Anyone tried the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter??

[ShannonMB]

Thanks for this thread OP! I've been intrigued by this thing for awhile and wondered how it would work. Sounds like maybe just putting a plant in the ground is the way to go. I'd love to have a wonderful vegetable garden like my dear stepmom always has, but it's so much work!!

 

[waughzee]

I thought this looked cool http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=486267 . We have a dog who will dig it up if I put pots where he can reach them (and he is tall with a long reach).

I just bought this at Walmart! It's only $39.99 there.

 

[Pastamom]

We've had one for a few years now. It has yet to produce more than a handful of tomatoes except for last year because DH put some foam on the top to help it from drying out. - Still didn't do all that great, but none of our tomato plants did well because it was so cold last summer...

The biggest problem we've found is that it needs a lot of water (ours is in full sun) and we are not too dilligent about watering. I'm sure we'll try it again this year, because DH has a new plan

 

[tuckerkeys]

you can MAKE YOUR OWN! We did last summer and it was awesome!

Get a 5 gallon bucket. One with a handle. We used an old 5 gallon spackle bucket. drill a hole on the bottom, about 2" across. fill with a good soil/compost/peat moss mixture about half way. hang it up to get your tomato plant in the hole ( we put 2 next to each other ) Fill the rest of the way with your soil to the top. A small amt. of dirt may fall out of the hole but as the water compacts down the soil it will stop. Place a time release fertilizer on top of the soil or miracle grow weekly. We also planted flowers on the top of the bucket so it won't dry out fast. The plastic sides are what kept the water in. We used a white bucket, I think one that was black would draw too much heat to the roots and kill the plant. this year we're going to try one of the orange home depo buckets as well.

We hung our "un-topsy turvy" as we called it from my son's swingset. The vines reached the grass by the end of summer, which was about 5'. The tomatoes were perfectly round and we had a ton of them from the 2 tomato plants

 

[sasywtch]

Just a hint on the plastic buckets; I've been using them for the last 3 years.Instead of using the plastic handles to hang it up, take handle off, use the holes where the handle was and run a wire or rope through there to hang up. One day we heard this crash and it was the plastic handle breaking and my plant crashing down. I amtrying something new this year and put a pole into the ground under the bucket and will tie (with the soft green tie ribbon) the plants as they are growing down. I did get alot of cherry tomatoes off both of them last year. I fill it about 3/4 full and use Miracle Grow mixture with water once every two weeks. The dirt also doesn't seem to dry out as much in the buckets.

 

[Kellydelly]

I thought this looked cool http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=486267 . We have a dog who will dig it up if I put pots where he can reach them (and he is tall with a long reach).

This link doesn't take me to a specific item, what is it I cannot see ?

 

[Purseval]

Just a hint on the plastic buckets; I've been using them for the last 3 years..

From the website of Walter Reeves, Georgia Master Gardener, radio host and someone not impressed with upside-down planting techniques:

Tomato - Planting Upside-Down

Q: A lot of my gardening friends think I'm crazy but I have planted a tomato so that it hangs from the bottom of a five gallon bucket of dirt. My plant is doing fine and already turning up toward the sky. What can I expect?


A: I won’t comment on your mental state but you shouldn’t expect lots of tomatoes. The hormones that control bloom and fruit formation rely on gravity to move them from branch tips downward. By hanging the plant upside down, you interfere with hormone transportation. That's partially why the tips are already turning upwards. They’re looking for sunlight and trying to position themselves so gravity can do its work.

If you want tomatoes from your contraption, support the vines as they turn up, allowing them to climb toward the sky.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to plant them in the ground or right-side-up in a hanging bucket?

 

[surfergirl602]

I don't get all the bad reviews. We have two hanging with cherry tomatoes for a few weeks now, and they are covered in little tomatoes so far. They are growing well and we don't have to water them like others are saying. They are growing really fast and doing well.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I don't personally have but, there is a house around the corner from where DS8 plays soccer and they have one in the front yard and it is hanging from a tree branch. I have to say I was really shocked when I saw that it actually had a bunch of tomatoes on it. My first thought was "Holy Cr*p, that thing really does work", LOL!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

They are very heavy once it's full of soil. I have one and it's growing well but the whole gravity thing is not working so well. It's growing down and then curling back up towards the sun. I don't know if it's my freaky plant or just the nature of where I hung it and the plant going towards the light.

I have no idea if I will get any tomatoes because if it doesn't spread out soon the flowers will be buried and won't get enough sun.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

We've had one for a few years now. It has yet to produce more than a handful of tomatoes except for last year because DH put some foam on the top to help it from drying out. - Still didn't do all that great, but none of our tomato plants did well because it was so cold last summer...

The biggest problem we've found is that it needs a lot of water (ours is in full sun) and we are not too dilligent about watering. I'm sure we'll try it again this year, because DH has a new plan

Actually all tomatoes need a lot of water and a lot of sun. They do well with deep watering. It doesn't matter what container you put them in, they need a lot.

You can use 2 liter soda bottles with tiny holes drilled in the cap and put the bottles upside down in the tomato bucket so you can slowly water them all the time so you don't forget. Just remember to refill the bottles every few days.

 

[amshowers]

Ace hardware has these planters.http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3887813&ab=1214
There's also $10/50 on their website exp.4/12 or you could $5/25 entertainment book coupon.

 

[MammaNicholas]

Wow, we easily got a couple dozen tomatoes out of ours, and that with a half-broken stem that never healed properly.

Ahh, now I should mention we used a "cherry tomato" plant! Sorry I forgot about that before. Ohh, and we added tomoto plant fertilizer.

I have three varities in mine, it the topsy turvey tree one. The first is Creole, second is Better Boy and third is Lemon Boy.

I now have over 30 buds, and I counted 6 yesterday starting to bloom.

 

[elliemae1192]

You don't actually need a topsy turvy. Last year I bought regular plastic hanging pots. Cut a hole in the bottom (usually already has a hole there for drainage, just have to cut out the cross pieces) and feed your plant through. Fill with soil and hang it in the sun.

I also took an empty water bottle and cut the top off and poked 4 TINY holes in the bottom (used a thumbtack). Stuck it down in the soil and poured the water into that. That way it waters slowly instead of soaking through too quickly.

I planted three plants and staggered them by a couple of weeks so I wouldn't have more tomatoes than I could use at one time.

Here's a pic of the first plant before they ripened. I ended up getting ALOT of tomatoes off this one.

http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss207/disneyellie/DSC04118.jpg

 

[amshowers]

Good idea,thanks. I have a few empty hanging pots from last year, so I'm going to give it a try.

 

[Alice1386]

Yeah mine didn't work so well. Sure does make a nifty bird nest for a brown thrasher though ;-). Best of luck with everyones tomatoes this year- no matter which way you decide to grow them!

 

[Evi]

my experience and my neighbors were both negative though I will admit to seeing them with tomatoes on other peoples porches and so I'm not really sure it may depend on how much sun you get or something I didn't do lol but good luck. My tomatoes grow great in the ground.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Somebody who had one told me it worked but you needed to water it twice or day or the thing would dry out. His did. I would not get one.

About 5 years ago we had read about this concept, and my husband made me 4 of them. They took far too much water and attention. They were beautiful, and we gave them away!

 

[3redhedgirls]

Big thumbs down!

 

[3boymthr]

Our soil is really really lousy so we can't even get weeds to grow, never mind vegetables. But DH loves fresh tomatoes so we grow them every year. We just use 5 gallon buckets with a few holes drilled in them and put them on our deck. No hanging. DH gets the buckets for free - he picks them up on the side of the road and brings them home and cleans them out. We did buy a few tomato cages for about $3/ea and they work great. They DO require a lot of water.