Hmm i never thought of that. I will try that. So how do I go about that? Do I saturate the soil with water, then crumble with my hands? Whenever i water it goes straight through! Doesn't give the plant a chance to absorb it.

Soak it in a bowl/bucket of water for several minutes, then gently try to break the clump.

Yes, get all of the old soil off the roots. It may be difficult, looks like it is peat that is hydrophobic. It gets as hard as a brick. Pick it with a bamboo skewer or chopstick, shake off whatever you can. You may have to soak it in a warm water, hydrophobic peat is very difficult to re-wet.

Once you get the soil off, see what condition the roots are. Some will break off with soil, some may be totally dry & dead. Cut all damaged off. Let it sit on some kitchen towels to soak off any extra moisture (Iif any, after washing).

You need to get potting mix that doesn't have so much peat in it. Simple & easy is to get some Cacti&Succulent soil, and a bag of perlite. Mix these 2 in 50/50 ratio. You could use pumice instead if available.

Pot the plant in this mix, if you had to cut some roots off do not water for a day or 2 to let cuts to callus/heal.

Do not overpot. Maybe use a terracotta pot that is bit heavier if you worry about plant tipping. You may have to secure plant until the roots establish themselves - using few big rocks around stem may be enough. After couple of days, move it into best light you have. What is your general location or growing zone?

Let plant recuperate for a while. After, I would do some serious pruning...

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say thank you for your replies.

So I decided to downsize the pot as the one I had shown you was much bigger than the original size it was bought in. I read something along the lines that plants do not like to be housed from a much bigger pot.

Secondly I tried to take off as much soil as possible from the roots.. some of the smaller ones did snap off while trying to remove the soil. Worried that I'd do further damage, i didn't completely remove the soil, but i say 70% of it. It freed them up a bit, allowing them to dangle around and do what they want ^_^.

The Jade has a some well-established bigger roots, in comparison to the smaller ones which snapped off. I'm not sure how to analyse the root health but the roots were a dark brown/reddish and they felt hard/firm.

I'm just wondering, how can I tell if they are dead? There were a few which were lighter in colour, and I assumed these were the dead ones, as the majority were of that darker-reddish brown colour.

Also @Rina_Ontario, I am currently living in London, U.K.

Thanks again for your replies, Im excited to see if the plant will pick up again. Fingers crossed.

For this you may try the hose sprayer to get the remaining 30% off. It's a very good sized plant and the roots should be able to take a beating.

If the old soil didn't want to get off the roots, it could be very likely hydrophobic pet - it doesn't allow water thru and the roots may not be able to 'drink'. It is best to get it off - eww suggested spraying with the hose sprayer. Many of us do that. If you can't because you are in confined space, fill bowl with warm water and keep swishing root ball in it until soil softens up. As you can see, it is better to get it off.

Healthy roots are usually lighter in color and fat, and somewhat hard. Some could be almost white, some brownish. Younger roots-feeder roots are usually lighter and finer. They should regrow quite easily in good conditions. Skinny, dark & brittle are usually dried up (but even thick root could be dry-you'll be able to tell). Very soft, mushy, dark, and sometimes even smelly roots are rotting.

Plants could be potted in any size of pot, but if big and one is using water retaining soil, roots will stay too wet for too long. Lots of soil takes long time to dry up. Using well draining mix and having drainage holes helps a lot. Last thing is aesthetic - plant in oversized pot really doesn't look right...