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Canada

Probably not a good place to post this but I do have a question about one of my house plants that i hope someone can help me with..


About 7 years ago I recieved some cuttings ( small branches roughly 4" long) from a frind of mine, they were transplanted into an 10" wide x 10" deep pot were they have grown in my front window / liveing room for the past 7 years, just this evening i lifted the pot from its water spill pot below and noticed roots 10" inchs in lenght looking for soil. as the soil has never been changed in this pot bascially as soon as you water it the soil doesnt hold water very well and it drains right out to bottom.

I would like to move it into a larger pot but dont know what size would be best I was looking at say an 18" across by 20" deep clay type pot which will give it more room to grow upward like a tree. or would this be too large?

any suggestions

thanks Dave

also the plant name is an Schefflera arboricola.

4/4/2005 7:22:03 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Make the jump to a larger pot more gradual. The best thing is to waity for the return of nice wetaher. Then repot in fresh soil. Let the plant get a little dry for this operation. Then gently tease the old soil out of the root mass. Use scissors to prune out any dead or severly tangled roots. An old chop-stick is good for this especially if the end is whittled into a partial point.

Repot with dry soil & use another non-pointed chopstick to gently poke the new soil back into the roots to remove air pockets. Then give it some water to finish the settling.

Keep the repotted Shefflera in bright shade (not direct sun) until it resumes regular growth. make the transition back to sun as gradual as possible.

If a larger plant is desired, then make anual upgrades to a larger pot going 1-2 inches larger every year.

4/4/2005 11:54:00 PM