Hi. So I have a 20 year old snake plant that my mom has had with no drainage and has never repotted it and I’m going to repot it at some point myself it is 4’ foot tall so any advice for how to go about that would be helpful thx ☺️ 🌱 🪴
It looks great for a 20 year old plant. Doesn’t look like lack of drainage is negatively impacting it. I’m curious about why you want to repot it. I’m not saying avoid repotting. Just be aware it causes stress. There is an adjustment period after repotting because the plant goes under stress from roots breaking and the roots adapting to a new soil mix. The plant could deteriorate somewhat and recover later.
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My advice would be to loosen the soil a bit with your hands and slowly pull it out. It might be a good idea to get another person to hold down the pot while you pull it out cause its a big plant. If you’re not attached to the pot you could break the pot to free it.
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Ok so there are a ton of things you gotta do so I’ll compress them into 4 steps Things You Need: You need a lot bigger than the pot it’s already in (obviously) and also get some succulent soil. What I like to do is mix Cactus/Succulent airy soil with a bit of orchid bark and a ton of perlite. Before The Repotting: Like 2 days before you repot it make sure to water it and optionally cut any brown/yellowing leaves stealing energy from the plant so it has as much as possible for the following days. During repotting What you want to do is loosen the soil by shaking the pot slightly (I would usually say squishing it but your pot seems to be hard) and gently sliding the plant out of the pot. Once you’ve done that remove dirt from the roots so they’re bare and loosen the rootball so it can breathe. Fill up the new pot 1/3 of the way up then hold the snake plants roots in as you fill the pot with dirt around the roots. Afterwards: Wait 2-4 days before watering or moving it as it is recovering from shock.
5 likes That’s that is exactly what I was looking for for help. Thank you so much you’re a lifesaver.
1 like No problem 😊
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i wouldn’t recommend watering like that, especially for a succulent like snake plants— the soil will stay wet too long. i water my plants an hour or so before repotting to hydrate the roots and directly after repotting to settle the soil, then resume normal watering (wait for the soil to be totally dry) also, the new pot should not be a lot larger than the old one, otherwise you risk the soil staying wet too long and rotting the roots. if the plant is rootbound and needs a bigger pot, it should only be 1-2” bigger than the rootball so the plant can effectively absorb moisture from the soil
2 likes Watering a snake plant like what? I said to only water it 2 days before repotting
0 likes i meant watering a few days before and after repotting as you suggested. i typically water snake plants every 4-6 weeks or more depending on the size of the plant
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