I got this lovely philodendron rio from a plant group gal. It's happy but she said she repotted it recently and now that I'm looking at it a few days later I'm thinking.... this pot is enormous and the soil is so dense... like gardening soil... not like aroid soil, as I would have used. I have no way to tell what the root system is like and don't want to stress it out but I keep thinking... future root rot plant right here.... to repot or to leave alone? The pot appears to be 10-12 inches wide, tapers as it goes down and is about a foot high. Ugh it's the depth that bothers me.




Thanks for any advice!

Nice looking plant:)

I wouldn't bump to that size for watering reasons, but you could sink a smaller pot into filler substrate.
I've had good luck using large clean oval rocks to fill pot space.

I would probably change the pot for aesthetics, it 'looks' too big to me.

Appropriate pot size is determined in part by the current size of the root/soil mass, but primarily by your choice of grow medium. The more water-retentive your grow medium is, the more critical pot size becomes. This is because it's the water held between soil particles in a saturated layer of grow medium at the bottom of the pot that limits root function and often sets the stage for infection by fungal pathogens that cause root rot. When using media that hold little to no excess water between soil particles, there is no upper limit to the size of pot you choose. With the right grow medium, you can plant a single seed in a 55 gallon drum filled with soil w/o concern that you've over-potted the plant.

When you DO have a pot you recognize as being too large for the plant material it holds, based on the fact the medium is too water-retentive for the size of the pot, judicious use of ballast in the bottom of the pot can eliminate (displace) as much as 95% of the grow medium capable of holding excess water, which can be a real game changer for anyone who finds their grow medium holds enough water to cause concern about root function/health.

The line drawings below show ways to reduce water retention in your plantings. The pots are full of grow medium and the shaded area represents the layer of saturated media (perched water) I mentioned. B, shows how much additional water you can remove by simply tilting your manageable size pots to a 45* angle after watering.

C, shows how a pot's shape can affect the amount of excess water it's capable of holding, while D shows one way of using an overturned pot as ballast to limit water retention, and E shows how effective using a drainage wick can be. There are also other ways to use simple science to 'trick' water that would otherwise remain in the medium into leaving the pot.

In terms of growth and health, the larger the pot you can use w/o excess water retention becoming an issue, the better the opportunity your plant has to realize as much of its genetic potential as possible. Roots are the heart of the plant and a healthy plant isn't possible unless we can keep its root system healthy.

Al

If it was propagated so that 2-3 nodes per stem have roots, the lowest roots could be right at the bottom of the pot and the upper-most roots barely covered.

To my eye, it looks a bit, sad.
I would gently remove it, inspect root structure, and repot.
I sense that it is an immature cutting, in a way to big pot.

terrafirma said: To my eye, it looks a bit, sad.
I would gently remove it, inspect root structure, and repot.
I sense that it is an immature cutting, in a way to big pot.

I think that's the plan... I just bought some premium aroid soil online and am going to get both a 6 and 8 inch nursery pot from a friend and see what makes the most sense once checking out the roots... It appears after some more investigating to be one plant with a long trailing vine laid onto the soil to root in and look nice.. but bottom line is the soil is way too water retentive for this type of plant and size of this pot- at least that's what I've gathered. I HATE to stress it out by repotting and am waiting a week or two do it can adjust to the light and temperatures in my apartment but it seems necessary. =)

Sarah I don't think you will be stressing it out overly much. Getting it into the rights substrate and correct size container will actually help it get going again.
Rio, like Brazil, Cream Splash and all those other striped clones are forms of Philodendron hederaceum oxycardium. They are tough plants.

sallyg said: I would probably change the pot for aesthetics, it 'looks' too big to me.

I repotted her!!! There was soil about a foot deep below her root ball... and dense and too moist. Ridiculous. Look at her now! Repotted with 80% aroid mix and 20% whatever was in that old pot.

Looks great! Well done!

terrafirma said: Looks great! Well done!

Thank you!! =)

Looks much better. all goes well now.

I have had a few experiences in which a plant was 'mysteriously' failing, and when I pulled it from the pot, the reason for failure became obvious from what I found in the root zone.

That looks great:)

An obviously good decision ! Looks real good now !

I would wait a week for it to acclimatise to your home position to reduce stress.
Then I would repot. The pot looks too big.
I would use substrate with good drainage. I heard PON is good, but the aroid mix is better than dense soil as you say.
I would then give it a good drink and not let it sit in the water. And hopefully it will perk up.

Yay, looks beautiful. I want it ❤️

PON is a learning curve for many aroidists and I would not recommend jumping into using it before you do a lot of research

It's been a couple of weeks.

How's it doing?

Humboldt said: It's been a couple of weeks.

How's it doing?

Hi! Sorry... it's been quite a while!! I've had this plant for a long while now and it's still doing great! In the same pot... I moved apartments but it's still getting South facing window light. It's added about a foot of new vine growth. The Rio is such a lovely philodendron. I have 2 others that are smaller and not as beautifully variegated as this one... maybe it's saying thank you for saving it from that terribly large pot and shitty soil ha.
=)

Sclark4556 said: Hi! Sorry... it's been quite a while!! I've had this plant for a long while now and it's still doing great! In the same pot... I moved apartments but it's still getting South facing window light. It's added about a foot of new vine growth. The Rio is such a lovely philodendron. I have 2 others that are smaller and not as beautifully variegated as this one... maybe it's saying thank you for saving it from that terribly large pot and shitty soil ha.
=)

Good!