Question about transplanting

[aramirez626]

Hi all,

I am new to the forum, and new to gardening. We just got our landscaping done about a year ago and to my surprise, seeing the beautiful trees and plants sparked a new interest in me to do some of my own little gardening, adding new plants and transplanting others.

I have a redwood box planter that had clumping bamboo in it. I removed the bamboo and will plant lemongrass in its place. My question is, do I need to remove all the old soil and root bits from the planter and replace it with fresh new soil, or can I reuse the existing soil? If yes, are the leftover root pieces okay, or will they begin to sprout and become a problem later?

Thank you all!

 

[Robert Cummings]

Hi there, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of gardening, I will do my best to answer your questions here.. Firstly, yes I would empty all the old soil from the container, this is because bamboo is a particularly vigorous spreading plant so you should recall burn the leftover roots etc. Refill the container with a good quality potting on type compost as this will contain slow release fertiliser which will do just that release fertiliser slowly, do not overfill the container about three quarters full is plenty, you need to be able to give your new plants sufficient water when weather is hot and dry, a common mistake with planters is overfilling with compost then people are irritated when they dry out. You can also mix in some water retaining granules (swellgell) if you wish to help with water retention. Hope this helps

 

[aramirez626]

Thank you Robert. First, what does "recall burn the leftover roots", and "type compost" mean?

Second, I have no experience with compost or what its purpose it. Is that a necessary thing to add?

 

[Robert Cummings]

I don't know how the word recall got into my post something to do with predictive text I guess.Regarding the compost, you need to purchase potting on compost this is not used for seedlings or cuttings but the next stage, which is transplanting or potting on which is what you are doing. Hope that clarifies for you.