big rocks at the bottom of pot

[climate change virginia 172]

hey yall about a year ago i put rocks at the bottom of my pot for one of my date palms. I was wondering how I can take the plant out of the pot without snapping the roots. there are roots coming out of the bottom of the pot weaving through the rocks.

[JohnAndSancho 1,646]

All i can think of is cutting the pot. 

[Silas_Sancona 8,126]

Unless you're talking rocks that are 4-7" in size, lifting it out of the pot shouldn't be an issue if the roots have knitted to the rocks / soil.. Even so, some will likely fall off.. Shouldn't hurt the roots. 

Little different story if the root ball hasn't fully filled out yet, then you may loose some soil / disturb some roots when transplanting.. Back fill any empty spaces w/ new soil once you get it into a bigger pot / the ground ( if planting out ).  Dates are tough, breaking a couple roots when transplanting shouldn't hurt them.

[GoatLockerGuns 752]

On 1/29/2022 at 8:11 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Dates are tough, breaking a couple roots when transplanting shouldn't hurt them.

Concur.  I have broken many a Phoenix dactylifera root transplanting them with no real issues. 

Also, if you are worried about root damage taking them out of the pot, and you do not want to break the pot, you could carefully turn the pot upside down while you hold the palm and gently pull it out.  I do this quite often when I am transplanting palms and worried about the roots getting "stuck" in the bottom.

[Steve Mac 1,581]

You said it was a date palm right.

Cut the roots off the bottom, rip the plant out the top, she'll be right mate.

On 1/30/2022 at 1:11 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Dates are tough, breaking a couple roots when transplanting shouldn't hurt them.

Probably