How can you tell when a potted plant needs to be divided? There are a few ways to tell. When you water is most of the water running off the top of the soil and not soaking in to the roots? Is the plant looking a bit yellowed? Can you see roots circling along the top of the pot? These are all signs that the plant may have outgrown it’s pot and needs to either be transplanted to a larger pot or divided.
One of my favorite plants in the garden is the common Asparagus fern, Asparagus setaceus. It’s actually not really a fern and in some areas it is considered an invasive weed. Here in Northern California they thrive outdoors and I just adore how lush and full they look.
Turn a terra cotta pot upside down and then place your potted plant on top of it to create an inexpensive plant stand.
I love to plant them in terra cotta pots and have them elevated up off the ground. They billow and drape so gracefully down to the ground. They look so much better planted in pots and elevated than they do planted directly in the ground.
Recently I have noticed that even though I am watering regularly, my ferns have been developing yellow fronds and have not been producing any new fronds. Time to make a trip to my local nursery to pick up a terra cotta pot and some potting soil so I can divide them.
You may have to loosen up the root ball with a trowel to get the plant out of the pot. It will depend on how root bound your plants are. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it isn’t too difficult for you to get it out of the pot.
Don’t worry too much about being gentle, these ferns are pretty tough. You need to get in there with a shovel and cut through the root ball.
Once you have divided the root ball you want to loosen up the roots. I had to get out a saw to cut through the roots to loosen them up.
Fill a pot about a third of the way full with potting soil.
Now is the perfect time to add some fertilizer to the pot. You just loosened up the roots and once they are repotted they will be looking for some nutrients. I used an organic fertilizer and mixed it into the soil at the bottom of the pot so that the roots will find it easily and soak it up.
Fill the pot with soil and tamp it down around the base of the plant. Leave about an inch of room at the top for watering. Once you have repotted your plant give it a good long drink of water.
That’s it! I now have two plants to display in my garden. ☺️
Be sure to give your transplants plenty of water for the next few weeks while they acclimate and develop a new root system.
See how easy it is to divide plants? Anyone can do it!
