Story time. HELP
Hello everyone. Going to try and make this short and sweet. Emphasis on try.
I got this plant back in the summer of 2020. First photo in the white pot is the first time I repotted it. It was doing great! For some reason that I cannot remember, I repotted it into a smaller terracotta pot. It hasn’t been repotted SINCE then. I’d say… 4-5 years since it’s had new soil.
I always watered it accordingly, it always got the right amount of light, I always dusted it to make sure the pores didn’t clog up and it always sprouted new leaves so I figured I was doing pretty alright.
As the years went on, I moved a couple of times and kept it in the same pot, doing the same things as I had been doing. I eventually noticed that there was tiny little white roots growing from the bottom drain hole and I was like holy shit I need to repot this bad boy asap! But, I never got around to it. It kept popping out new leaves and seemed totally fine so I left it as is.
Fast forward to 2025, I had taken it to my in-laws because I had just adopted two kittens and they were going to town on my poor plant so I had to make that move. My mother in law did the best she could with keeping it alive..
For a little over a year and a half, it’s been collecting dust, long haired Germans Shepard hairs, fallen leaves and who knows what else- in the soil.
I’m now living with the plant again and I am so very sad looking at it. It still sprouts new leaves all the time! But it’s in desperate need of a new pot and new fresh soil.
I recently had my first baby last year and he’s going to be 9 months old so my first priority has definitely not been this poor plant.. I kept telling my boyfriend I need to show it some love asap and I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Okay, so now, it’s today, real time.. I took this poor plant outside because I thought it had gnats. I wanted to leave it out there for a couple of days to make sure it wasn’t the culprit. (We’re currently trying to figure out where these stupid little gnats are coming from) anyways, I took the plant outside, took some photos of it because I wanted to come on here and ask advice about getting it to not be so “leggy” idk the correct term for it but I just don’t like how far apart the leaves are so I wanted to ask the Reddit world what they thought. In the midst of me taking those photos.. a nice big strong gust of wind knocked over the poor plant on to the floor and the pot shattered. It was so light from the old soil that its weight couldn’t even hold up to the wind! Completely my idiotic fault because I left it on top of a table on the porch. I went inside for one freakin minute and I heard it shatter when I was inside and this is what I ran out to..
Now..
That was my long story. I attached before photos of what it used to look like, photos of what it looks like now with the dust, hairs, bad soil etc and I’ve also posted the aftermath of it falling in the floor.
My questions are: is it okay?! 😩😭 Will it survive?! How big of a pot does it need? Do I snip the tops off to have it grow closer together?!
It obviously sustained some damage because the “plant blood” started leaking from random spots after the fall. (I know it’s not really plant blood)
I’m going to order all my soil mix tonight and get a pot for it tomorrow! Will it be okay until then?
Thank you for tuning in. Kind advice is appreciated. Ask any questions you may have. 🪴