Tending to plants growing on a semi-covered porch
Question
I'm a shomer-shemitah gardener. My client has a partially-covered porch on the seventh floor. In the uncovered portion there are plants that need to be pruned and fertilized. The plants are in perforated planters, but sit on the tiles and then cement of the sixth floor beneath it.
I want to know if it is possible to care for these plants during shemitah: prune, fertilize, and move from place to place in the uncovered area. Would it be possible to move them from the uncovered to the covered area?
Answer
It is permissible to care for the plants in the uncovered area only for maintenance purposes. It is forbidden to do anything to encourage growth (pruning, fertilizing, etc.).
It is also possible to move the plants in the uncovered area to a different location in the uncovered area (even if they will receive better sunlight).
You can also move plants from the uncovered part of the porch to the covered part (not the other way around).
Once they are covered, you can care of them as usual.