Moving a potted plant on Shabbos

Question

On Shabbes, am I allowed to move a potted plant from one place to another in my house, which has tiled floors, if the pot is plastic and has no hole in its bottom. My question concerns both the prohibition of sowing and the prohibition of moving mukze objects.

Answer

Dear …

If there is a flat plastic object that serves as a barrier between all the leaves of the potted plant and the floor, then you are allowed to move the pot. But if there are some leaves that protrude outside the pot, and are situated directly above the floor, without any barrier in between (such as a plastic plate or something similar to that), then it’s forbidden to move the pot. There is a suspicion that you might be increasing its ability to receive nutrients and water from the earth, and thus transgressing the prohibition of sowing, or the opposite, decreasing this ability, and thus transgressing the prohibition of reaping.  

 

Source

Shulchan Oruch, section Orach Chaim, ch. 336, §8

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