As the days get longer, we experience a welcome increase in sunlight. This signals our plants to wake up and start growing. Now is a great time to think about re-potting indoor plants!

When repotting plants for the purpose of increasing the root zone, we recommend bumping your plant up one size. Grower pots are generally sized in even numbered inches: 4", 6", 8", 10 etc.

Always choose a pot with drainage. Grower or Nursery pots as they are often referred to are great place to start. These can be easily inserted or "dropped into" decorative containers that do not contain drainage. Simply take you plant to the sink to water, let it drain, then return it to its decorative container.

If you like to plant directly into decorative container, that's just fine. Terra cotta pots almost always have a drain hole and corresponding saucer. Also, when you purchase a pot at Tonkadale we are happy to drill a hole for you - just ask at check-out!

Check out our video on using grower pots/nursery planters as drop-in containers!

Potting soil is the foundation of plant success. A proper potting mix ensures that your plant has everything it needs including micro and macro nutrients, aeration (oxygen), and water retention. All-purpose potting soil will work great for most repotting projects but do take a minute to consider a specialty soil if you are growing orchids, African violets, bonsai plants, cactus, succulents. We reccommend Espoma's All Purpose Potting Soil for basic planting needs and we love Sol Soils' Cactus Gritty Mix for our succulent and cactus friends!

If you want to dig deeper into potting soil, there is always the opportunity to mix your own. We have several custom soil mix recipes on the blog for fine tuning your media including an arid mix, aroid/epiphyte mix, terrestrial mix, maranta mix, and a carnivorous mix.

When it's time to repot, it's nice to have a plan in place. Use a long and low Rubbermaid (or other) bin to catch the mess. Don't be afraid to get in there and get a little rough, plants can handle it!

• Gently pull the plant out of the old pot. You can loosen the pot from the plant by squeezing or pressing on the pot.
• Break up the root ball to "wake up" the roots.
• Add a few inches of soil to new pot.
• Place your plant in the new pot.
• Back fill in soil around the plant.
• Lightly tamp down soil
• Water in well - until the soil drains out the bottom of the pot.
• Nice work!

We have several repotting videos available on our YouTube page. The two selected below are particularily good because they show more advanced repotting projects. In the Repotting a Monstera video, we highlight how to use a moss pole, and in the Fiddle Leaf Fig video, you will learn how to transplant a larger specimen. Take a look!