How to Repot Houseplants

Spring is the time to repot your houseplants if they are “pot-bound” (in too-small a pot with roots showing through the drainage hole)

Buy a pot one or two sizes up – if you plant in too-big a pot the roots can rot if compost is kept too wet. Use houseplant compost, or a specialist mix depending on the type of plant you are repotting: cacti and succulents, citrus, bonsai or orchids.

Carefully remove the plant from its old pot, gently tease out the roots and repot into the new container, making sure you leave a small reservoir so that there’s room for watering at the top of the pot.