Every year as I am planting all the new plants, I have this same question in the back of my mind that I bet all you experts can answer.
What is the correct thing to do with all that terrible potting medium that comes with most new plants??? Do you get rid of most of it and then plant the new plant, or do you plant the plant just as it comes out of the pot and hope for the best??
When plants fail for me, you pull them up and they look just exactly like they did when you planted them. They have made no attempt to put out new roots and have that same potting junk in the same pot shape as when they were planted. Some of the medium has a spongy quality to it, and a lot of it looks like burnt wood chips. When it dries out it is the strangest stuff.
I also want to know what is considered the correct way to handle the root mass that has developed around the pot. I have heard that you just loosen them with your fingers or you slice through them with a knife!!
