Repotting houseplants: have you tried the reusable bag trick and other clever tips?

The best time to repot houseplants or change the potting soil is in February–March, when the days begin to brighten. However, you can still repot in April and avoid the mess [in Finnish], as you can do it outside once the weather has warmed up.

Repotting houseplants is necessary if the pot is filled with roots and they take up all the room in the pot or push through the pot’s drainage hole. Also, replace the soil annually if you want your plant to grow quickly to a larger size.

If the plant’s pot still has enough room to grow, you can postpone repotting. Many plants will do just fine if you scrape away the old top layer of soil and add fresh, nutrient-rich soil. Plants like cacti and palms, which grow slowly, often only need repotting every two or three years. See how to repot a prickly cactus [in Finnish] here!

Water your houseplant thoroughly about a day before repotting, so it will come out of its old pot more easily. A well-hydrated plant will also experience less stress during repotting than one that’s dried out.

Choose a clean pot, 2–10 centimeters wider in diameter than the current one, depending on the plant’s size. It can be tempting to move it straight into a much bigger pot, but that’s not a good idea. If the pot is too large for the roots, the soil will stay wet for too long and the plant can easily die from overwatering.

Use flower soil for blooming and moisture-loving plants, long-lasting potting mix for self-watering pots and big houseplants, and cactus soil for cacti, succulents, and other plants that thrive in dry conditions. You can also mix the perfect growing medium for each plant with our tips.This helps you find the best soil mix for repotting houseplants with diverse needs.

Change the soil in a bag

The absolute best way to change the soil indoors without mess is to do it in a large Ikea bag, the real household all-rounder. Place the houseplant, the bag of potting soil, a hand trowel, and a new pot in the bag. You can do the entire repotting process inside it. Reuse the old soil by adding it around berry bushes, or if you don’t have your own garden, dispose of it in mixed or bio waste according to your local waste management guidelines. – Natalia Rehbinder, Content Producer for Kotona

Gently tap the plant out of its old pot and carefully loosen the roots. Cover the new pot’s drainage hole with a small piece of paper towel, then add soil on top. Place the plant in the pot, put soil around its root ball, and tamp it down firmly. Then water. We recommend using pots with a drainage hole. However, if you use a pot without a hole, add pottery shards or expanded clay pebbles at the bottom of the pot for drainage.

Start fertilizing about two weeks after repotting. Give your plants a refreshing shower or a misting, remove any damaged leaves, and prune confidently.

Tip: Use a portable clothes rack to help repot large hanging plants. This is what Gitta does for her hoyas [in Finnish].

If you’re going on a vacation, change the soil beforehand or at least water your plants thoroughly. Move them to a shadier place. You can make your own watering device from a plastic bottle as follows: fill the bottle with water, poke holes in the cap and bottom with a pin, and insert it cap-first into the soil. Make sure there’s also a hole in the bottom; otherwise, the soil’s suction will create a vacuum, and the water won’t flow out.