Tomato plants - repotting advice

[Dolly13]

Hi
I've got 2 huge gardener's delight tomato plants which I bought as plug plants in April. They're both nearly 5ft high and getting bushier, with loads of flower trusts.

I stupidly decided to grow them in a grow bag this year (flat grow bag) - and now they're just too big for it - they're both in the same grow bag!! The problem is that the bamboo stakes don't have enough soil to anchor into so they can't hold the plant upright - and the wind today has made them both lean over till they're nearly at a 45 degree angle!

I want to rescue them both - do you think I can put them into pots now even though they've both got some fruit and flowers? Or will that stop the plants from fruiting due to the shock of being re-potted?

I don't know what to do to help them

Thanks

[BumbleB]

Oh dear, they do sound like they need sorting out. If you can carefully get them into a very large pot and put in a strong cane. I would pinch the tops to stop any further trusses and trim any lower unwated branches. With grow bags, you could add more soil to the top of the bag and use strings against a wall to support the tops.

[teakdesk]

I think any re-potting now will set them back - you will probably not do too much harm but I would try and avoid it.

Canes in a growbag will never work.

You need something anchored outside the growbag to tie the tomatoes to.

Can you tie canes together into a frame and tie to the wall?
In the past I've put wood under the growbag (sticking out at the ends), drilled holes into it and secured canes there with a bit more wood, tied the canes to another horizontal cane.

[COMPOST CORNER]

Try something like these:

Buy Grow Bag Cane Frames online from Suttons

If you can get them under the bag, I used them in previous years and they work really well, the weight of the bag holds the support in place. You may have to remove the cane, then I would suggest its a two person job to get the frame under, or you could just put the ends of the bag into two frame. put canes in, then tie a cane across the top, and use the cross member to support the canes already in place.

[Dolly13]

Thank you all for your brilliant advice.

I think that I'll hold off re-potting them, and will just need to learn from my mistakes and not put the tomatoes in a grow bag next year

I've got the grow bag on some planks of wood and is covered with a growbag sized plastic greenhouse (growbag greenhouse). The wood is anchoring the whole frame down and I was using it to stop the frost getting to the plants and keeps the squirrels and other pests off the plants at night. I keep the flap tied open during the day.

I could use the frame for the greehouse as a way to tie the plants up and when it stays consistently hot (she says with her fingers crossed) I'll take the plastic cover off totally so it'll just leave the frame.

Thanks again.

[Paulottie]

Put your location in your profile as it helps us give advice.

My advice would be to move the growbag out and put it on the ground in a sunny/sheltered spot and drive the cane through the bottom of the bag. GD will do fine outside now...slightly shorter season with less fruit and tougher skins but much better flavour. If you are commited to the tent thingy then just move/ adjust planks so you get then cane through into the ground.

Next year perhaps try a trailing bush cherry tom like Gartenpearle that can be grown in a pot. and may still fit in your tent.

Disagree with Teakdesk (sorry) repotting won't harm them at all...infact they will thrive. To go down this road pull them out put a bit of gravel in a 12" pot put rootball in next to a cane and fill up to 1" from brim mixing in a bit of fresh compost ...cutting off any leaves that would be buried.

I personally hate canes and all that fiddly tying up, I much prefer a horizontal wire; then by tying a string round the rootball at planting time I wind them up like beans to the top wire. (not a moveable option though)

[teakdesk]

Disagree with Teakdesk (sorry) repotting won't harm them at all...infact they will thrive.

No need to be sorry - discussing different views are what gardening and this forum are all about!!

Removing plants established in a growbag will damage roots and I've never come across a plant that doesn't get a check while it re-grows those roots. Root pruning (which is what this effectively is) is beneficial for some plants but annuals such as tomatoes growing in a short season are not one of them.



If the plants were in a pot and being re-potted without root disturbance then I'd agree with you. However, they are in a growbag, with roots spreading out into the bag, so I think it is wrong to say "repotting won't harm them at all...infact they will thrive" and more accurate to say "you will probably not do too much harm but I would try and avoid it".

Putting some difficult plants under stress can help them to start fruiting but a tomato plant fruits very freely and a stressed tomato plant is prone to all sorts of problems and diseases with its fruit.

I'm sure that if re-potted in a proper manner, as you describe, and treated well afterwards that they will recover but nevertheless they will have been checked.

[SMS6]

If you need to increase soil height at the base you could try taking the bottom out of a plant pot, splitting it up the side then wrapping it around the base of the tomato, secure with some tape then fill with soil. I must admit if I'm growing in grow bags I always use a bottomless plant pot or especially bought extra compost holder to help keep the plants more secure and for better depth

[Incy]

You could also double bag them. I had exactly this problem 2 years ago and we carefully (me and OH) slid the growbags onto another unused one then cut out the top of the new one and base of the old. The canes then had twice the depth and the plants got new compost without having their roots disturbed. It's a little fiddly but works.

[Paulottie]

A bit like 'ring culture' SMS6. It is a good method.

Well Teakdesk....how dare you disagree!!!

I just don't think you would disturb the roots too much. You could easily cut the bag in half and even lift it into the pot in the plastic before slipping it out. Toms root from the stem so easily. Cold might check them but in my experiance they normally have a growth spurt when potted on.... even when in flower.

To be fair I wouldn't use growbags in the first place as the real cause of fruit problems normally is associated with irregular watering. Not easy without drip feeds etc.

[Dolly13]

Thanks Paul - sorry forgot to mention that I'm in North London. Unfortunatley, planting out into the ground isn't possible as I don't have the space which is why I'm growing everything in pots or growbags.

Hind sight is a great thing as looking back it was rather daft of me to put the toms in a grow bag

SMS6 and Incy - what great ideas - think I might try both of them - thank you. This way it'll give the poor plants that much needed extra soil.

Think I'm going to leave the plants in the grow bags this year, as weather isn't great currently and worried about stressing the plants out. I'll just use the growhouse frame to help with making a frame for them.

However, next year will not put toms anywhere near a grow bag and will make sure that I've got a proper support frame in place

Thank you all for your advice.

[Alison]

I was going to recomend the ring culture approach but other guys have got in there first! I grow my greenhouse ones in grow bags with a tomato pot with the bottom cut out sunk into the top half of the bag. This works very well and I reuse the pots for years.

[starloc]

You could get some wood planks, and build a frame the size of the growbag, around the growbag, like a raised bd, go about a foot high, and fill in with compost, would just be like a mini raised bed, anchor the canes to the edge of the bed

[IanM]

Why not simply get some more growbags, cut them open at the top and slide them under the originals? It is heavy work but should be straightforward to do.

[rob the roller]

You don't say where in the garden or yard you have placed the growbag.

Is it against a wall, or could it be dragged over and leant against a wall? A bit troublesome, but it should not be difficult to secure a timber frame (e.g a pallet) against the wall and then secure the plants to the frame. If you don't have a pallet, strips of timber can be screwed into the wall.

If there is no wall, you could try leaning 2 pallets together, one vertical (for the tomatoes) and and the other supporting it from behind. You would need some sort of fixing device to ensure it remained stable. Bags of sand or earth (in old compost bags) to weigh it down.

Wooden crates for tiles can be usually picked up for free wherever there is building or kitchen/bathroom renovation going on. They are about 3 feet high and very heavy. There is a place just off the North Circular Road near Brent Cross where these are available if you don't have anything local. You will need help carrying it home and installing it, but once placed on the ground it is unlikely to move in anything less than a hurricane. You can also fill it up with compost or manure (in which case it will need a tractor to move it) and grow vegetables in it.