How to Transplant
If you’re like us, you love making cuttings and growing them out. Here are a few tips for success when planting:
Choose an appropriate soil for your plant: Soil should have good drainage but also contain “humus”: active microorganisms and nutrients that feed the plant. Combine a good potting soil (many are inert) with some compost (alive with beneficial microbes) for most plants. For sedums and desert plants, choose a soil with more sand for better drainage. For tropicals, add peat to hold more moisture.
Don’t bury too deep: Keep the crown of the plant level with the top of the soil. The crown is where roots begin to come out of the stem. Put the roots below the soil and keep the rest above it.
Handle the roots gently: Loosen the root ball if it is winding round itself or packed together very tightly. Carefully bury the roots, nestling soil amongst the tendrils, but not packing it in too tightly. Plants absorb oxygen from soil, not from air.
Water In.
Fertilize: Wait a few days for your plant to acclimate to its new home. For fertilizer, annuals need 10-10-10, but switch to 1-5-5 when they are blooming. Perennials need an organic slow-release (relatively weak) fertilizer like an Espoma Plant Tone. Succulents and cacti need a standard 10-10-10 but use a half-dose because they are slow-growing. Use a specific houseplant fertilizer with less Phosphorus like a 10-5-10. More on houseplants in our next blog!
