Can I take my tomato plant from outside, pot it, and continue to grow it inside through the winter?

Question

If this is possible what kind of soil and/or pot would i need?

If this is possible what kind of pot/soil would I need? I am interested in doing this to see if i can repot the same plant outside again next year AND to see if I can grow tomatos inside through the winter. Original condition: bought it with flowers already present but no tomatos; once I got it home I planted it in a very sunny area in highly fertile soil. So far it has produced only 3 good sized tomatos since July but seems to be working on about 10 more. This is my first time growing any kind of tomato plant - thanks so much for your help!

Answer 1

A lot depends on what conditions it was originally grown under and what type of plant.
If it was in a pot originally, pretty easy to bring inside, place in quarantine (maybe in a bathtub for a few days) to keep an eye on if it has insects.
I think you're asking about producing fruit off of it tho, and you'll need high light conditions for that.
If it is in the ground, you could dig it up, re-pot in large (5 gal or bigger is better) container in a soil-less mix - usually sold as potting soil and put in your sunniest area and hope.
Hard part about bringing things inside, it stresses the plant, and they usually stop producing fruit, drop all the leaves, and are susceptible to disease and problems.
Much easier to start from seed each year.
For next year, try growing cherry tomatos in hanging baskets, and bring those inside at end of season.

Answer 2

Yes, you can try...but you will need a very large container, general purpose potting soil will do, and realize that it will still suffer greatly from transplant shock. I think that what I would do is plant a few tomato seeds along with trying to nurse that big plant. The tomato output from the large plant, I rather imagine, will be dissappointing. At the end of the season, you can pick off any tomatoes (when a freeze threatens) and wrap them in newspaper and set them in a cool place. Or you can do what I did last year and pick off a whole bunch and set them on your kitchen counter. Zone 5, I ate my last garden tomato Dec. 10th. that will be influenced by variety as plant breeders have bred shelf life into some varieties. So the liitle plants that you start when you dig up the big one? Not real likely to produce anything for you over the winter, BUT they make a pretty houseplant and they smell so good when you brush against them in February. Give your tomato houseplants...LOTS of light, plenty of water, an occasional helping of a fertilizer, and when you do get blossoms (don't look for them until late winter or even early spring) you can pollinate them by "painting ' the inside of the flowers with an artist's paintbrush. I think that this will be a good way for you to learn...by just doing. It is a good idea to get your hands dirty and try things...you learn so much more that way. Then all that is left for you to do is to dream of spring.

Answer 3

Hyde & AJ sounds like good advice. Try it. The main thing is to acclimate the plant. The change in temperature is a greater shock than transplanting. We successfully planted two apple trees already bearing fruit and they continued to bear fruit throughout the summer. Once you successfully get the tomato plant into a pot, move it indoors for a short period of time, then put back outdoors. Do this over a few days by increasing the time indoors compared to the time outdoors. Once the plant acclimates you should be able to successfully grow your tomatos indoors. In case you didn't know, tomato plants have a pungent smell that can permeate your house. If you don't like the smell, put the plant in a room not used very often. I live in a cold climate and my folks have successfully grown cucumbers and tomatos indoors. Cucumbers grow on a vine though and will end up entirely covering the nearest window. Have fun and happy munching :)

Answer 4

THERE IS NO REASON YOU CAN'T DO THAT! I HAVE HAD FAIRLY GOOD LUCK WITH IT. THEY WON'T LIVE FOREVER BUT JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE ANNUALS DOESN'T MEAN THEY WILL DIE ON A SPECIAL DATE IN THE FALL! THEY JUST DON'T COME BACK FROM THE MOTHER PLANT ONCE IT DIES. YOU WON'T REALLY NEED A SPECIAL SOIL, JUST USE THE GARDEN SOIL IT'S IN. PEOPLE GET A LITTLE CRAZY ABOUT ALL THE TECHNICALITIES OF GROWING. MOST STUFF WILL GROW NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO IT! A GOOD SIZED POT WOULD BE GOOD.

WATER IT THE DAY BEFORE YOU DIG IT UP TO HELP KEEP THE SOIL TOGETHER. IT WILL HELP IF YOU HAVE A FAIRLY LARGE POT, BIG ENOUGH TO ALLOW NEW GROWTH. YOU WILL WANT TO DIG AROUND THE PLANT AND TRY TO KEEP AS MUCH OF THE SOIL ATTACHED TO THE ROOT BALL AS POSSIBLE AND KEEP A RATHER LARGE BALL OF DIRT ON IT IF YOU CAN. IF SOME FALLS OFF IT'S NO BIG DEAL BUT YOU WON'T WANT IT TO ALL BREAK OFF. HAVE A POT READY WITH A LITTLE EXTRA SOIL IN THE BOTTOM FOR NEW ROOTS. BE CAREFUL AND PLACE IT IN YOUR POT AND ADD SOIL TO FILL THE POT AND PACK IT IN FIRMLY. YOU WILL HAVE TO KEEP IT IN SIMILAR LIGHT SO IT WON'T START DROPPING LEAVES AND WILL CONTINUE GROWING. SOME LEAVES WILL MOST LIKELY DROP THOUGH. WATER IT GOOD AND A LITTLE FEEDING WILL HELP KEEP IT GOING. AS FOR BUGS, JUST MIX A LITTLE LIQUID SEVEN AND SPRAY IT BEFORE YOU BRING IT IN, IT GETS EVERYTHING. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS WELL. IT'S SYSTEMIC SO IF ANYTHING THAT DOES COME AND EATS THE PLANT WILL DIE. IT WON'T TAKE OFF LIKE CRAZY BUT IT WILL IN TIME. AS FOR DISEASE, YOU WILL HAVE TO HAVE PRETTY BAD CONDITIONS FOR THAT. GIVE IT A TRY, YOU GOT NOTHING TO LOSE AND MAYBE A GOOD EXPERIENCE TO GAIN. SORRY TO BE SO LONG BUT I HOPE THIS HELPS. IT'S SO FUN... IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ASK JUST GO TO MY BLOG AND LEAVE A NOTE.

Answer 5

It depends on what your conditions are like in the house, if you have good lighting and your house is not to dry it should work.
I have done it with habenaro peppers and it worked out great.
I actually produced four separate sets of peppers, 175 peppers of five plants in one season. But the kind of tomatoes will make a difference on your success.
I just used the soil they were in and a ten inch pot but I did fertilize fairly often.

Answer 6

If you have tomatoes on it already, or buds, and it hasnt been in a pot in the first place. NO!

When you try to transplant it, it will "shock" the plant and it will die. Never try to transplant anything with flowers, or fruit on it.

What you could do, is place plastic over top of the plant, in a tent, during cold nights, (this will only prolong the plant, as the ground gets cold, it will eventually die anyways, but, you can have a longer growing season that way of a few more weeks to possibly a month). Then, take it off during the warm days. You must be vigilant on this one, because the first time you forget to either place it on, or take it off, the plant will suffer and die.

I wish you well..

Jesse

Answer 7

Your best chance is to break off a few suckers and root them. Just plain tap water will serve as a rooting medium. A clear glass so you can observe the roots growing. Then re pot them in a good fertile growing soil and give them plenty of light. I would guess the reason your plant has not developed much fruit is because of the lack of another plant to cross pollinate with. When growing indoors you may need to do the pollination yourself using cotton swabs to transfer pollen from one blossom to another. Make sure the blossoms are mature.

Answer 8

it depends on the variety of tomatoes you are growing. the larger ones don't do well indoors , but the cherry and grape tomatoes you can can. about the size of small tree or bush pot for the plant to give the roots room to grow. garden soil for the soil.

Answer 9

Hi Mica, Tomato plants are annuals. That means they grow for one season. So the tomatoes in your garden probably wouldn't last long if they did tolerate the move. However, you can grow tomatoes indoors. Check with a garden center or go to the library for instructions.

Answer 10

Been there, done that I just brought them inside as is. The tomato plant will continue to bare fruit for only so long, but, after that the plant will die. Sorry.