My now deceased son gave me a rubber tree plant about 10 years ago, I repotted it about two years ago to a larger pot. I used a name brand potting soil but it has become hard as a rock. My problem is it's going to kill the plant but I can't get it off of the roots, it's pretty solid. I just transplanted another plant that I had potted using the same soil but had to literally beat the rock hard soil off even after wetting it. I don't want to kill the rubber tree plant, any suggestions? It's fairly big, over 5 ft tall so its not overly easy to work with. Thank you!
Probably your potting soil contains too much clay and too little organics. If it's a clay, then you should never mix it with a sand, because clay+sand mix is effectively a concrete. Clay soils can be improved by mixing in organics, like compost, manure or peat. But better avoid using clay in containers, if it is not essential for the plant species. I think, you should soak the soil for several hours until it is saturated with water, then it should turn somewhat softer and it may be possible to get the root ball out from the pot and then gently remove some clay from the root ball. Do not try to remove all the clay, especially if it is very hard to remove it, you may cause too much damage to the roots, when trying this. Running water from a hose may help to remove the soil. Instead of a high pressure washer try to gently "drill" holes into the hardened soil from the sides by pushing the end of the running tap water hose against the root ball. If the soil is very very hard and you can't finish breaking enough clay away from the rootball within one day, then just plant the tree into the soft ground outdoors for night (if there is not too cold for the plant; select shaded spot for this), and continue next day. Use a good potting mix, rich of organics (compost), when repotting into larger container. Don't water it soon after replanting, if you soaked it a lot for getting rid of the clay. It's enough, if your new mix is moist before repotting. You may spray leaves with water for some days after repotting, if the air is too dry.
Thank you so much! I'll start working on it this afternoon, I want to get it repotted and healthy as soon as possible. I was pretty upset at the low quality of the mix I used to pot it two years ago because it was a brand name and it should not have hardened like this. I'm repotting all of the plants I used that soil for but this particular plant so special to me.
In houseplant courses I took years ago, we were always told to not use the soil straight from the bag, but to mix it with something like perlite to keep the soil from compacting and to add something like like peat moss to absorb moisture.
