Remove the Pot and Strip Away the Mix

First, we want to remove the African Violet from the pot it is currently growing in. To do this, grasp your African Violet at the base below the lowest set of leaves and gently pull up. Don’t force it. You may need to wait a day or so to allow your African Violet to come out easily.

Once the plant is removed we want to begin cleaning it off. Simply massage away any mix that is still on the roots. When you are done, you should be looking at a fairly clean root system.

Remove Old and Damaged Leaves

At this point we want to remove any leaves that look damaged or old. These leaves will usually reside on the lower rung of leaves. During a repotting session, it gives you a chance to clean up your plant as well. When removing the leaves, feel free to make the African Violet look the way you want it to.

We like to think of repotting African Violets like maintaining a car. If you never took care of your car, it wouldn’t look as good or last as long as a similar car that was well maintained. The same is true with your African Violet, if you repot it regularly, not only does it get what it needs to survive, but it also will look great year in and year out.

Away with the Flowers as Well

Alright, enough with the analogies. Back to repotting. After we have removed any defective leaves, we want to remove all flowers on the African Violet. We know it sounds counterproductive, but it’s necessary to ensure that the plant focuses only on new roots and leaves, rather than the flowers it’s trying to maintain.

Get Our Your New Pot and Fresh Mix

This is where the fresh new mix and new pot come in. Take your pot - typically the same size pot unless it’s clear the roots were outgrowing the old pot – and fill it with your fresh mix. When filling the pot, don’t compact it too tight. In fact, we want it pretty loose in the pot. Just fill the pot to the top and level it off.

Now that we have our pot filled with mix, it’s time for the final step. Not unlike how you would plant a flower in your yard, make a little hole in the mix for the African Violet to sit down in, and plant it. If any roots look rotted, make a cut above the rot and discard them.

Label Your Freshly Repotted African Violet

Congratulations! You have successfully repotted an African Violet. Write down somewhere (on a label, on the pot, in your phone, etc.) when you did this repotting and remember to repeat this process at least once a year for best results.