Hi all!

Today an aglaonema that I ordered online arrived. It's beautiful, if a bit unbalanced (see top right picture)! When I first get houseplants I hold off from repotting them for several weeks, because I know that the change in environment is already stressful for the plant (especially after traveling through the mail!) and I don't want to add on to that by immediately repotting. However, the roots are already emerging through the holes at the bottom of the plastic nursery pot, and it seems like some of them may also be coming up through the top of the soil, unless I'm mistaken?

How should I handle this situation? Should I repot immediately? Any other things I should definitely do? (Any advice on how to deal with balance issues?) I'm still a beginner and open to any and all advice. I do my best to research and learn on my own, but I'm unsure of the best path here!

Roots grow randomly throughout the soil and some may wander through the drain holes. That does not mean the plant needs a bigger pot. Only when a plant needs a thorough watering at least twice per week will it need repotting. The leaning is best corrected by repositioning the entire rootball in the existing pot so its more upright. If needed, add just a bit of soil on the surface to replace any soil lost in transit.

What a beautiful one! The fatter things coming out of the top are probably new stems. If it was propagated via cutting, It's pretty common for every node under the soil to take root and send up a new stem, so you end up with a multi-stem clump.




You should know soon.

The lean will correct itself if you put the bare side facing the window. The leaves will lean back toward the window.

purpleinopp said:What a beautiful one! The fatter things coming out of the top are probably new stems. If it was propagated via cutting, It's pretty common for every node under the soil to take root and send up a new stem, so you end up with a multi-stem clump.

• Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
• Uploaded by purpleinopp

• Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)
• Uploaded by purpleinopp

You should know soon.

The lean will correct itself if you put the bare side facing the window. The leaves will lean back toward the window.

Thank you so much for the advice! This is my first aglaonema, so the knowledge you shared is invaluable! I'll be sure to place it so that things balance out toward the sunlight!

WillC said: Roots grow randomly throughout the soil and some may wander through the drain holes. That does not mean the plant needs a bigger pot. Only when a plant needs a thorough watering at least twice per week will it need repotting. The leaning is best corrected by repositioning the entire rootball in the existing pot so its more upright. If needed, add just a bit of soil on the surface to replace any soil lost in transit.

Thank you very much! I'm hoping to get up early tomorrow when it isn't extremely hot (I'm not used to this weather in the 90s and 100s!) and reposition it and add soil to the pot. I'll pay attention to the watering like you advised—that's a great tip!

My pleasure! I've had that plain green Ag for about 40 yrs.

purpleinopp said:My pleasure! I've had that plain green Ag for about 40 yrs.

Wow, that's just incredible! What an amazing accomplishment!
Hopefully I can take good enough care of mine that it lasts that long too! I'm already in love with it!

Thanks! I don't still have the original roots, but from cutting and propagating stems over the years as they get tall enough, the plant lives on, and has been shared with many people. Maybe someday I'll have a big enough house/big enough windows to let plants grow unmolested.

WillC said: Roots grow randomly throughout the soil and some may wander through the drain holes. That does not mean the plant needs a bigger pot. Only when a plant needs a thorough watering at least twice per week will it need repotting. The leaning is best corrected by repositioning the entire rootball in the existing pot so its more upright. If needed, add just a bit of soil on the surface to replace any soil lost in transit.

Update: Despite my initial plan, I actually ended up repotting.

When I took it out of the plastic pot it came in and started to inspect it, I realized that there were these two very small black plastic cups with slots in the sides that the roots had wound around. Maybe they're used in propagation or hydroponics? I'm not sure. It was clear that the plant was root bound (not extremely root bound, but root bound nonetheless), and I was worried that the cups would eventually strangle the roots.

So I may have made a major mistake here, but I didn't have my phone since I was outside potting and really didn't want to go get it to look it up, so I made my best guess as to what I should do and decided that I should remove them. What followed was agonizing.

The roots were wound around and around the two cups and through the slots on the sides. I tried my best to go slowly with my scissors and not cut the roots, but it was impossible given how attached the roots and cups had become. I tried to cut around the roots and snip the cups into smaller pieces to remove them—I don't think it could have been done another way. But with the occasional snip I could hear the sound of my scissors cutting roots, and it made my hair stand on end each time.

Because I'm silly I forgot to sterilize them first, though thankfully they'd been recently washed. So I definitely cut into a number of roots and that sound will haunt me forever. As soon as I got the cups off I put the plant in a new pot with lots of fresh soil and then washed off the leaves and watered it. So please pray for/send healing thoughts to my aglaonema! It's now in my laundry room getting some indirect sunlight.

I don't think it's terribly uncommon to prune roots a little (on purpose) when repotting, so I suspect you'll be fine.

It's good that you discovered that! I think you rescued it.

Sounds like you did your best! I think it will be fine, given good care.

Professional growers often propagate cuttings in mesh baskets to hold them in place when they are potted together. Because they are mesh, the roots are able to grow outside of the mesh without harm. There is no reason to remove it no matter how awkward they appear to our eyes. Doing so usually does damage the roots. It is not necessarily fatal, but it is best to leave plant roots undisturbed as much as possible. Be patient and give your plant time to slowly recover from its surgery.

WillC said:Professional growers often propagate cuttings in mesh baskets to hold them in place when they are potted together. Because they are mesh, the roots are able to grow outside of the mesh without harm. There is no reason to remove it no matter how awkward they appear to our eyes. Doing so usually does damage the roots. It is not necessarily fatal, but it is best to leave plant roots undisturbed as much as possible. Be patient and give your plant time to slowly recover from its surgery.

Ok, this is good to know for the future!