18 November 2012

repotting the little guys

Took three of my small plants, and gave them each a new pot. I don't have very many small pots so for some of this it wasn't much of a move up, but I hope enough to keep them happier for a while. It's really better to repot in the springtime when they are putting out new growth; at that time I'll probably get some more pots of the proper size.
Here they are in their new containers.
The mini Schefflera moved into a pot that is only a half-inch wider but a full inch or two deeper. Gives it a bit more room which is important; this one was so pot-bound it had long roots coming out through the drain holes and a few even wrapping around the top pot edge at the soil surface.
The poor suffering Venus Flytrap has a new home in the charlie's old SIP container. I also gave it new soil; hope it's not too rich. I'm pretty sure now that it had a salt buildup; when I went to wash my hands after repotting and the water ran over some cuts in my skin it stung like crazy!
The Creeping Charlie moved out of its SIP into a small plastic pot. Not very large but as it doesn't have much of a root system yet I think it will do fine. Mixed a lot of perlite into its soil; I think it needs better drainage and was suffering from "having its feet wet" all the time.
Incidentally, I've finally learned (from reading about plants online again) the real identity of this plant. Whenever I looked up info about creeping charlie before I always ended up reading stuff about the weed that grows in lawns, or other plants that didn't quite seem to match the description or habits of mine. My mother always called it a creeping charlie, and so does her mom (who has the most gorgeous thirty-plus-year old large specimen).

It's really a Swedish Begonia! Also called Swedish Ivy. I don't know much about begonias. But now that I've found a proper name for it, I can read up about its proper care. For example, I found out pretty quickly that it doesn't care for cholorine, so needs rainwater. Of course, another sensitive plant!

I'm still going to refer to it as Creeping Charlie, though, because that name is more familiar to me.

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