New live plant, what to do before putting it in the cage?

[el chamino]

We currently have no live plants in with my sons baby veiled. We just got a ficus, and will be adding a pothos and hibiscus in the near future. What are the best ways to clean the plant? We will also repot the plant, but do we need to try remove all existing soil? What should we use and/or avoid for new soil. Do we need to do anything else while repotting to insure good drainage for it?
Is there anything else that needs to be done?
Sorry, I tend to be a little anal about things. We really appreciate all your help.

 

[Monta]

Perfect plants! I washed my plants with a mild soap wipe all the leaves on both side. had the plants laying on their sides not to get any soap in the soil. This is a great time to do this with the warm weather. Rinse the plants well and repeat 1 or 2 more times.

 

[Kiyomitsu]

i take my plants out of the pot shake off all the dirt i can if your plant came from outside it probably has a kinda stuff in the soil then i wrap in paper like newspaper then put in a plastic bag wrap it tight around the stem i use DAWN antibacterial soap in my bath tube hold the bag with the roots and wash all the leaves with the soap water and then rinse every leaf off also the hibiscus might not do that great if you don't have a plant light i use philips 75w agro-lite its my heat lamp and plant light so if you got that you don't need the incandescent heat bulb oh and i repot mine in other soil and cover the dirt with rocks

 

[Monta]

i take my plants out of the pot shake off all the dirt i can if your plant came from outside it probably has a kinda stuff in the soil then i wrap in paper like newspaper then put in a plastic bag wrap it tight around the stem i use DAWN antibacterial soap in my bath tube hold the bag with the roots and wash all the leaves with the soap water and then rinse every leaf off also the hibiscus might not do that great if you don't have a plant light i use philips 75w agro-lite its my heat lamp and plant light so if you got that you don't need the incandescent heat bulb oh and i repot mine in other soil and cover the dirt with rocks

Yes I agree I use river rocks, about the size of a potato.

 

[el chamino]

Thanks for the suggestions. Does it matter what type of potting soil, as long as it's chemical free?

 

[Kiyomitsu]

i don't feel that it does i use coco fiber with just a little soil in the middle with the rocks covering it up should be fine either way just no CHEMICALS