Can You Replant Tomato Vines?

Tomato Plant Types

• There are two types of tomato plants: Determinates and indeterminates. Determinate varieties produce blossoms on the ends of the plant's stems. This stops the stem from growing and produces a bush-like tomato plant. Indeterminates, however, produce blooms on the sides of the vine, so the vines never stop growing throughout the season and produce fruit more or less steadily throughout the growing season until the first frost.

Determinates

• Because determinate varieties produce fruit all at once, unless you are transplanting fairly early and have enough time left for them to produce a full crop, you may find it's not worth the effort. Transplant shock may sufficiently delay blooming or fruit production that occurs during the heat of summer. Tomato plants do not produce lycopene and carotene, chemicals that ripen the fruit, at temperatures in the 90s. If nighttime temperatures don't go below 85 degrees long enough to allow the plant to produce sufficient lycopene and carotene green fruit may take too long to ripen and rot on the vine. If determinates miss their harvest season, they don't produce any more fruit.

Indeterminates

• Because indeterminates continue to produce throughout the season, the vine can survive the heat and continue to produce tomatoes into the autumn months. This gives them time to recover from being transplanted and to produce a second crop after the nights begin to cool again. Indeterminates are the best candidates to be moved after they are in the ground.

Container Transplanting

• Transplanting is tricky. If moving a container tomato plant to another larger container or into the ground, be careful to use a knife or thin blade to loosen the root ball from the walls of the container. Place in the new container or in a hole in the ground with plenty of soft soil. Mulch around the roots so the soil will hold moisture, but allow for free drainage. The soil must never be soggy. Container tomato roots are heated by the pot. Watering almost daily may be needed to keep the soil from drying out.

Garden Transplanting

• In the ground, the plant's root ball may be quite large and extend out past the crown of the plant and well down into the soil. Dig up all of the root ball and plant in a larger hole in the new location. The new site must be well-drained and get more than six hours of sunshine per day. Fill around the roots with organic rich soil mulch to hold moisture. Deep water the new plant.

Fertilizers

• A banana peel placed in the hole with the transplant will help ensure the plant has plenty of potassium later when the blossoms set and begin to produce fruit. Fertilize initially with a 8-32-16 or 6-24-24 tomato-specific fertilizer watered in. Fertilize again after 15 days and after that as recommended by the manufacturer. Be careful that your tomato plants don't get too much nitrogen. High nitrogen levels in the soil can significantly impede the growth of plants, flowers and fruit.

End of Season Transplants

• Tomatoes are annuals, growing naturally from seed each spring. Even if your winters are mild or you manage to transplant the vines indoors at the end of the growing season, they will never again produce a full crop of tomatoes. Start new each spring with new seedlings.