Urgent problem. Need to transplant mature outdoor plants. sad day!!!!

I need some advice any suggestions are welcome... I have been growing outdoors in raised grow beds with garden fabric under. So basically the roots are not growing into the ground. Each bed is about 4x4 and a foot deep. The plants are now roughly 4 feet tall and very bushy.. Lovely plants, simply gorgeous.

My home was recently robbed and i am very worried I will be hit again when the plants are ready to harvest.

I need to move the plants, I already have a secure location to move them to.

I have some 100 gallon grow bags I would like to transplant them into. How can I possibly make the transplant happen? I had 4 friends come over and we tried all kinds of approaches to move them. Keep in mind I think each bed weighs 400 to 500 pounds.

Do you think rinsing a majority of the dirt away exposing the roots and transplanting into grow bags is the way to go? How much of the roots do I need to keep intact to not shock the plants to death?

Or does some body have a clever way to lift them all and set into grow bags??

I am very down about this, sad day today...

Thanks in advance....

hmm quite a problem indeed. do the bottom branches spread out? are they thick? im thinking put straps under the plant and lift it from that. im not sure how to lift them though. maybe build an A frame that has pulleys so its easier to lift

u need a surveillance camera and a 12 gauge

capncash said:

u need a surveillance camera and a 12 gauge

Click to expand...

yea, that's your best bet. I never heard of anyone moving a bed that size without a tree spade. That, or guard it. You go rinsing those roots and they're dead meat, especially this time of year. I transplanted a 4 ft. plant last year, and dug it up with ALL the roots untouched, and it still crashed and took 2 weeks to get goin again. BE CAREFUL!!! OR YOU'LL BE SORRY !!

use a motion detector with a green spectrum light. it will help scare them away if they come, and not affect the plants night time. maybe put a small alarm on it also? or an alarm that goes off inside the house only, so you can go outside and shoot them lol

Nice Ol Bud said:

Lets get some pics of them babys!

Click to expand...

i second this motion

Luger187 said:

i second this motion

Click to expand...

Haliluahhhh!!!

if i remember correctly someone on this forum did the same thing last year, dont think they were in containers like that but they were successfully transplanted. i would wait for them to respond to this thread and take their advice.

From what I understand you'll need 2 feet of roots all the way around the plant and you'll be fine.


So what I would do is dig all bit 2 feet away and build a 2*6 framed create with 3/4 inch plywood slid under the fab and leave handles for lifting load in pickup then into grow bag kinda see were I'm going. A 2*2*1 box with four handles and a bottom

No ,why should you be inconvenienced because of some low life maggot. Survellance cams that send an sms to your phone if someone breaks in(good for raids too as u can go into hiding)(. Also have a machete handy and if he breaks in again, cut him to pieces.

Thanks for all the advice.... We ended rinsing away about 60-70 percent of the dirt, then sliding (by sliding i mean sledge hammering the wood under the soil) ply wood under, Then with 4 grown ass men lifting that into 100 gallon smart pots... The smart pots were put on pallets. Next we had to carry them up a steep hill. 6 grown men were needed to carry up the hill. Then I rented largest U-haul i could find and it still took two trips... It has been roughly 2 weeks and I have only lost one of them. Moral of the story I will never again plant directly in the ground, mobility is the name of the game... Still hoping for a decent harvest.. Thanks again for the advice....