Removed soil intact from plant pot, safe to let it dry out?

Hey folks,

Well, like an idiot I went a bit overboard on my watering a few hours ago. Was a bit unsteady

I think I drenched my soil, so I upped the air flow to try and speed up the soil drying, but it's not happening.

I carefully flipped my plant upside down and and managed to ease out the soil and plant in an intact 'cake'. What I have at the moment looks pretty much exactly like this, but slightly smaller and with slightly less roots.




Would there be any harm in having this unpotted 'cake' of soil, roots & plant sitting in my grow room as usual until it dries out some more? Or what would you guys recommend?

At the moment, the soil is sticky - Hence it has held the shape of the plant pot. I didn't want to start breaking the soil up in case I damage the roots, which are looking quite healthy.

Yeah I'm a nub , cheers for any help!

Note: Please ignore the attachment pic of the 2 plants in soil, that was my original example image then I found one that looked much more similar.

The rootball is supposed to be drenched when repotting, repot the root ball into a nice soil/perlite mix and dont water the new medium until the plant has taken hold of the new soil, about 1-2 weeks.

Buds, awesome - thanks for your quick reply! Alright I'm not so worried now, phew!

Any idea if I could I get away with using vermiculite instead of perlite? And would there be any harm in repotting in a 6" diameter pot (up from previous 4" pot)?

Cheers BUDS!! Choppa

No worries and when you do water/feed make sure there is plenty of run off, saturate the pot.

wait.. did u tell him to not water his plants for 1-2 weeks?

Hey guys,

Well, yesterday I repotted my plant, complete in its original soil & root network into a bigger pot, and filled the gaps with extra, fresh potting mix. It doesn't even seem like my she's been stressed by the repot, she's growing on beautifully and, if anything, seemed to have really taken off overnight. Her 6th pair of leafs exploded in size! I really need to grab a cheap camera to show the progress, I'll try and grab one this weekend. For now, MSPaint mastery:




Edit: Btw, I've been potting in this since since germination: http://www.lovethegarden.com/product-details/miracle-gro-gro-your-own-seed-cutting

Yeah, Miracle Gro, a bit controversial as a potting medium depending on who you speak to - But for me - so far so good. The seedling has retained a beautiful green colour throughout the grow and when I took her out of the pot yesterday, I was amazed at just bulky and healthy looking the root network was.

@iNUPE: I'm not sure, but I just planned to let the soil dry out almost completely then resume a normal watering cycle.

If the potting mix is made right, you shouldn't have a problem over watering. Excess water should naturally drain out in about an hour. I've never felt the need to have to take the soil out of the container and try to air dry the roots.

When I'm about to transplant I let the old soil get dry so the rootball stays intact and it also lets the medium compresses a bit, so its easier to pull the container off. I then water the new soil really good, let excess water drain off for about half a minute, then I place the whole root ball into the new soil making sure there is 2" min of soil on all sides. Then I back fill in the sides and tap the soil down so it's all level and slightly compacted again. I water more time and leave it alone.

The only other thing I might do if the rootball was really thick, I'd take a razor blade, disinfect it with ISO, and make 3-4 slices on the sides, about a half inch deep. Then plant as normal.

Ah, didn't see your follow up post. Looks like it all went smooth. Glad to hear it. I never really have problems transplanting, most plants handle it pretty well. Good luck with the rest of your grow.

no matter what i transplant i water after a repot because it helps settle the new dirt into the pot