drosophyllum, repotting (my way)

[maxima]

hey everyone, i am doing lots of spring re-potting these days so i wanted to show you how i do my drosophyllum.

all my plants are about 14 months old. however some of them have remained small due to their small pot size and the one with the largest root space has not only dwarfed them but put out numerous shoots as well.
so i keep moving them to bigger pots as i find the time.

first of all i thoroughly wet the soil. this is because the roots are super sensitive and they disintegrate easily. i want them to stick to the soil and i want the soil to hold together as much as possible. when you damage a section of the roots, you will see that in under an hour some of the plants' tips will curl. the bigger the damage the more they get stressed out and curl. if everything is OK, they straighten back up the next morning or so.

when the soil is wet, i cut through the plastic with a hot knife but i'm super careful about it. it's very easy to cut deep and severe the roots as well. i cut only one half of the pot, it's sufficient and i don't want to risk stressing the plant.
when it's done, i thoroughly wet the pot again.

that's all really, simple when you're super careful. here are some photos, thanks for reading.

see the roots climbing up already,

a clean cut (phew!!!),

sorry for the mess, lots of plants to repot

safe and sound with the others (hopefully),

 

[David F]

This is very interesting and informative! I'm guessing you started each seed in a pot the size of the one in the first picture?

Those are some massive pots you used to re pot them!

Are the mixtures of soil in your first pot identical to the mixture in their new homes?

Also what mixtures are you using?

 

[maxima]

hey David. my basic mix is always the same: peat, perlite, vermiculite - 1:1:1. then i add some very old house plant soil and some cactus soil depending on whatever i have available. the upper part is pure vermiculite just for looks (i like its color and texture) but it gets pushed around in the wind/rain in time. i've come to believe that any mix is fine as long as it's porous enough.
i start each seed in peat pots as most other people and transplant them as needed. however, the biggest one in the picture was always in that pot tower, so i guess this proves they enjoy as much root space as they can get right from the beginning...
yes the new pots are massive, hopefully now i can let them be for a few years

 

[David F]

Thank you for your reply! I can't imagine you'll ever need to transplant them from those pots? I'm really trying to get into these guys, I'd love the challenge of growing any cp outside in my climate!