Wonderful acquisition! Great big plant!

I just re-potted my 33 year-old Christmas Cactus, which hadn't been re-potted for several years.
It was a chore getting the old soil out of the roots, but I just blasted it with a hose and worked
at it. The night of the re-potting, I brought the plant indoors to keep the pot and the mix at a
slightly warmer temperature. If you want, use lukewarm water to water the plant in.

I was glad of the old woody trunk on my plant because it gave me something to hold. During the
process, I only broke one small piece off the plant; and I think it was ready to go, since it had
roots emerging from the nodes - now I'll root it in its own container.

Here are a few pics:

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Josh

Hey Josh!
I saw your post... You did a great job repotting your CC. I too was surprised at the size of the roots, but it sure is a healthy looking plant!

I'm thinking of maybe soaking mine to try and get the mix wet so I can get the soil off easier. I just know if I take the hose to it, it'll throw the plant into shock. It's definitely too big for the sink, but maybe the tub will work...

Any thoughts on plopping it into wet mix after rinsing the old soil off the roots?

Jeni

Wet mix is just fine!
My mix was moist, and then I thoroughly watered the plant into the mix with the hose.

Soaking the rootball will work fine :-)

Josh

Josh, how much of your mix is actual soil? I know in the past you've mentioned you use a mostly bark based mix, but I'm curious as to how much of the old soil you removed from your CC when you repotted it. It really looks like the roots were holding on to a good portion of soil. I cringe at thinking how rough removing any of it would be on the roots, especially if you had to "dig" in there with your fingers!

I think I'll try repotting my CC tonight given how mild our weather was today. I'm certain I'll have to really work at getting the old soil out of/off the roots. Even then, I don't know if I'll be able to get it all out but once it's in the new pot and mix, I'm sure it'll be worth it.

BTW - your bonsai CC is really cute!

Jeni

Great photos of the process! Did you root prune the plant a lot too or just trim it up?

Penny, I only trimmed the longest roots.

Jeni, I took that pic about two-thirds of the way through the bare-rooting process.
I kept going! I had to dig, wrestle, tear open that root-mass and then shove the hose
in there and start blasting from the inside. It took me at least twenty minutes to get
the old soil out - and, yes, I tried to remove every bit that I could.

Josh

Bless that lady's heart she had it a long time and she probable needed the money to live on. my CC dos not do to well I am going to change the medium.
Thanks for sharing.

Surprisingly enough, getting the old soil off the roots wasn't as tough a job as I anticipated. I'm not sure what kind of soil she used, but it was saturated (like a sponge, I could squeeze it and water would drip down my arms) and had the consistency of clay. On the plus side, when I sprayed it, the soil melted away like butter. Also: What I thought was one big plant turned out to be three plants - two CC's and a TC. Pics below!

The whole plant minus the pot:
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And the surprise that came when all the soil was washed away (and roots were untangled):
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The TC all potted up (plastic):
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The larger of the CC's all potted up (plastic):
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The smaller of the CC's all potted up (clay):
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And a back shot of the smaller CC which leans terribly to one side (like its ex-pot mates):
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And the whoopsies:
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Now I wait to see how well they take to the whole ordeal.

Jeni
ps: The lady is very sweet and green thumb'd indeed! In addition to this one, she had a larger CC and a smaller one she'd started from cuttings.

Look at that!
Wonderful job of bare-rooting, and I'm glad it was easier than expected ;-)
With a bit of trimming, that leaning CC will be back in full shape in no time!
Just keep them warm, and moist while the roots re-establish themselves,
add some fertilizer in a reduced dose in a week or two, and those plants will
respond perfectly. I'll be surprised if anything worse than minor wilting occurs.

Bravo!

Josh

Wow, 33 years old!! Thats cool.

Thanks, Josh!

It was a mixed blessing for sure. The soil was unbelievably wet, and I kept thinking "how did the roots not rot away before now?" and then worrying that they might just do that still. But it sure did rinse away easily enough!

All three plants seem to be leaning, too, though I'm thinking it's due to how they were potted up. I'll give the plants a few days/a week or so to settle down and then might take to trimming them. Nervous Nelly that I am, I don't want to overload them by doing too much all at once.

BTW - the mix you helped me establish for the cuttings (and these plants) is drying out nicely. I potted them up about a week ago or so today. I checked them periodically throughout the week and yesterday morning the dowels came out dry. I watered them this morning. Should I keep this up or should I let them go dry for a day or two in between waterings?

Jeni

Hey, Jeni!
Keep up the watering, right on through the bloom.
If they don't bloom, just slow down on the watering around January,
and resume when you notice an increase in growth.

Josh