Tips for repotting houseplants

Feb 20, 2025 | 0 comments posted by Adrien SAINT

You've heard about the importance of repotting, but you're not confident about trying it yourself? Having grown a multitude of plants, I'm sharing my advice.

When should you repot your plants?

The quick answer would be: when they need it and it will benefit them.

Roots: when your plant has roots that protrude significantly from the pot through the drainage holes, providing it with more surface area for nutrient absorption is a good idea.
Nutritional value: The nutrients in potting soil are used up by the plant in 6-8 months. The substrate then becomes depleted, and repotting with fresh potting soil will greatly benefit it. Indeed, fresh potting soil provides a renewed supply of nutrients. Some less demanding plants can survive for a long time in poor potting soil, but others will stop growing or even die.
Season: Legend has it that repotting should only be done in spring, but in reality, if the plant's environment is warm, humid, and bright enough, you can repot indoors year-round. Monsteras, anthuriums, and philodendrons are quite tolerant. However, it is indeed preferable to repot rhizomatous plants, tubers, and bulbs (alocasia, oxalis, colocasia, etc.) in spring or summer.

How to repot your plants?

Potting soil: choose a potting mix suited to the variety and your watering style. If you tend to overwater, opt for a well-draining substrate.
Pot size: when repotting, the advice is generally to place the plant in a pot one size larger (e.g., a 12cm pot should be moved to a 14cm pot).
The procedure: Remove the plant from its current pot and gently massage the root ball to loosen as much of the old potting soil as possible. If you're worried about damaging too many roots, don't overdo it.

After repotting:

Watering: Once the plant is in its new pot, water generously.
If your plant is in a much larger pot, you will need to adjust your watering because the soil not occupied by the roots will remain moist for longer.
Fertilizers: you can add rooting stimulators, or foliar biostimulants which will help the plant and its metabolism, but do not add NPK fertilizer as your new potting soil already contains it and an overdose could burn and rot the root system.

I hope I've given you the confidence to get your hands dirty! In the shop you'll find suitable potting soils, technical pots and biostimulants to successfully repot your houseplants.