All of my Adenium need repotting, but I'm procrastinating for several reasons:

1) They're going to take up more space when they are in bigger pots and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to fit them all since a lot of what little South facing window real estate I have is occupied by cucumber/paprika/tomato plants.

2) I finally have all the ingredients for the potting media: coco husk, pumice, sand, perlite, charcoal, rice hulls, plant soil. I do not, however, have a proper air proof container that I can mix a larger quantity in, starting with dissolving a 4.5 kg block of coco husk.

3) I have 23 new terracotta pots and 10 old ones that I have cleaned and disinfected, but I have 62 plants (53 Adenium, 8 Plumeria, 1 Monstera) to repot, so I'll have to clean up half of the current pots to repurpose for the smaller plants as I go and the current pots are plastic. Well. I should clean all of them because I have 40ish other house plants and all but max 10 of those are good to stay in their current pots much longer.

4) The outdoor temperature is around -13C, and another snow storm is expected by Friday, so instead of on a nice, spacious, sunny porch, I've had to move my planting table to the attic where it's +15C and my head brushes the highest part of the ceiling when I'm standing up. It's not exactly the she shed of my dreams (I dubbed it Skamvrån which translates to the corner one might send kids to when they need a timeout to think about what they did, literally "the nook of shame").


5) I had one deadline last week, 1 this week and 2 next week. Time is not in abundance.

My conscience is gnawing at me daily for not getting it done in March. I feel like I'm letting my plant babies down.

So... Yeah... I could do with some inspiration.

Where do you repot your plants?

How do you store your potting media?

Do you mix a new batch for each pot or do you make a bigger batch to fill several?

Do you repot all of your plants at once or one by one?

At what size do you lift rather than repot the plants?

I made a pot.





How far along in root training should an Adenium be to be put in a bonsaiesque pot like this?

Would you care to share some nice before and after repotting pictures?

I don't need to do it on such a large scale for indoor plants, so I've been using the largest plastic salad bowl for mixing my soils ... and then storing them in plastic coffee containers once emptied.

One thing I found very useful though for the garden side of things was a 17 gallon tub with rope handles. You can find them at feed stores and online for outrageous prices for just a plastic or rubber tub. And then I found one listed for toys at Target that was only $7.88. I wish I bought more than one. But I found Walmart still carries a version of it, it's one of my favorite yard things that I use. Easy to tote around when weeding or cleaning up without the larger bins that tip over, mixing dirt, wetting soil mixes, and it's sturdy enough to hold up outdoors. I'm definitely getting a 2nd one now that I found it again. So look around for something similar, don't stick to just gardening uses and hopefully you can find a cheap one.

I don't have a before and after photo currently but I usually start in small batches. I would mix in a paint bucket 🪣 I bought from Lowe's similar to what Nancy bought. Then I repot a few pots at a time from Spring to fall.

Your pot is beautiful! I have not mastered the art of lifting yet.

I will repot outside on my patio ...usually on top of spread out newspaper .....

will store mixed potting media in lidded plastic containers ...

will mix a big batch of potting media .....usually enough for "ready" pots filled with 1 inch lava rocks...

sometimes repots are spread-out over several days

lifting or raising can be done once every 3-4 years .... the time interval gives the plant time to recover from the last lift and allows plenty of time for the roots to spread out and the plant "anchor itself" within the pot

lifting is more or less a re-pot .....trimming roots (especially those that get orphaned from being lifted out of the pot), adding new potting media & spreading out remaining roots ....

oh yeah ...nice pot

Thank you! This is all very helpful.

I don't think I have the patience required to wait 3-4 years between adjustments, though, and my seedlings are between 1 year 10 months and 3 years old, so they are still in need of larger pots more regularly.

I've read at many sites that if you want to grow bigger fatter caudexes, you should repot and lift at least once a year. Some recommend every 6 months, but once a year works out good for me. Of course you don't have to do it that often, you could easily repot every 3-4 years and they'd be happy. Just depends on how you want to see your adeniums grow. I like big fat gnarly caudexes! It's probably the most interesting thing to me about adeniums.

Ylis said: Thank you! This is all very helpful.

I don't think I have the patience required to wait 3-4 years between adjustments, though, and my seedlings are between 1 year 10 months and 3 years old, so they are still in need of larger pots more regularly.

a lift is only a inch or so (more or less) ...much more than that, the plant will need to be staked, to keep it from falling over ....

a lift will also help prevent distorted (stretched) or broken pots .....can almost guarantee broken pots if Terra cotta is used

Oh, yes, I already have two that broke their plastic pots - hence why I really need to give them new pots.

@GigiAdeniumPlumeria for the I promise to plant it

I am lazy repotting! Or lifting and I think that is how I lost 10 last winter. The roots clogged up the drain holes. The tricky part winter is plants drop leaves so I thought normal dormancy. And some stay full but when you touch it they are hollow, so I thought they were dormant but actually died.

deepsouth said: @GigiAdeniumPlumeria for the I promise to plant it

it might grow as an Adenium! Love the look of Big Mama! So shiny looking!

shes bigger now and just as shiny !!

I bought an 80 L box with wheels and a handle.



I forgot just how much coco blocks expand.





On the upside, I have a good container for the coco husk.
On the downside... I still don't have a container to mix and keep the mix in.

I should have gotten two.

Home Depot sells cement mixing tubs. I got one years ago when they were around $5. They are still cheap and fairly big. I use mine all the time.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Me...

Ylis, that looks like a great tub for mixing and storing your mixes in. When I buy bricks of coco coir like that, I cut off a portion and soak just a small part of it, I never have use for more than 1/4 of the brick at a time if even that. Any garden tool that has teeth can cut through the bricks.

And that cement tub looks good for mixing too, Tommy. I might pick one up for this summer if I try doing any mixing.

@TommyRan The link can't be accessed from Sweden, but I think I know what kind of tub you mean. They sell them at the same place where I got the box and they are considerably cheaper than any other buckets, but it says explicitly that they should not be used for any plants meant for consumption, so I didn't get one. Of course, I don't intend to eat any part of the Adeniums, but I might use the same soil mix for other plants, so I'd rather be safe than sorry. Lining one of those tubs with a food safe plastic sack might work, though. Plus the sack could be sealed for storage to prevent drying out and contamination. That would be an inexpensive option.

@Murky I've split blocks with the band saw before, but my garage is snowed in.

I am thinking of buying that mixing tub too. That will come really handy for big batches of mixing. I have so many that my mix is usually just mulch, potting mix and perlite. As usual I am behind my repotting, the goal for repotting is so the pots are not clogged by roots. That's usually the cause of my issues when it is rainy season. Since my pots are shallow, the roots sometimes are on the media that stays wet most of the time.

Ylis said: @TommyRan The link can't be accessed from Sweden,

Oh sorry about that, I forgot you were in Sweden. I'm sure you have them over there as well though.

Where do you repot your plants?
Outside wherever I can find a convenient spot. Usually the patio table, on the potting table, or on the large deck box we store all the seat cushions in.

How do you store your potting media?
I just leave it in the container I mixed it in, I use a 5 gallon bucket.

Do you mix a new batch for each pot or do you make a bigger batch to fill several?
The mix I'm using now has 5 components, it would be hard to mix a small amount. I usually make up a third to a half of a 5 gallon bucket at once.

Do you repot all of your plants at once or one by one?
I usually do a few at once, it depends on the size of the container, with 4"-8" pots I might do a dozen at once, with 1-3 gallon containers I only do 2 or 3 at once. I will repot just one if needed, I'm not really too particular about it.

At what size do you lift rather than repot the plants?
It depends on the plant size and shape, I have some obesums in 4" pots that I've lifted 1" and I have some arabicums in 1 gallon and 3 gallon pots that I haven't lifted at all.

Here's the one I repotted in a 3 gallon pot yesterday(on the deck box) because it was starting to split the gallon pot I put it in last fall. I barely lifted it at all because of the shape of the caudex:

@kyle_fl to the adenium forum that is a very impressive looking arabicum!

And your potting mix is really coarse. May I ask what is your mix?