How to Loosen Root Ball and Remove Dirt from Large Root Bound Plant

When a plant or tree grows in a pot for long enough, this plant’s roots will eventually grow around the inner edge of the pot, intertwining itself with other roots forming a tight circle. When the plants’ roots do this it is called being pot bound (also root bound).

This is bad for the tree as when the trunk of the tree grows it could become choked by the roots crossing and wrapping around the trunk(like a tightening corset).

Unfortunately, if you grow plants in pots, having root-bound plants is something that will happen eventually. Whether you want to keep the plant in the same pot or you are moving the plant to a larger pot or to somewhere in the ground, you will need to remove the tight root ball to ensure that the tree can grow properly.

Reasons to Clear and Loosen Large Tree Root Balls

There are a few reasons why you would need to clear the tight root balls for large trees:

• If your plant is outgrowing the pot, and you want to re-plant somewhere else out of a pot.
• If you want to move your plant from a smaller pot to a larger pot.
• If you want to keep the plan in the same pot but it is outgrowing the pot because of all the plant roots.

How to Remove Root Bound Plant From Pot

How to get a large root bound plant out of a pot in the safest way is:

1. Lay the pot on its side.
2. If the pot is made of flexible material like plastic, push downwards on the edges of the pot to start loosening up the roots connection to the side of the pot.
3. Start pulling the plant by the base of the stem out of the pot. Keep gentling pulling the plant stem as you roll the pot over.
4. If the plant and pot are light enough, you can hold the pot upside down between your legs and pull the stem downwards.

Eventually, the plant will come out of the pot following the above steps.

If your root bound plant is in a ceramic pot, then you will need to be careful and take some extra precautions to save your pot. Try either laying the pot on a blanket or on the grass to make the working surface softer for the pot. This should reduce the change of the pot cracking.

How to Clear Root-Bound Roots

The steps that I work through when loosen up the root-bound roots, to clear them of dirt are as follows:

1. Start by squeezing the root ball to loosen up the roots and dirt. Keep doing this as you spin the root ball around in your hand, and work your way from the top to the bottom to the top again.
2. If the root ball is large you will need to use the weight of your whole body and push the root ball against the ground. Keep rolling the plant root ball over while doing this.
3. If there are any obvious knots of roots, start trying to work them out and de-tangle them. If this is not possible just use a pair of secateurs and cut the problem roots. Just remember you should let the cuts heal first for 3 to 7 days before watering the plant again.
4. Keep doing this step until all of the dirt has been removed and the excess roots have been cut so the plant can fit into the same-sized pot or smaller-sized pot.
5. If you have a root-bound plant that was growing in a large pot, you will need to get physical with the plant to remove all of the dirt. Grab the base of the tree trunk and start banging it against the ground.
6. If you are planting the large tree back into the pot you will need to cut and remove some roots so it doesn’t go back to overgrowing the pot again. Otherwise you can leave all of the roots in tact if it is going to be planted into the ground.