Question

Phil   I have a philodendron selloum (it is probably 60 yrs old as it is in a Christmas picture when I was little). It is huge, abt 5-6' in dia. We live in Ohio so it is an indoor plant half the year; it grew too large for it's space 20 years ago.   It has 4 'trunks' that come from the base,....abt 4" in dia. It is very root bound but I can no longer repot it. Short of moving to a warmer climate where Phil could live outside.... What do I do with this monster? HELP!

Answer
Jayne,

Plants really do not need to be repotted into larger pots every year or 2 until they get so large that you cannot handle them. At this point you either offer it to your bank or some other local business for their lobby.  Or you get someone to help you pot it down. To do that you get a pot that has a diameter that is 2-4 inches smaller than the pot it is now in and a long sharp knife. Remove it from the current pot and start cutting. If the new pot is 4 inches smaller you will need to cut 3-4 inches off the rootball all the way around. That will give the roots plenty of room to grow in the new smaller pot and it will not hurt the pot. Root pruning is what bonsai artists use to keep trees that get 80 feet tall when planted in the ground happy in a small pot and keeps them at 2-3 foot tall. You do not have to repot a plant because it is rootbound, you simply prune the roots every 2-3 years. You should only repot a plant into a larger pot if you want the plant to grow larger. Otherwise if you just keep repotting you end up with this problem.

If you decide to sell or give your plant to a business you should know that there are now miniature philodendron selloum plants now that never get so huge. I am sure you can Google miniature philodendron selloum and find a source where you can mail order one from or a local florist may be able to obtain one for you. Good luck!

Darlene