Hi guys welcome back, today is gardening blog day. We quickly approaching mid August and there is time for you to start thinking how you prepare your plants for winter. I got couple of hardy shrubs I need to re-potted. I think I leave it too long and both Rosemary and Gooseberry need new bigger pot. Now is great time to start re-potting any type of plants because they need time to establish them selves before winter. If you thinking re-pot plants in spring its ok but I am not doing that because you can easily stress plant and can end up with no fruit or flowers because plant is stressed and can drop all flower buds. This blog is part of my easy steps gardening section. Lets start...…
1) Choose bigger size of pot. I would recommend that you thinking ahead and choose size accommodate plant for next couple of years. I found my pot in B&Q it is 43 cm pot bell shape and colour I want it. It cost me almost £6. I was hunting for bargain but unfortunately B&Q was only shop I found what I was looking for and have to pay full price.
2) Then you just need standard Multipurpose compost. If you got your own compost just mix them 2 together. This bag is from B&Q as well 150 L. I am very happy with this brand because any pot filled with this compost producing beautiful flowers all season and also holding water that means less watering.
3) Then mix compost with multipurpose slow release plant food. Reason why is give transplanted plant boost and reduce stress that plant can suffer. I am using Miracle Gro just because suits all my needs and I am very happy with this product. Fill pot about 1/3 mix soil with plant food.
4) Prepare plant for transplanting. This is my Rosemary with my shadow. You can see that plant is root bound. That means old pot became too small for plant to grow. How you notice that plant need transplanting... Lift pot if its too light its time to transplant. Check foliage - root bounded plants don't have enough nutrients and oxygen and foliage can became pale green, yellow and grow stops. You can not transplant plant like this straight in to new pot. You need to free roots first to let plant know that there is more space for roots.
5) Don't be afraid to be little bit invasive you can see that yellow roots are new grow dark roots are dead or old roots. More roots you free that better chance you got for quicker recovery. But be careful. Don't get too invasive otherwise you can kill plant. If you free roots that means your plant get more oxygen and new roots will be free and foliage will recover and new shoots appear.
6) Position plant in centre of the pot and have a look how much space you got around. As you can see I got plenty of space for new grow for next couple of years. Once plant positioned mix compost with all purpose plant food mix it together and start filling pot. Just be mindful how much food you put in because too much can damage roots and too little doesn't going to have any impact. Read carefully instruction on packaging and what I do is just half amount of plant food just because new compost contain all nutrients.
7) Fill pot and make sure that plant crown is covered, all roots are covered and you got about 1cm between compost and top of the pot. This is for water allowed to soak in and not overflow and wash off compost. Press compost gently to get rid of any necessary air pockets. Once you happy water plant well I am doing couple of times make sure that compost is soaked fully.
8) Last step is very important. Once you transplanted your plant don't forget trim. This is important just because you want more energy going in to the roots rather than foliage. This also allow plant to produce new shoots once settled. Once you see new shoots that sight that your transplanting was successful and you plant is settled and happy ready for winter. In dry weather keep compost moist allowed roots to establish.
This is my Rosemary bush, I also decided transplanted Gooseberry just because this year harvest was ok but fruit was smaller and pot was very light. I used same technique as above. Now I just need to wait and see if my transplanting was successful.
And how much I spend:
2 B&Q bell pots 43cm £12
150 L Verve Multipurpose Compost £6.50
TOTAL: £18.50
This time price is a bit high then I wanted but it is due that only suitable pots I could find only in B&Q and there was no special offer or discount available. Also because this pots are big that always going to be factor you have to account and will be reflected in price.
Ok folks thank you very much for reading, thank you to my subscribers for continuing support and happy reading. Please like, share and subscribe and let me know any tips and tricks for transplanting.
Happy Gardening
Jerry