Question
I have recently started getting indoor plants. I have about 8 plants in total. I was told to repot the plants after taking them home (which after reading some of your advise I might have been misled). The other thing is that I was told it was ok to put these plants in pots without holes (which was done 3 weeks ago). I am worried that I might have done something wrong, but I am afraid to repot again. I did put some rocks in the bottom of the pot before adding soil. I am new to plant care and overwatering is more than likely to have occured; I am worried that the repotting, the miracle-go fertilizer (given weekly) might shorten the life of my plants. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you
Noble
Calgary, Alberta (Canada)

Answer
Hi Noble,

It's not time to panic, yet! You were the victim of poor advice about potting, about using drainless pots and adding drainage material to the bottom of the pots. But I don't think it is too late.

You will need to undo the repotting that you did by removing the soil that you added around the original rootball. Then put the plants back into their original pots or pots of similar size. These pots must have drainage holes in them and do NOT put any rocks in the bottom of them.

In other words, get your plants back to where they were before you repotted.

Going forward, I suggest that you stop fertilizing. The next most important thing is to make sure that the individual plants are matched appropriately to the available light as some plants need more light than others. If you can identify the 8 plants by name for me, then I can tell you what light they require.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions. If you would like to e-mail me some photos, I may be able to provide some additional insights.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

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