Can you transplant tomatoes? I cannot have a garden this year

[yy4me]

because of work to be done on my yard. I still bought a 6 pack of Big Boys and put them in 3 large pots, 2 in each, with the hope that I could eventually find a spot in the yard to plant them. Now it looks like the project will be delayed and I will have to leave them in the pots for a while longer. Is there any hope that, when the work is done, that they will grow?

I know the pots are too small for two plants each but they are the biggest I have.

Ideas would be appreciated. I have poor sun exposure except for the area that will be torn up to repair a large retaining wall belonging to my neighbor. There is no way for the job to be done unless from my back yard.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. I transplanted some over the weekend. I had put them in 6 inch pots

after I brought them home and have now moved them into big pots (about the size of a 5 gal. bucket) where they will stay. They are looking good, still blooming and the little marble sized tomatoes that they had when I transplanted are still growing. So far, so good.

When you transplant, you can strip the leaves from the lower part of the stem and place them deeper in the pot than they were growing before and they will grow roots all along the stem where it comes in contact with the soil. A better root system usually means a better plant.

Good luck.

[nc4bo]

2. Get some trash cans/tupperware-type storage boxes from the dollar store...

and use those, split your doubles so they each have their own pots. But I'd think in the really big tupperware type thingies, you can put in 2. Drill some holes at the bottom and/or on the sides of the trash can, put good potting soil in and they could be happy there.

You can move the pots around when you need them out of the way.

I noticed that tomato plants are really quite the survivors. Some droopy, root bound ones we had in peat pots did great after we planted them in the ground.



Not sure how big this pot is but you can see a full size orange traffic cone behind it to generalize the size of the pot. It's about to overflow the standard tomato cage thing too. The tomato plant is HUGE already so you really should get a nice big can/pot/tub/bucket for it.

But I'm a beginner and definitely no expert, I just want to get things done, done well and done economically.

[madeline_con]

3. You can get 5 gallon buckets from restaurants cheap or free.

They're plenty big enough for the whole season.