Should I repot

[scooterism]

I've had my Hallertau in the same pot for about 4 or 5 seasons.

It's a big ass pot, about 700 across and about 600 high.

What I've noticed is that it's not so much of my plant out growing my pot but more like it seems the soil is compacting and dropping deeper and deeper down the pot.

So, should I pull the rhizome out of the pot, revitalize and top up the soil and replant

or

just top up the soil

or

other ?

I would upload a photo but Photobucket is having some log in issues (well for me anyway)

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Re pot in nice fresh mix

Make sure its got heaps of manure, blood 'n' bone and pot ash

 

[manticle]

Hit the repot button at the bottom right.

 

[scooterism]

Just to get back to this,

When should I do it?

How far below the surface should I bury the rhyzome?

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Bugger the labour I say. A big arse pot like that just re top it with good wholesome compost, soil, organic fertilizer now is the right time of year to do the blood and bone, manure stuff. Just top it up.

Edit: No reason at all to dig up and damage the rhizome in my opinion.
Rhizomes will manage themselves in a way. Some parts of a crown will die off naturally and new parts will grow off as the new season growth.

 

[blotto]

Just to get back to this,

When should I do it?

How far below the surface should I bury the rhyzome?

Before the growing season starts, no rush, and not far down, about 30 - 40mm should do it.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

What sort of soil was originally in the pot? Some soils can compact restricting root growth / access to water and nutrients.

Get a bit of steel rod (Rio or something) and push it into the soil in a couple spots, if you can't push it in more than a few inches with great force then you might want to repot. If you can push the rod in without too much effort most of the way into the pot then you'll be alright.

Also get a clod of the soil and put it in a bucket of rainwater. If the clod disperses into a cloudy suspension then it's a bad soil. If it holds together pretty well it's probably not too bad.

Edit: Leave it in the bucket /jar for a couple hours to see what it does (google soil dispersion test).

 

[scooterism]

Probably not the best photo, but you can kind of see just how far down the soil has dropped. I will poke around to feel how hard the soil is..