How to Transplant Tomatoes

Choosing healthy tomato plants from the greenhouse is only the first hurdle you cross when growing tomatoes in the home garden. Bringing them home and hardening them is a step in the right direction. How you transplant them often makes the biggest difference in how well they grow.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tomato seedlings
• Compost/fertilizer

1. Harden your tomato plants by setting them outside during the day to accustom them to outside conditions. For the first few days, set them in a sheltered location away from direct afternoon sun. Gradually move them to an open area that receives more direct sun.

2. Choose an overcast, or even misty, day to transplant your tomatoes. If you expect hot sunny weather for several days and you must transplant your tomato plants, do so in the evening after the sun has fallen close to the horizon.

3. Dig a hole that is 8 to 10 inches deep and about a foot in diameter. Set the soil aside, since you will need this soil to cover the roots of your seedlings.

4. Add a quart of compost to the bottom of the hole and mix it in with some of the existing soil. You can use commercial fertilizer in the hole, but caution must be taken to mix throughly. Follow directions for the amount of fertilizer to use, since it can burn the young roots of your tomato plants. If you plan to use commercial fertilizer, it is safer to wait until you have transplanted the seedlings and then dig a circular trench a foot away from the plants and mix the fertilizer into the soil. The fertilizer will dissolve with each watering and bring nutrients to the roots of the plants.

5. Pour 2 to 4 quarts of fresh water into the hole and wait for it to sink into the ground.

6. Remove the tomato seedling from the peat pot or flat you purchased it in and lay the plant down on its side in the hole. Gently bend the stem of the seedling upward toward the soil level of the garden area.

7. Using your free hand, gently fill in the hole with the soil you removed, being sure to firm the soil around the tomato seedling, covering the stem. Pack down firmly but gently. You should now have about 4 or 5 inches of the tomato seedling protruding above the soil.

8. Water the new transplant, making sure the water penetrates the soil and does not run off. Your tomato seedlings need plenty of water to get a good start.

9. Check your tomato plants several times a day for the first week. If the soil around the plants is excessively dry, water on a daily basis. Your transplanted seedlings are working hard to build a strong root system, and they need plenty of water.

Tips & Warnings

• Transplanting tomatoes "on their side" will build a strong root system. The tomato plant will send out roots along the stem and will be a much stronger plant than those that are transplanted by only covering the root ball.
• Within a week or two, you will begin to see new leaf growth, and your tomato plants will begin to grow taller and stronger.