The "Tropical Garden" at SGH, before our dig!	The "Tropical Garden" at SGH, September 28, 2009, after digging the most precious of the plants out for the winter months. The plants will spend the winter in our office or greenhouses.
The plants from the Tropical Garden out of the ground and ready for repotting. Laying them out helped in planning for what pots would be required; roots were well hydrated and it was a nicely over cast afternoon. Had it been a warm, sunny day it would have been important get the plants into pots right after digging from the garden.	Creating your own soil mix can make or break the experience of growing potted plants! Most potting soil these days contains almost nothing other than peat - i.e. these soil lacks the necessary balance to allow plants to sustain themselves. The more healthy the soil, the easier it is to keep your plants flourishing. A quality soil provides structure, available nutrients (that the plant has to work a little to extract!) and a balance between free drainage and healthy water retention.
Coco-Earth hydrating in a wheel barrow.	The Sage Garden custom tropical soil mix. This mix includes about 15% Diatomite, 30% Peat Moss, 30% Coco-Earth and 25% Sea Soil compost. The mix is well draining & aerated, provides great slow-release nutrition and slow-release moisture.
Variegated Reed Grass before any of the excess soil had been tapped away.	Variiegated Reed Grass, lifted from the garden, with excess soil tapped off the roots.
Repotting is often an opportunity for multiply your plants. Here is an ideal shoot to divide off of the Variegated Reed Grass.	Dwarf Orinico banana in the garden, awaiting transplant to a container for the winter. Upper leaves are a little shredded by a wind storm, and will be cut away as part of the transplanting process.
These "pups" from the banana could be removed during the transplanting process. This is generally considered a good idea, allowing the main plant to be the focus on developing into a fruiting specimen. The "pups" can be repotted individually to grow up into big plants in their own right.	Banana with roots exposed. Loose soil has been tapped away.
Apricot Tree Tomato being dug from our tropical garden. Notice that the shovel is not cutting through any of the large roots and "scoops" the plant nicely from below.	Apricot Tree Tomato after large leaves have been trimmed. Many leafy plants moving from garden to pots indoors will shed during the transition; trimming away up to 50% of the leaves at time of repotting will reduce stress and encourage new growth once indoors, as opposed to shedding.
9 month old papaya awaiting transfer from garden to pot.	The papaya is one of the more delicate items in the tropical garden, so when starting to lift the roots, my first dig is quite a distance from the trunk. I wanted to be sure I was not going to damage any of the root system as I dug.
Papaya showing roots after one side of the plant has been lifted from the garden.	The roots of the papaya were lifted by digging around all sides of the plant.
The roots of the papaya have been carefully exposed, with attention paid to digging out the entire root system. Loose dirt has been tapped off, and the plant is being gently lifted from the earth.	The Papaya is set into its new container; attention is being paid to letting the roots drop freely to the bottom of the pot and soil will be gently added around the root system to re-anchor the plant.
Papaya being repotted into its winter container.	Papaya repotted into our tropical soil mix. Note that the plant has been repotted to the same level as it stood in the garden.
One of the most important considerations when it comes to choosing a container is drainage. This pot has "optional" holes that have been punched out to maximize drainage.	Papaya tree happily repotted from the garden.
Tahitian Flame Ginger being dug from the garden.	Tahitian Flame Ginger after lifting from the garden, with soil tapped off the root system.
Tahitian Flame Ginger sitting in the new pot that will be home for winter. When repotting, choose pots that comfortably fit all of the roots, both in terms of depth and width.	Tahitian Flame Ginger happily repotted.
The Strawberry Guava held much of the soil around its root system during the dig. In this case, it is better to leave the soil in place.	Strawberry Guava waiting for repotting.