I too hope to be moving this yr. and plan to borrow a horse trailer to move my potted plants.

With big enough pots, you can use a cage or stake or a tripod with a drop cord but sprawling on a 12 gal pot for indeterminates doesn't sound so good to me.

Best of luck.

Just stake them instead though you will need to prune. A 5 gal container has more soil than a single SFG just use Mel's mix.

Nice photo by Darthrader.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/sqfoot/msg0310241914233.html

Large pots, sure they'll work. But I agree with Dave that using sprawl will not. You don't need to stake the plant IN the pot tho it is definitely possible but some sort of outside the pot support system works well too. 7 plants - if you don't mind a few $$, look at the farm stores for the big utility tubs with rope handles. They come in various sizes and can handle a support and move (with help ;).

Do you have any idea of the time frame you'll be working with? For example right when production would hit its peak or later? If not moving until late summer or early fall they may be pretty dormant anyway and could be pruned back and moved easily. Would you be moving to a different zone? One where taking rooted cuttings of the plants with you would help?

Just some ideas to consider. Good luck.

Dave

Thanks everyone :)

We are going to put our house on the market so I really have no clue if it will be one month or at all even.

Thanks for the utility tub suggestion! That looks like it would be a bit easier to maneuver than a regular pot. Its also pretty cheap compared to the plastic 12 gal pots.

Is there a good way to stake or cage it inside the pot? It seems if we had to move them, it would be hard to if the plants were trellised to something in the ground.

Also, would it work to have two plants share a tub as long as the trellis was adequate?

Just a thought and not sure if it would work but what if you put the tubs on a square of plywood and then mounted a cage to it. You could then move as one big unit if the need arose. It would probably be a bit difficult but with 2 or 4 big guys I think it could be done. Of course if I put this dilemma to dh he would make some kind of wheeled platform so he could roll them right on the truck.

Also I have seen some plastic tubs with the handles on sale on Target and Meijers for under $5. You could also get at Wally World but we refuse to shop there.

Kim

Thats a good idea Kim. I started thinking along those lines right after I posted, but didn't think about attaching it to a plywood bottom.

I forgot to mention before, if we move, it will only be about 30-40 miles away. Chances are, if we sell this house, we will temporarily live with the inlaws while we buy a new place, so that would mean two moves.

I'll look at Target and Walmart for the tubs, hopefully we can find them inexpensively.

The tubs will hold a tripod of stakes (somewhat flexible like the green plastic bamboo stakes you see at WM). You can insert them down into the soil and then join them at the top and if you drill a small hole in the side of the tub where the stake meets the side, you can use plastic tie wraps to tie the stake off to the side of the tub. Only way it will tip is if the whole tub falls over. ;)

Dave

Now that sounds like a fairly simple idea! I like simple :)

Question though...and pardon my inexperience lol....how would you train the plants up a tripod? Would this setup work with only one plant per tub?

How would you suggest keeping the tops of the stakes together? I'd imagine I would come up with a brilliant idea that would hold together just long enough to bust apart at the right time sending tomatoes everywhere (granted, I ever get tomatoes on these plants after fussing with them so much lol)

The professional gardening industry makes pots to 60 or 65 gallons. Big pots are used with trees more often. The advantage is that they are made to last for many many years out in the hot sun. Most plastics break down in the uv light.

Be careful. as the pot get bigger the weight becomes too much to move.

I find the best way to grow in pots is to allow the roots to grow out of the bottom of the pot into the ground. This gives a bigger plant. When you move just tear it loose and the roots will break off. This also allows for a smaller pot.

jojomojo,

How would you suggest keeping the tops of the stakes together? ~~~ In a thread named "Attractive support for Brandywines?" on this page I posted a pic of a banboo tripod with a drop cord. The poles are real bamboo ~6' tall by 1/4\-3/8" dia. from Home Depot. I think a pack of 6 was 2 bucks. The poles are shoved full depth in the pots and the tripod is held together with very heavy duty wire twist ties (from a new hose purchase) sorta carefully wound in such a way as to bind all very tightly. I don't think it would work just twisted and spread. I'm sure somewhere on the web there are instructions to do it properly with twine. The top was tight but the poles were still too flimsy for my taste so a piece of twine bound from one pole to the other stiffened it up nicely and made a one rung cage. The drop cord is tied with a boline knot to the base of the plant, wound around the plant and tied at the top with a simple slip hitch to hold tight and take up the slack you'll need to let out as you make more winds around the plant as it grows. My pots are pretty tall and the poles full depth so I think it'll hold but Dave's idea of anchoring the sides is sound.

Woohoo, after skipping last year...It's mater growing time

I staked in pots, no problem - but, f you have really tall maters, you must anchor the stake with twine to the ground in at least 3 places about 120 degrees apart (use 12" nails to drive into the ground) or they will blow over with a good wind gust.

Mater branches are supported by the single stake, with the use of that velcro garden tape.

The one in the middle is 9' tall at the time the pic was taken.

{{gwi:1344421}}

After thinking about this a while, and checking out the garden centers for pots/support I decided I'll use big pots & stakes.

Any tips on making the stake sturdy in the pot? I wouldn't want it to be anchored to the ground because the whole idea is to make it mobile.

A tripod setup might be easier, but I don't understand how I would train the plant up it lol I've never grown...well, anything before. Literally, how do you get the plant to grow up the 3 poles? Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, I just can't visualize it.

Also, what size pot should I use? I started thinking that I will use regular planters instead of tubs just for the looks. Since we'll be showing our house and this area is open to the road, I want it to look nice. The 20" pots are $20, 18" are only $13. Could I go with the slightly smaller pots or will it make that big of a difference?

Thanks again for all your help! I thought I had this all figured out the other day. I was going to move them all to big plastic buckets (free), move them to my sisters house and just move the trellis (conduit w/nylon over rebar) BUT....she was worried it would be too tacky in her backyard. She realized she was turning down free organic produce and changed her mind, but I think I'll just keep them in pots anyway lol I grew these babies from seed....you all understand lol

~~~ A tripod setup might be easier, but I don't understand how I would train the plant up it lol I've never grown...well, anything before. Literally, how do you get the plant to grow up the 3 poles? Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question, I just can't visualize it. ~~~

I'm not training the plants up the poles rather, useing a drop line wound around the plant, secured permanently to the bottom of the plant and with a hitch (like the loops when tying your shoes) at the top of the tripod. It is working very well.

Might try re-reading my 2nd post in this thread.

Hope it helps.

You just tie the main stems off to the 3 posts as they grow. They don't climb it all on their own as pole beans do so you have to tie them off as they grow.

Why not just grow some determinates in containers this year? That would solve most all your problems ;)

The size of the pot will make a BIG difference with indeterminates. You can do it in the small ones but it means much more work for you in terms of watering, feeding, pruning, etc. and reduced production. Again, determinates or semi-determinates will have less problems for you this year. Just a suggestion. ;)

Dave

i hate to be the bearer of bad news, BUT the roots on these tomato plants growing in the ground are HUGE.
I don't think you will be able to transplant full grown tomato plants without them dying. Just my opinion.
I think it would have been different if you planted the seedlings in the pots to begin with & then moved them.
Everyone that has responded to you is missing the point that you have full grown tomato plants growing in the ground that you want to relocate to a large containter.

Everyone that has responded to you is missing the point that you have full grown tomato plants growing in the ground that you want to relocate to a large containter.

Where did you get that from Mike? Perhaps I missed it but I find no info that these plants are already growing in the ground with HUGE roots. Jojo had planned (past tense) to plant them SFG style and trellis them but since moving has changed his/her mind and is going for containers.

On the other hand, if you are right and they have been growing in the ground for some time and do have huge root balls then transplanting them to pots would be very difficult.

Still, it doesn't hurt to discuss the options. ;)

Dave

You are both partly correct. Planned is past tense....referring to method of trellising though.

These plants (small for the season because I started them kind of late) are essentially in a large container already. Its a bottomless SFG bed (very frilable "soil") sitting on top of sandstone. So, while I do expect to find a massive root ball with some of them, as long as I take a large portion of the "mel's mix" I'm thinking it should work out okay.

If it doesn't, well at least I tried right? Its better than leaving them behind to die a lonely death lol I figured if I was going to do anything with them, its best to try it now before they get bigger and need trellising (they aren't quite there yet). Also better now before they are bearing fruit (at the moment, they just have a few buds).

I really appreciate everyones suggestions!

And...a bit off topic, but I thought I'd mention it - I have been eyeing the "velcro ties" at gardensalive (30ft for $15) but couldn't justify that price. I just found the exact same thing at Smiths (Kroger?) for $1.99 :D