An elephant's foot occasionally needs pruning and repotting. Here you can find out everything you need to know about pruning and repotting.

Due to its slow growth, the elephant foot does not need to be repotted often

In the wild, the elephant's foot (Beaucarnea recurvata) can become a giant up to 100 years old, which lives up to its name. But like his gentle namesake, he doesn't let himself be rushed. Very leisurely, it grows up to 1.5 meters high as a houseplant. Occasional repotting is an absolute must. Because even an elephant's foot needs a new shoe if the old one has become too small or a small trimming with scissors if it wants to go too high. We'll walk you through the process of repotting and pruning the elephant tree step-by-step.

Cutting the elephant's foot: When and how to prune properly?

The bottle-shaped trunk ends in one to three shoots with long, narrow leaves at the top. These leaves can be more than a meter long and quickly lead to space problems in many an apartment. If you cut off the leaves, however, brown tips form. If you leave the leaves long and they hit the walls and floors, you face the same problem. The result is usually the use of scissors to remove the unsightly tips, but this only causes more of the leaves to change color. If your houseplant has taken on too elephantine features, the entire trunk is sawn through to make room for new shoots to sprout.

The correct cut for the elephant foot needs to be learned

Cutting the elephant's foot: when is the right time?

If the elephant's foot slowly starts to wake up from its hibernation in spring, the ideal time has come for a pruning.

Cutting the elephant's foot: What's the best way to cut it?

To shorten your indoor greenery, proceed as follows:

  • Use sharp and clean scissors (or knife)
  • Saw through the trunk at the desired height
  • Disinfect and seal interface

Tip: A protective layer of wax on the fresh woundprevents the area from drying out too much. Until the formation of new shoots with leaves, the elephant tree draws on its internal nutrient stores in the trunk to compensate for the lack of photosynthesis.

Repotting elephant's foot: substrate, timing and procedure

Although the elephant's foot isn't exactly the Speedy Gonzales of indoor plants, from time to time it too will want to move to a new pot with fresh soil. There is new space for roots and the basis for he althy upward growth.

Repotting elephant's foot: Which substrate is suitable?

An elephant's foot prefers a rather nutrient-poor bed for its roots. The soil should also be loose and well-drained so that waterlogging does not form so quickly. It is suitable succulent or cactus soil. If you prefer to mix it yourself, you can use a substrate made of two parts potting soil and one part sand. The additional mixing in of perlite loosens the whole thing up again and improves the water storage capacity.

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Repot elephant's foot: How much bigger does the new pot have to be?

The pot should be large enough to leave a space of two centimeters between the edge of the pot and the stem. If the new pot is too big, so much energy is put into root formation that the upper part of the plant quickly falls short. It is best to use a shallow planter. The substrate dries out faster and the risk of waterlogging is reduced. Since the elephant tree is a shallow root, it does not need the space below. It is also important that a pot with a drainage hole is used. In this way, water can be poured through without waterlogging.

Repotting an elephant's foot: when is the right time?

The point in time when a new pot becomes necessary can be identified using two criteria. If any of the following conditions apply, repot:

  • The root ball is pushed out of the pot
  • The trunk has the same circumference as the pot

This is about every three to five years. Then it's time to get into a new pot. It is best to repot between the end of February and mid-March.

The elephant foot is a popular houseplant

Repotting Elephant's Foot: Instructions

Repotting is a snap if you follow these simple instructions:

  1. Remove plant from old pot
  2. Remove roots carefully from old substrate
  3. Damage, dead or diseased root parts are removed with a clean, sharp knife
  4. Fill the pot with some substrate
  5. Place elephant tree on substrate
  6. Fill with substrate until the stem is covered by a maximum of 2 - 3 cm
  7. Press substrate lightly
  8. Water until the substrate is evenly moist

The elephant tree can then move to its designated place. You can find out how to care for your elephant tree here. Also, see this article for information on how to fertilize elephant trees.

Category:

Houseplants