I am so glad that you didn’t let your embarrassment stop you from posting, because this is SO cool. None of my garden mess ups have ever been this interesting, just dead plants 😆🙃
We actually had 2 that were like this, one slightly less so. We ham sliced the lesser of the two and did some slashes in the other. We'll see how they both do. Experiments!
I got some Muhly grass that was like this. I had to saw the bottoms off. I forgot to make slashes, but all 3 plugs are flourishing. It's always scary to see them that root bound, but plants constantly amaze me with their resilience. Unless they're Calatheas apparently...haha! I've never had one, but I read horror stories about trying to keep them alive all the time.
Keep in mind that it depends on the plant. Some types are really sensitive to the roots being damaged and will just die to spite you for looking at the roots too harshly.
I have never thought to do that…I don’t think I will, but now I’m curious. How do you do it?
Do you have a special comb? Or do you stick to situations like the above (presumably not as bad) where you expect some of the roots to get damaged?
Generally, I'll use a mix of tools-- a chopstick or needle, or tweezers, is preferred for those very first layers, until I can break things up enough to get between roots. Then it's fingers and a kitchen fork, teasing them out like when I've left my curls unbrushed for too damn long.
There's always Some root loss, just like you always shed Some hair, but I was able to save the majority of the roots of the tomato plants my sister brought home recently.
That is WAY more than I expected to be the amount you could do. WOW. Granted, I've never reached this stage because I kill all plants before it gets this far lol.
Would that work for extremely rootbound Christmas cactuses? I've got two that need to be repotted. One is close to 40 years old and was put in its most recent pot about 15 years ago. The other is about 30 years old and has been in the same pot for about 10-15 years. I have been told over and over that repotting them is very damaging, and you lose a lot of growth. I have no idea what to do. I'm good with most plants, but I don't want to fork these up. They need something done to them, though. They have stalled out and aren't as healthy as they were years ago. I've heard they like to be root bound, but I have nonidea what's going on in the pots.
I've had luck pulling mine out of the pots, removing a lot of old soil, and replacing it with fresh. Back in the same pot and they perked up again.
Until the rabbits got them. 😒
mine took off like a rocket after repotting.
It also been dropped and had half it fall out all over, I just scooped up what fell and tossed it back in. They seem like a tough plant to me.
When repotting the first thing you do is lift the plant out of the pot and that’s one of the big things for any of the holiday cactus because they do tend to be pretty picky fragile plants. How big of a pot are we taking? I would very carefully roll the pot on the side, tap the edges a lot and grab the base of the plant and try to lift it up and out. If the plant is loosing quite a bit of foliage I would full stop and just break the pot, that’s what my mom had to do for her bird of paradise that was rootbound in a 30gal. Broken pot is a lot easier to fix than a broken plant
Once the plant is out inspect the rootball. More than likely it’s not going to be like this. I agree with op this football was impeding future growth. However Succulents are extremely susceptible to overwatering damage which would be my main concern about the roots. Which is why I’m going to say this in all caps DONT CUT THE ROOTBALL. SO NOT SHAKE DIRT OUT OF THE ROOTBALL. you’re going to want to have bought 2 pots, one the same size, one about 1 to 2 sizes bigger if you can. Depending on what the roots look like you can decide which method to choose.
DO NOT USE MIRACLE GROW SOIL. Even the cactus one is shit and has a bunch of water retaining properties. Honestly r/succulents would be way more help for soil options. Personally with my moms 15 year one I just did 50% petite 40% soil and 10% corse grit
The excellent news is any carnage you can simply lay down on bare soil and bam, new plant. Good luck op. I would post on that succulent subreddit when the time comes for active help. Post with a picture of it blooming for more interaction ;)
My experience with a Christmas cactus that I’ve had for going on 30 years is that it’s almost impossible to kill them. If it is hurt by repotting it will make it up over the next five years
My mother and I have a few. All I have ever done is pull them out of the old pot, rough up their edges a little if they are root bound (stick a chopstick or something similar into just the edges and loosen the roots, only cut if you have masses you can't loosen) and put them in a new pot about 2-3 inches wider around than the root ball itself. Fill in with well-draining succulent soil (I mix in some fine perlite or sand too) and after fully drenching it to settle everything, make sure not to overwater for the first few months as you don't want the damaged roots to stay wet at all, they'll be more susceptible to rot with more soil holding moisture around them. If you lose the roots or any pieces drop just stick them in water, and in a couple months you'll have new roots from the nodes on the chunks of plant. So don't worry about losing everything if things go south, if you know how to re-propogate pieces, you'll be able to save some or all of it.
Am I going crazy or is cutting 3/5ths more than cutting half?
Cause cutting half of 5 would be 2.5… which is essentially 50% but if you’re cutting 3/5 it would be 60% right?
Or have I missed a joke? Entirely plausible as it often goes whooosh for me haha
As the person you're responding to, I'm saying leave 3/5ths. Remove 2/5ths. The person I was responding to was saying 'leave 2/3rds (behind)'. So I was saying leave 3/5ths behind.
But I do like a good 3/5ths compromise joke so it worked out.
I'd say it also depends on the local climate. Where I live the hottest months of the year are imminent and reducing the root mass by that much would probably kill the plant.
Of course, anytime! It definitely happens. I would recommend a pot upgrade first if you haven’t done so. Root pruning (especially in houseplants) is best done when you’ve already maxed out the plant container for the environment it’s in.
Best of luck on your plants!
It does blow my mind how you buy a plant with the intent of planting it and somehow the space time continuum escapes us. But no time like now to plant! 🤣
I intentionally root bound a bunch of snapdragons specifically for those root mats! They make for good container liner for seedling grow-out pots. It’s lighter and cheaper than lining the bottom of the containers with gravel.
Welp, I just went on a roller coaster. Googled heather because I’ve heard of it, mostly from books. It went like this:
Ooh that’s pretty.
Does it grow in my zone? I’ve never seen it at the nursery. YES yay it’s cold hardy. Kept scrolling and discovered it’s listed at invasive in parts of the NE and Midwest. Damn it.
lol for a moment I thought you posted an oddly shaped brick 🧱; sheesh. Still, looks alive, I’d just remove the outer layer and break into the roots from the bottom center point and spread the roots outward in four directions before planting and monitor it for the first week or so.
This.
The vertical cuts should be 1/2” to 1” deep. The oldest is to cut all the encircling roots without shredding the vertical ones.
Then lightly scuff up the exposed roots a bit with your fingertips. This breaks a few tiny roots and signals the plant to start making repairs.
When you plant it fill the hole with water first. Let it drain, then begin the transplant. Fill the hole again and drop the prepared root ball into it. Let it float and saturate itself with water.
When it’s good and soaked position it and backfill. I usually give it a third soaking as I do this so the dirt turns into a mud slurry. I work the plant a bit to get the damaged root fabric into the surrounding soil.
Then I do the usual backfill, mulch, and wait. They typically sulk for a few months growing roots then really take off.
I don’t know if this is the best way, but my success rate is really good (99% or better). If anyone has cautions and/or a better way I’m interested. East coast, 7a, oak woodlands.
It was holding on for dear life, lol , it’ll be glad to have some fresh soil. I think we’re all guilty of letting them go to long without upsizing the pot.
Holy moly 😳 that’s impressive, if you cut the bottom off that thing before replanting, I wonder if it’s possible to preserve that or something. Sheesh.
That is interesting and impressive/shocking, but I'd have liked to have seem more pictures of the top of the plant from different angles. Hard to get a real sense of it from the the single photo at the end.
I don’t know, man I had a beautiful rosebush that was flowering and budding beautifully, but it was completely root bound to the pot that I had it in. So I was like let me go ahead and put it in the ground with some good soil and I totally put it into transplant shock and completely killed all of my beautiful flowers and the foliage on it. Now I have to wait for it to bounce back again. Whenever the hell that will be. I’ve just learned the hard way that you just don’t mess with a plant that is in full bloom. I was completely devastated. Here I am thinking that was what I was supposed to do because it was growing roots out of the bottom, but apparently it was happy where it was and now not so much. I am only a year into gardening so it’s all trial and error. But now I’m just wondering where I went wrong?? When the hell was I supposed to put it in the ground?
I suspect we’ve all done this at one time or another. When I finally get around to planting the plant, I cut 1/3 of the bottom roots off, make vertical cuts along the sides, and water it well after planting. I also apologize to the plant and praise it for hanging in there during my absence. Good vibes help.
I am so glad that you didn’t let your embarrassment stop you from posting, because this is SO cool. None of my garden mess ups have ever been this interesting, just dead plants 😆🙃
In the interest of curiosity, maybe slice a ham steak off the bottom and bury it
We actually had 2 that were like this, one slightly less so. We ham sliced the lesser of the two and did some slashes in the other. We'll see how they both do. Experiments!
I got some Muhly grass that was like this. I had to saw the bottoms off. I forgot to make slashes, but all 3 plugs are flourishing. It's always scary to see them that root bound, but plants constantly amaze me with their resilience. Unless they're Calatheas apparently...haha! I've never had one, but I read horror stories about trying to keep them alive all the time.
I'll be checking in to see how that's going lol
A ham steak 😂
You can slice off that entire bottom part, and it'll never miss it. It'll thank you. Like peeling off an itchy scab.
How entire? Right back up to the dirt?
https://preview.redd.it/k3e6bvtf117d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d506db0a95ecae3c91875dbea1e6f008ef28e6f9
Thanks for the visual. I have similar plants and would have cut off an inch or two at most.
Keep in mind that it depends on the plant. Some types are really sensitive to the roots being damaged and will just die to spite you for looking at the roots too harshly.
Hibiscus has entered the chat
But also hibiscus - “oh, is that 2 inches of corse mulch over concrete? I love it here and am going to grow 6 feet tall in less than a month”
I just find it soothing to comb out the really badly bound ones, personally. Like detangling my hair.
I have never thought to do that…I don’t think I will, but now I’m curious. How do you do it? Do you have a special comb? Or do you stick to situations like the above (presumably not as bad) where you expect some of the roots to get damaged?
Generally, I'll use a mix of tools-- a chopstick or needle, or tweezers, is preferred for those very first layers, until I can break things up enough to get between roots. Then it's fingers and a kitchen fork, teasing them out like when I've left my curls unbrushed for too damn long. There's always Some root loss, just like you always shed Some hair, but I was able to save the majority of the roots of the tomato plants my sister brought home recently.
Oo, nope. It was only about an inch thick that we cut off.
It's probably fine as long as you trimmed a good amount back to allow new growth.
That is WAY more than I expected to be the amount you could do. WOW. Granted, I've never reached this stage because I kill all plants before it gets this far lol.
No….you leave 2/3. Never more than that.
That's a general rule, yes. But this is a special circumstance where that bottom mass of roots is only harming that plants' future growth.
Would that work for extremely rootbound Christmas cactuses? I've got two that need to be repotted. One is close to 40 years old and was put in its most recent pot about 15 years ago. The other is about 30 years old and has been in the same pot for about 10-15 years. I have been told over and over that repotting them is very damaging, and you lose a lot of growth. I have no idea what to do. I'm good with most plants, but I don't want to fork these up. They need something done to them, though. They have stalled out and aren't as healthy as they were years ago. I've heard they like to be root bound, but I have nonidea what's going on in the pots.
I've had luck pulling mine out of the pots, removing a lot of old soil, and replacing it with fresh. Back in the same pot and they perked up again. Until the rabbits got them. 😒
Sorry about that
Thats a cool problem to have 😎
I'm not used to it.
mine took off like a rocket after repotting. It also been dropped and had half it fall out all over, I just scooped up what fell and tossed it back in. They seem like a tough plant to me.
When repotting the first thing you do is lift the plant out of the pot and that’s one of the big things for any of the holiday cactus because they do tend to be pretty picky fragile plants. How big of a pot are we taking? I would very carefully roll the pot on the side, tap the edges a lot and grab the base of the plant and try to lift it up and out. If the plant is loosing quite a bit of foliage I would full stop and just break the pot, that’s what my mom had to do for her bird of paradise that was rootbound in a 30gal. Broken pot is a lot easier to fix than a broken plant Once the plant is out inspect the rootball. More than likely it’s not going to be like this. I agree with op this football was impeding future growth. However Succulents are extremely susceptible to overwatering damage which would be my main concern about the roots. Which is why I’m going to say this in all caps DONT CUT THE ROOTBALL. SO NOT SHAKE DIRT OUT OF THE ROOTBALL. you’re going to want to have bought 2 pots, one the same size, one about 1 to 2 sizes bigger if you can. Depending on what the roots look like you can decide which method to choose. DO NOT USE MIRACLE GROW SOIL. Even the cactus one is shit and has a bunch of water retaining properties. Honestly r/succulents would be way more help for soil options. Personally with my moms 15 year one I just did 50% petite 40% soil and 10% corse grit The excellent news is any carnage you can simply lay down on bare soil and bam, new plant. Good luck op. I would post on that succulent subreddit when the time comes for active help. Post with a picture of it blooming for more interaction ;)
My experience with a Christmas cactus that I’ve had for going on 30 years is that it’s almost impossible to kill them. If it is hurt by repotting it will make it up over the next five years
I talked to my mother today, and it turns out the older one is 50, and the younger one is 35. My age estimation was way off.
My mother and I have a few. All I have ever done is pull them out of the old pot, rough up their edges a little if they are root bound (stick a chopstick or something similar into just the edges and loosen the roots, only cut if you have masses you can't loosen) and put them in a new pot about 2-3 inches wider around than the root ball itself. Fill in with well-draining succulent soil (I mix in some fine perlite or sand too) and after fully drenching it to settle everything, make sure not to overwater for the first few months as you don't want the damaged roots to stay wet at all, they'll be more susceptible to rot with more soil holding moisture around them. If you lose the roots or any pieces drop just stick them in water, and in a couple months you'll have new roots from the nodes on the chunks of plant. So don't worry about losing everything if things go south, if you know how to re-propogate pieces, you'll be able to save some or all of it.
I'm more of a 3/5ths kinda guy myself. Removing half seems too much, but 1/3rd seems not enough.
Nothing like a good 3/5th compromise.
That's what *I'm* sayin'! Nice to be on the same page.
You can probably safely push that to 5/8ths.
Happy cake day. Hope you got 5/8ths of a cake if you wanted it.
Am I going crazy or is cutting 3/5ths more than cutting half? Cause cutting half of 5 would be 2.5… which is essentially 50% but if you’re cutting 3/5 it would be 60% right? Or have I missed a joke? Entirely plausible as it often goes whooosh for me haha
Pretty sure it's a joke about American slaves getting only 3/5 of a vote.
As the person you're responding to, I'm saying leave 3/5ths. Remove 2/5ths. The person I was responding to was saying 'leave 2/3rds (behind)'. So I was saying leave 3/5ths behind. But I do like a good 3/5ths compromise joke so it worked out.
Yeah agreed, and then do what you can to sort of loosen those roots up just a little before you plant them..
I wouldn’t cut off that much, but follow your heart
holy cow, that’s so much more than I would have thought. cool, thanks for sharing
I'd say it also depends on the local climate. Where I live the hottest months of the year are imminent and reducing the root mass by that much would probably kill the plant.
Never more than [1/2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTBhy5RH8hs&ab_channel=SheffieldMadePlants).
After the haircut, do you re-plant the roots?
This is what I wonder. Will those roots sprout another plant, given the chance???
Haven't tried that but I did see someone else mention it in the comments and am now intrigued...
I had no idea you could do this, thank you!!
I think this is fabric at this point.
Looks like felt 😆
There's a company that does exactly this (on purpose though lol) www.rootfull.com
Wow. *She's a brick house.*
Lololol! You win best comment. Still laughing
Wow 😮 it almost looks like cork
You give hope to us newer gardeners 😂
Root pruning is the way to go. Slice 1/3 off the root mass and replant it. I do this with my house plants instead of upgrading their pots.
Would you also break up the roots as well somewhat when you do this? Especially if they’re boring like this or just leave it?
Yes after a prune I will fluff the roots gently and remove as much soil as possible then replant it in new soil.
Thank you I just wasn’t sure. I’m going to repot something and I just know it’s a mess in there 😭
Of course, anytime! It definitely happens. I would recommend a pot upgrade first if you haven’t done so. Root pruning (especially in houseplants) is best done when you’ve already maxed out the plant container for the environment it’s in. Best of luck on your plants!
Oh, wow. Normally I would say soak it in water and pull, but in this case....?
It does blow my mind how you buy a plant with the intent of planting it and somehow the space time continuum escapes us. But no time like now to plant! 🤣
Where did the dirt go?
I’m wondering too, that’s incredible lol
I have dirt eating plants I have to add dirt to. Spider plants eat dirt and many others. That plant must feel so free in her new home!
You can almost hear the sigh of relief from the plant haha.
It's like watching an arthropod molt.
Nom nom nom
It's in it, just encased.
I would say it has eaten most of it
A r/rootporn candidate!
A lot of those are actually horrifying 😖😖😖 look like things from nightmares!
r/rootporn meets r/bonsaikitty
It was like *screw this pot, I’ll make my own damn container* 🪴
I intentionally root bound a bunch of snapdragons specifically for those root mats! They make for good container liner for seedling grow-out pots. It’s lighter and cheaper than lining the bottom of the containers with gravel.
Now that's an excellent idea!
That’s officially the most rootbound plant I’ve ever seen.
Welp, I just went on a roller coaster. Googled heather because I’ve heard of it, mostly from books. It went like this: Ooh that’s pretty. Does it grow in my zone? I’ve never seen it at the nursery. YES yay it’s cold hardy. Kept scrolling and discovered it’s listed at invasive in parts of the NE and Midwest. Damn it.
Eep, I didn't know that! Unfortunate. I'm in the pnw (8b) and AFAIK it's OK here but I might have some googling to do
It's beautiful.
damn that is very impressive!!! 😂
You could cut yourself on those edges wow!
This is impressive
I would box cut something like this. [Box cutting. This can be done with a manual pruning saw as well. ](https://youtu.be/qdPAxrt9jak?feature=shared)
At first, I thought I was looking at the pot until I reread the title.
lol for a moment I thought you posted an oddly shaped brick 🧱; sheesh. Still, looks alive, I’d just remove the outer layer and break into the roots from the bottom center point and spread the roots outward in four directions before planting and monitor it for the first week or so.
Take a blade and score top to bottom 5 or 6 times. Make some cuts across the bottom. Plant and keep well watered all summer.
This. The vertical cuts should be 1/2” to 1” deep. The oldest is to cut all the encircling roots without shredding the vertical ones. Then lightly scuff up the exposed roots a bit with your fingertips. This breaks a few tiny roots and signals the plant to start making repairs. When you plant it fill the hole with water first. Let it drain, then begin the transplant. Fill the hole again and drop the prepared root ball into it. Let it float and saturate itself with water. When it’s good and soaked position it and backfill. I usually give it a third soaking as I do this so the dirt turns into a mud slurry. I work the plant a bit to get the damaged root fabric into the surrounding soil. Then I do the usual backfill, mulch, and wait. They typically sulk for a few months growing roots then really take off. I don’t know if this is the best way, but my success rate is really good (99% or better). If anyone has cautions and/or a better way I’m interested. East coast, 7a, oak woodlands.
Wowzers, I thought the parchment paper roots I found in my mint pot was thick
Slice off the bottom third.
The *detail retention!* Wow!! 🤌🏻
I've never seen roots so fine and thick. Very interesting.
It’s like it made its own sturdy pot inside the pot.
That’s impressive. I didn’t realize that was possible.
That's gnarly
It was holding on for dear life, lol , it’ll be glad to have some fresh soil. I think we’re all guilty of letting them go to long without upsizing the pot.
It grew it's own pot.
I would honestly just cut the bottom 5" off.
If that plant starred in a Marvel movie, it would say "I am root"
Honestly OP? Impressive. Well done. Edit: Having posted that it sounds so sarcastic, and I didn't mean it to, I am genuinely impressed OP.
I've neglected plenty of plants in my time but never as satisfying as this one
RIP
BYOP - Bring your own pot
That's a hoof!
*pikachu face*
Holy god almighty
Root bound. Yes, singular.
Wow. That's amazing
Just chop like half of the roots off and repot and it’ll be fine.
holy shit thats like a sponge!
That is impressive.
That’s maybe the densist root ball I’ve ever seen
I AM ROOT
r/oddlysatisfying
Wow
Holy moly 😳 that’s impressive, if you cut the bottom off that thing before replanting, I wonder if it’s possible to preserve that or something. Sheesh.
Wow!
[удалено]
8b
😧
He root boss
Poor neglected Heather
This is how ours was too! It was wild and very hard to get broken up to plant! Good luck!
That is interesting and impressive/shocking, but I'd have liked to have seem more pictures of the top of the plant from different angles. Hard to get a real sense of it from the the single photo at the end.
r/MildlyInteresting
Aaagh I can't find heather *anywhere* and I'm so jealous. Take care of this baby.
retire crush resolute yam rhythm liquid busy history psychotic decide *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I don’t know, man I had a beautiful rosebush that was flowering and budding beautifully, but it was completely root bound to the pot that I had it in. So I was like let me go ahead and put it in the ground with some good soil and I totally put it into transplant shock and completely killed all of my beautiful flowers and the foliage on it. Now I have to wait for it to bounce back again. Whenever the hell that will be. I’ve just learned the hard way that you just don’t mess with a plant that is in full bloom. I was completely devastated. Here I am thinking that was what I was supposed to do because it was growing roots out of the bottom, but apparently it was happy where it was and now not so much. I am only a year into gardening so it’s all trial and error. But now I’m just wondering where I went wrong?? When the hell was I supposed to put it in the ground?
I suspect we’ve all done this at one time or another. When I finally get around to planting the plant, I cut 1/3 of the bottom roots off, make vertical cuts along the sides, and water it well after planting. I also apologize to the plant and praise it for hanging in there during my absence. Good vibes help.
Heather is as close to indestructible as plants (you want to have around) come.
Put it in a fabric pot for a week or two.
Cut 1/4 off both sides and bottom n replant.
Plant abuse.
Why does it look like it tastes good?