Move them into the shade. How big were the plants? The larger the plant, the more developed the root system, and the harder the shock of transplanting.

Yes, they were pretty big. The cherries were starting to flower, and the tomatoes weren't far from it.

Here are pictures of the transplant shock.

You transplanted into dry soil? Ouch. The problem with that is that it becomes an effort even to wet dry soil, after the fact. So even if you poured lots of water on it, you probably should stick your finger in the soil, under the wet layer on top, and see if it is actually still dry underneath. If it is, you could perhaps use a little surfactant (a drop or two of dishwashing soap in a few cups of water) to help.

I wet soil to be used for transplanting by adding waster and stirring. That's by far the best way to ensure that soil is really moist.

They *might* recover. I've seen similarly wilted (as a result of inadequately watering) tomatoes come back from that state. Transplanting is a big enough shock by itself without doing it in dry soil. By the way, what we're looking at in your pictures isn't "transplant shock", it's "thirst shock". The transplanting didn't do that.

Can you put the pots into a tray so you can put water in the tray? I think you will have to keep watering since right now the water is just running through. I would also try watering with liquid fish or seaweed fertilizer that is diluted to one teaspoon per gallon. This can be pour over the plant. I always use it when I transplant and to fertilize weekly until plants are established but I use 1 Tablespoon per gallon since the plants only need about a quart of solution in garden soil.

I agree with Dan they look thirsy

container plantings on my farm only go into moist POTTING MIX. never into soil.

Think it through, Ryan. When you transplant something you want, as far as possible, for the plant to 'not notice' the move. Therefore it is sensible to have the new home as similar to the old as you can, including the moisture levels in the mix. Also, water will flow from wet to dry, that's how a sponge works. So any moisture in the root ball will be sucked into the surrounding mix if it is drier.

As to the reasons for transplanting in the first place, midsummer and full growth are not good conditions for moving a plant and it would probably have been better to sort out the animal problem in situ.

Gardening shouldn't be stressful. From your other posts you are worrying unnecessarily about a lot of insignificant stuff but then you went and gave your plants a (probably unnecessary) midsummer transplant without watering. That was one thing you should have asked about here ;-)

floral_uk, even I, an experienced garden didn't appreciate how dry a soil mix can be. I took a seed starting work shop this past spring and was surprised at how much water the instructor added to the mix. A lot of us keep learning as we go along, hopefully improving our techniques. I had to read a suggestion to mulch my garlic bed with straw to prevent most weeds from growing. It was a great improvement to my garlic bed and also preserved moisture. I also attended a tomato growing workshop which a friend declined attending because she "already knew how to grow a tomato". Some of us learn by making mistakes. It's unfortunate that Ryan dug up those plants and hadn't added enough water to the soil mix but hopefully he'll keep reading garden forums and learning. It was a big help to me that when I started vegetable gardening, Boston tv was starting the Crockett's Victory Garden series. I also bought the book and other garden books. Happily, the month by month guide for the garden is applicable to my zone here in NH.

Maybe my post came across wrongly. If so I apologise. I did not mean to criticise Ryan for not knowing. But I do think he was not thinking. He had successfully managed to produce happy, healthy plants growing in one set of conditions and then suddenly changed those conditions completely. Much gardening knowledge is acquired but some is common sense. Having asked myriad questions on the forums about the minutiae of his various plants he then carried out a major change without researching. His prerogative, of course, but it seemed at odds with his usual detailed approach to all things gardening. If he'd come to the forums with the original perceived problem he would probably have got a solution.