Your pot is just too small. A larger and heavier pot is called for. Just make sure the soil mix has plenty of drainage so as to avoid it going bad before new roots find there way. And that the new pot has more than just that one drain hole as they usually do.Enlarge it or drill two,three more around it. Large Pachypodiums do resent being translanted..finicky if you dont get it right.

I just wanted to throw something in Re: drainage in a pot. I'm just trying to clarify a few things. I do not mean to dispute what someone else has written.

Making the drain hole larger does not directly improve drainage. It is beneficial in that a hole too small may get clogged with debris and/ or eventually roots.

Adding pieces of broken pots or other material to the bottom of the pot also makes it worse for plants. This reduces the soil volume and the ability of water to move down, among other things.

Adding additional holes, even along the sides as some people do, also does not improve the ability of water to move through soil. Does it help with transpiration or improved oxygenation? Maybe.

The only way to improve drainage in a soil mix is to do the best you can with using relatively large and uniform media particle sizes that remain stable. Something like coarse pumice or perlite, Turface and other clay-based aggregates, or conifer bark fines for example, in high percentages, will improve aeration and drainage. "Organic" stuff like peat, compost and top soil will decompose and greatly reduce aeration in the root zone.

I am no expert. There is much more info out there if you look for it, which will help growers to understand some of the physics behind container growing.

x

Well said Xero. I'm not sure exactly why the myth that drainage improves by putting a layer of gravel in the bottom of a pot persists. As for aeration, you really only see a significant benefit if it is a non-porous pot (i.e. plastic or high-fire clay). Terra cotta is a beautifully permeable material, and doesn't need help introducing gas into the soil.

If you are worried about your plant tipping over, use a heavy drainage material to act as a counterweight. Instead of using pumice or perlite, use decomposed granite or pea-gravel. The extra weight will make it harder to move, but it won't be nearly as likely to topple over.

Also, stop watering the plant at least a couple of weeks before and after the transplant. That will help ease the finicky behavior Stan warned you about.

By the way, do you have any pictures to share?