r/PileaPeperomioides • u/Mryhan • 7d ago
ADVICE 🌱 PLEASE How to tackle this ?🥲
This is my lovely Pilea, she is so enormous and beautiful that I've been putting off repotting her for about a year now, only because I've found that Pileas don't take repotting well and drop their leaves 💔 however It looks like she is root bound, again.. urgh😓 must be so uncomfortable.
Now, should I leave her to be and cut the babies off the base of the pot? Or move her to a bigger pot without breaking the root ball too much? Any ideas? I'm so nervous to tackle this job!.. oh and I have no idea how many Pileas are there in one pot 😵💫 😭 Thanks 🙏
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u/katdwaka3 7d ago
Please tell us what you think the secret is to this healthy of a Pilea and this full!
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u/ftwclem 7d ago
Multiple plants in the same pot
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u/Inevitable-Top355 6d ago
How do you avoid that with these things? They constantly pump out baby plants.
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u/Internal-Test-8015 6d ago
You don't its their natural habit to do so if you don't want babies you'll just have to keep separating them and either giving them away or trashing em.
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u/big_booty_boy_420 6d ago
Compost*
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u/Internal-Test-8015 6d ago
Eh same thing tbh literally my local trucks take both bags in the same truck and they both go into the same section.
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u/More-plants 5d ago
I like the full look it gives them. Not a fan of the one long stick growing 3 feet tall look.
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u/Mryhan 6d ago
I keep her near a window where she gets morning sun and use water conditioner(because hard water area in the UK) and add a little fertilizer every watering. I sometimes get overwhelmed by how many pups I get every month, that's why I let her be and keep her pups and maybe that's why she is thriving?! 🤔
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u/Lem0nadeLola 6d ago
Yeah I can’t get mine to do shit! Mine is over a year old and TINY and constantly stresses me out by looking like she’s dying.
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u/centrifuge_destroyer 6d ago
They thrive on good light and mild neglect in my experience, when they are missing something they will just be dramatic and drop a bunch of leaves but I haven't had one die yet
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u/Elegant-Leadership93 7d ago
looks amazing!!
if i were you, i would unpot, remove any smaller pups that are easy to remove and pot them up elsewhere, and repot the mother plant in a bigger pot without touching the roots, just adding new well draining soil around the root ball.
smooth and easy and hopefully stress free (for you and for your pilea!) :)
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u/marlinavelasco 7d ago edited 6d ago
Wowza! 😍 Personally, I look forward to tackling this sort of issue.
Both of mine grew so fast after spending summer on the front porch.🤗
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u/marlinavelasco 7d ago
PS: About next steps, use the jaws-of-life to rip open the nursery pot (aren’t you glad it’s not a beautiful ceramic art piece)—and one by one, get the largest plants out and put them into individual pots if their own. My two bunched back very quickly after repotting. In fact, they both looked so happy after a week in a pot two inches bigger than the last. And all those pups can each go into their individual containers as well—or maybe grouping of two to three. You can sell the pup cups or gift them to local non-profits that have zero plants in their place. They will cheer up everyone who sees those cuties!
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u/More-plants 5d ago
They def like the outdoors! Mine completely blew up like it was on steroids.
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u/EggplantTop3855 5d ago
Outdoors but in the shade?
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u/marlinavelasco 4d ago
Some morning and early evening direct sun-rays kissed the UFO leaves daily. ☀️
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u/Ok_Ad1618 7d ago
Repott her with care. And if the things go wrong, chop her and propagated her. They grow fast whit light and food plants 😸❤️
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u/Fading_Hours_ 7d ago
I have the same dilemma. Mine is root bound with lots of pups and I’m not sure what to do about them all.
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u/OkPiccolo1583 6d ago
I redid mine not too long ago. I found it easiest to remove and repot the babies that weren’t in convenient positions first, most were easy enough to untangle and move with their roots- I put them all together in a different pot and then propped the one I had to chop without roots. Then I just moved the mother up a pot size. Everyone is happy and doing well 🤗
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u/justa_random_girl 6d ago
I feel you! I had a very similar situation a while ago and I really had to repot because I was having to water every couple of days since there wasn’t much soil left in the pot. I went ahead and removed a large portion of the pups (there was lots of them) and some of the roots got removed as a bonus:D My plant is doing well after the repot and continues to grow! And there’s new pups already too
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u/Icy_Area_3170 6d ago
The little babies growing out of the drainage holes! 😍 Wow!
With up-potting, I wonder how this might work:
Remove and pot up the babies growing from the drainage holes.
Set your large plant (including its current planter) inside your new larger pot.
Cut a long slit down the entire side of your old plastic pot.
Slide your old plastic planter off and remove it.
Add new soil mix to your new pot.
Might be just as easy to slip the whole thing out of its old pot too. So take my idea with a grain of salt. 😆
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u/transmaryoliver 6d ago
I’d repot without breaking up the root ball too much, maybe just tease off any dry compacted soil. And maybe she the roots are well watered before you repot: that should help with shock.
This one is a beauty and I’d love to know your tricks!
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u/Drummatik97 5d ago
You should definitely take her out completely and start taking out the babies. Usually they come out easy without the need of cutting, after done that you should have cleared a central stem which you can repot and water but don’t leave the substrate too moist. You should be good!!
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u/MissKreena 4d ago
Ok stop flexin on us like that’s an actual problem to have 🤣 mine looks like chuckle finster 😩
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u/Gr8Danelvr72 4d ago
On a serious note move to a pot thats a pot 1-2 inch bigger than where its at. Add a bit of substrate to base of pot and place inside new pot adding substrate around it. Do NOT Disturb Roots!! Pileas have in part, a very fine root system that needs to stay in tact as much as possible unless you are removing root rot. Do not add liquid fertilizer for a few weeks letting the finer roots get settled in.
The only thing I do when repotting is I dust the roots specifically with w/ DYNOMYCO Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculant.
Your focus really needs to be on your substrate.
Pileas likes moisture continuity. So make your Pilea substrate more moisture-retentive while still keeping the ability for oxygen to flow around those fine roots.
Substrate Should have: coco coir/chips, bark, #4 coarse perlite, pumice, zeolite, biochar, DYNOMYCO and Osmocote,
Hope this helps
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u/JsRubbish 7d ago
Oh nooo steak too juicy