted plant and soil to stop about 1-inch from the top of the pot, so if your plant is small and an inch of soil is not enough, add more soil until the height is right.

Before The Move

Use a scoop or measuring cup to add soil.

Step #2: Take the plant and hold by the stems. Turn upside down and gently pull out of old pot. If this is too difficult, use a knife to cut around the edge of the pot.

Step #3: Once you have the plant out of its old container, you want to get rid of excess dirt and make sure the “root ball” is in good condition. It is generally a good idea to get rid of about 1/3 of the old soil. You also want to make sure that the roots are not growing around themselves in a tight bunch. This is not good for the plant. Loosen the roots with your hand…think of it as a massage for your plant. And don’t worry if some of the roots are broken. This is kind of like pruning and will help control the plants growth in the new pot.

Before a Root Massage

After a Root Massage

Step #4: Place the plant into the new pot and begin filling in soil around it. Pat the soil down firmly to get rid of any air bubbles.

And there you have it! The process is basically the same for small and large plants. Getting my ficus out of its old pot was a bit trickier (ended up just cutting the plastic pot) but everything else was the same as my smaller plants just on a larger scale.

Here’s the end result!

And just a reminder to all you city slickers out there…this is messy! I made a huge mess so don’t try to re-pot something in your nice living room!

Also, FYI if you have a cat, he/she will be very interested in what you are doing.