Bigger is better with containers. You can be sure the pot it came in is too small, though, because shipping large containers is expensive. Tomatoes are tough and usually won't suffer much shock from being repotted (even when they're large). Just be careful with the stem and don't disturb the roots too much and you should be fine. Contrary to the prior recommendation, I would only fill the new container up to the level so that the root ball will be sitting at the proper height. Once the plant is in the new container, hold it up and pack soil around the sides. Then water it in and repeat until it's settled. For fertilizer, get a tomato fertilizer with calcium and other micronutrients. Apply at the label rate. Vegetables in containers need complete fertilizers. This post was edited by gosalsk on Sat, May 24, 14 at 9:23

agree with cleaning out ivy.. which means selective removal of dead growth...but there is a story from one of my contractors.. he grew a vine on a trellis for 10 years to get it over the top..the vine was brown at the bottom and flowering on top.. his wife cut the vine at the bottom because she thought it was dead because it was brown ..and then it of course it died because it lost it's connection to it's roots. So..just mentioning we usually cut top down and some cleaning up may be possible but the way to make items look new is.. replacing it.

Where are you located? If you have a spot outside that gets morning to early afternoon sun I would put it outside. Gardenias do really well outside if you can find a spot that doesn’t get too much harsh afternoon sun. If you gardenia is doing well now and you’re not having to water everyday to keep it from drying out (a symptom of being very pot bound) I would wait until fall to repot after it has bloomed. Often growers will allow the gardenias to become very potbound to force a lot of buds for retail sale so it will most likely need to be at least potted up to a 10” container (not too much bigger). Where you’re located will dictate the timing. Lastly the black nursery pot will heat up too much if placed in full sun. If you can put it in a lighter colored pot it will help to keep the roots cooler, but make sure it drains or take it out before you water.

Try using a "tell" to tell you when it's time to water: Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al