help? ):

[undoing]

Hi all! I am new to gardening, and I am not sure what to do about a tomato plant I saved from my mother's windowsill.

It's, currently, close to being two feet tall — I would say it's about fifty centimeters. It's not in a pot; it's in a plastic food container that isn't even full of soil and the roots are being held in by a biodegradable "pot" made of compost. Which is about eight centimeters deep and wide. This is...far too small and should be transplanted to a large pot, since I can't transplant it outside.

But my problem is the plant is infested. I haven't quite figured out with what, but I am betting spider mites will be joining their buggy friends soon. (I think I found eggs, sob.) They seem to be mostly gathered around the bottom of the container.

SO. Is it okay to transplant this poor plant while I treat the infestation? Or should I try to eliminate the bugs and then transplant? ...does it even matter?

Comments

[sara]

If you're in the northern hemisphere, chances are good it is not really worth your time and trouble to do anything other than compost a tomato plant in November.

[undoing]

Oh, I see. Even if it's healthy-looking, besides the bugs? I was...kind of really excited to save this tomato plant, haha.

[sara]

Well, they don't really overwinter. That's kind of the nature of tomato plants. Even in Los Angeles, I have never kept one going that long.

[undoing]

Do you mean outdoors? I was going to grow it indoors.

[sara]

No, I mean anywhere. They're annuals; they only live for so long.

[undoing]

Oh, okay. Thanks.

[fatoudust]

You can still grow new tomato plants indoors offseason, if you have a sunny south-facing window (assuming northern hemisphere here still). It may require some fidgeting based on what type of plant you start with, but it can be done.

[feroxargentea]

Spider mites are tiny. If you look really closely you can just about see the adults as tiny reddish dots crawling around, but I think the eggs would be too small to see. More obvious signs are mottling of the leaves and (once the infestation gets bad) a sort of cobwebbing across the leaves.

But as Sara says, if you're coming up to winter your tomato plant isn't going to be a happy plant anyway. Don't worry, you can sow a healthy new batch of them in spring - they're really very easy plants to grow, as long as you have somewhere warmish for the seed to germinate :-)

[undoing]

Hm! I wonder what bugs' eggs they are, then. No spider miters at least, then.

Thanks.