Repotting Indoor Plants – With Tui Garden and Home

Over the past few weeks here at The Green Room HQ we have been so excited to see some beautiful warm days peeping through amongst all the rain we have been having! The warmer weather inspired us to get outside in the fresh air to repot some of our plants that have been in desperate need of bigger homes for quite some time. Now that Spring is nearly upon us it is the perfect time to think about repotting your houseplants too, as longer daylight hours leads to increased growing activity. The plants wake up from their semi-dormant state and can take up nutrients as they begin their new seasons growth. 

To repot our plants we use products from a well-known and trusted Bay of Plenty based company Tui Garden and Home. We like using Tui’s Indoor Plant Mix because it has in-built 6 month control release fertiliser and SaturAid wetting agent to spread water evenly through the root zone. We also used Tui’s Organic Seaweed Tonic to condition the roots and prevent transplant shock.

Before you get started, there are a few key things to consider if you want to make the repotting experience a successful one!

• Choose the correct size pot to repot into. It needs to be the next size up from the pot it is currently in because if you go too big the plant may get root rot and die.
• Thoroughly wash the new pot out with hot soapy water before repotting in to it, as you don’t want to transfer any soil borne fungal problems or pests to the new plant.
• Place a drop sheet or similar down underneath where you are repotting – as its near impossible not to spill soil!

Step by Step Instructions for repotting and incorporating a seaweed soak to prevent transplant shock

1. Create a seaweed soak in a large bucket using the correct ratio of seaweed to water as stated on the back of the Tui Organic Seaweed Tonic bottle.
2. Place a base layer of Tui Indoor Plant Mix in the bottom of the new pot.
3. Place one hand around the pot plant and the other hand gently holding the base of the plant. Squeeze the pot to loosen the soil so that you can carefully pull the plant and soil out in one go, you may need to squeeze the pot in a few places if it is tight and root bound and in some cases you may even need to carefully cut the pot away to release the plant! Bare in mind, the overall goal is to try and complete the whole process without disturbing or breaking the roots of the plants too much as disturbed roots can mean a stressed plant.
4. Gently shake the old soil away and then plunge the roots down into the seaweed tonic stopping when the tonic hits the base of the plant. Wait for the bubbles to stop as this is when you know that the tonic has saturated the roots and there’s no more air pockets. Approximately 30 seconds should do it!
5. Lift the plant out of the tonic and carefully place the plant on top of the base layer of soil in its new pot ensuring it is centred in its pot. 
6. Carefully add your soil around the sides of the roots and firm it down as you go, working layer by layer. Note that there will be air pockets so make sure you are pressing down around the sides of the pot. In addition, make sure that when you fill up the pot with potting mix the soil level is the same as what it was in the original pot – i.e. don’t plant it too deep in the soil. It is also important to leave space for watering so don’t fill the new pot up too high with soil, a 3cm gap is recommended.
7. Hose out your potting mix bag and recycle it at your nearest soft plastics bin.