Question
QUESTION: Hi there

I bought a draceana massangea and it was doing great -- I never watered it too much ... until I repotted it! -- as I watered it on the day I repotted it, I realised the water was turning the soil into slush at the top of the pot and didn't sink in. I left the plant outside for that day so as to dry out the soil -- I should have scooped up that water at the top immediately, but wasn't listening to that niggly little voice at the back of my head!
Now the leaves are turning yellow at the tips, engulfing the whole leaf after a few days... I cut a few of them down, but other leaves are being affected. What do I do ? Re-pot into fresh soil ? It's been a few weeks now since this has begun.

Thanks for any advice!
Jennifer

ANSWER: Jennifer,

Remove the drain tray and set the plant in the sink or the tub overninght so it can drain as much as possible. After this always empty the drain tray an hour after watering it.

If you cannot remove the drain tray then yes you should repot it immediately into a pot that you can remove the drain tray for emptying excess water. That is a must.

You should never repot a plant immediately after getting it, you can set it in a decorative basket or ceramic pot in it's original nursery pot and it will stay healthy. Most plants have recently been repotted by the nursery when you buy them and don't need to be repotted for at least a year. For any houseplants you should only repot them between April 1st and July 30th when the days are getting longer and the roots are actively growing and the plant will not  go into shock. Any other time of year you are more likely to end up with yellow leaves and a plant in shock.

Get it dried out, keep it on the  dry side and keep it in a very bright room and it should recuperate. Good luck.

Darlene

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Darlene

The pot doesn't have a drain-tray because it's a large pot and I only intended to water a little each time -- which I did up to now. The pot is large, and the only reason I repotted the plant was because I got a nice new pot that I thought would look good in my house - yup, vanity can kill, so it seems! :(

Because it's been a while since repotting and over-watering, the soil is now dry. I haven't watered it since. It's in a fairly bright area of the house. I live in the Middle East, it's warm and sunny even during winter. I'm just going to leave the plant where it is for now, trim the dead leaves and hope for the best!

Thanks,
j

ANSWER: Jennifer,

Overpotting into a pot that is much larger than the original pot is very dangerous to the plant because it is very difficult for the plant to dry out. Without a drain hole it may seem dry on the surface and still be very soggy at the bottom of the pot. It would be much safer for your plant to buy a slightly smaller plastic pot that would fit inside the beautiful pot and repot the plant into that. Then set that in the pretty pot and use the pretty pot (cachepot) as a drain tray.  You can then lift the plant out and empty any excess water when necessary. In that warm sunny climate your plant should recuperate fast. Good luck.

Darlene

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: .... So would it be safe to repot AGAIN now, into a smaller pot with fresh soil ??

The large pot does have drain-holes, but nothing has drained out of it (because it's so big, I'm assuming). I've put stones at the bottom of the pot before I filled it with soil.

Thanks again
j

Answer
J,

If it has drain holes they must be blocked or it would be draining out the excess water when it was overwatered. Yes, it is best to repot it as soon as you possibly can into a smaller pot and mix extra perlite in with the soil. Perlite is the stuff that looks like little white styrofoam pellets. It provides much better drainage and makes your plants much healthier. You can mix perlite in with the soil it is in now and not buy new soil. The extra perlite will make a big difference in the drainage. mix approximately 2 parts of soil to 1 part of perlite. Good luck.

Darlene