To say that I am happy to see our snow cover disappearing is an understatement!
Snow is melting in spite of the temp being slightly above freezing, and that is a blessing. I am not seeing much water running, so hopefully what is melting is soaking into the ground to replenish our deficit from last year.
Visiting some friends last week, the “guy gardener” asked me about his unhappy-looking hibiscus plants. The light area they were in was perfect. The plants were about 30 inches tall with some wimpy flower buds and just a few pale yellow leaves.
Questioning the care they have received from the time they got moved indoors last fall until now, he told me that he had root-pruned and repotted them when he brought them indoors for the winter. It was obvious that when he root-pruned them, he did not prune back the “above ground” plant to compensate for the loss of sustaining roots removed by the root pruning. That pretty much explained the problem.
Providing there is not a root rot issue going on (which I couldn’t tell without taking the plant out of the pot), I told him to cut the stem portion of the plant back to about 10 inches, cut back on the amount of water, and give the hibiscus time to initiate new growth, which I think will happen in a couple of weeks.
My point in this monologue is that root pruning is a good thing to do, but the visible plant itself needs to be pruned at the same time or the plant will suffer immense shock from loss of a root system that has been supporting that top growth. This type of renewal pruning is beneficial for the plant and the plant caregiver. You plant the candidate back into the same pot you took it out of, thereby eliminating the need to keep shifting to larger and larger pots.
March is absolutely the best time to do any repotting. We are getting longer days and more sunlight which will result in a new burst of energy from plants that have been kind of hibernating for the winter.
For Boston ferns, or any fern for that matter, now is the best time to renew them. They tend to get root-bound as the aerial roots move to the edge of the pot, and often the stems get so dense on the edge that you can’t insert a finger to check the soil.
Remove the fern from the pot, and using a serrated knife, cut the root mass into quarters, trim away the lower half of the root mass, and cut off the center point of the wedge which would be the oldest growth. From each wedge, cut out any old fern stems and stem stubs. Fill the pot halfway with new potting soil and group three of the pieces you have trimmed back into the center of the pot, fill in with new soil and water thoroughly. The fourth quarter you can repot as a new start or just compost it.
You will be amazed by the number of new fronds that will be showing up in May if you do the work now.