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Thread: Upside down tomatoes & peppers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    NE Ohio
    Posts
    6,976

    Upside down tomatoes & peppers

    Hello,
    Who's doing them?
    Any tips?
    Better or worse or the same as in the gound?

    The soil around my house is a fertile as a cement parking lot & just a tad harder to cultivate.

    I'm thinking of potting the plants and ran across the idea of doing them upside down.
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Snowflake, AZ
    Posts
    791
    We planted two (baskets?) last week. The Cherry tomatoes died within 3 days. The Beefsteaks are still alive.
    I'm wondering if there is a type that does better upside down than others.
    Gene
    Life is too short for cheap tools
    GH

  3. #3
    I planted two different tomato plants. I find that they dry out really quickly.......we shall have to wait awhile before I can make an overall judgement.

  4. #4
    I can't help with your question, but I may be able to help you get your soil ready for a garden next year.

    Several years ago I had an area where the subsoil from my basement was spread that I wanted to turn into a garden. It was yellow clay, hard as a rock, and weeds had trouble growing. I got a dump truck load of sawdust, and spread it 8" to 10" deep on top. I used my Troybilt tiller to mix it into the soil. It took 10 or 12 passes to get it mixed good. Before I made the last pass I spread a large amount of urea. With this much sawdust you need at least 1000 lbs of actual N per acre to help the sawdust break down. I put 2 50 lb bags on a 30'x30' area which is over 2000 lbs actual N per acre. One year later the soil was richer and looser than the topsoil in my other garden. I have since added some sawdust to that garden.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    1,850
    Might also think about something like this:

    http://lifehacker.com/5190496/turn-s...omato-planters

  6. #6
    Third year of upside down tomatoes.
    Oddly Tomatoes are supposed to grow in a hanging vine style. They grow that way in nature as a creeping vine. In south America it's common to ee 'em hanging from trees.
    Planting them like corn is both unnatural (they are not a field plant) and a maintenance headache.

    Peppers can stand on their own so that might nor prove to be of any real benefit.

    I'm planning to change my bucket format. Normally I drill a four or so holes in the bottom of a 5 gallon poly bucket like the kind you get with Sheet-rock compound or can buy in the BORG. I push the plant through those holes and fill with doil mix. I learned that if I put the cover on with a little flap cut out I can water them without haviung weeds dominating the top of the buckets.

    This time I think I'll try it after the fashioned of of of those strawberry planters by cutting slits in the sides of the bucket andf using a torch to soften the plastic and deform the edges ofthe slit to make little protrusions and indentations so the plants can hang radially from the sides of the busket a little ways off the bottom ( with the bucket hanging upside down from the metal ail handle.

    What I hope to gain by this is a soil composition that is easier to keep moist with less water over a longer period .

    Last year I built myseld a copper pipe watering rig with a rain head at thetop angled downward with a valve at the nandle end. It's long enough to get the buskets that are hanging about 8 feet above the deck.
    Onve I had that think I was no longer climbing a step ladder to water them but still the water just ran out the bottom and I'd be at it daily.

    Leaving the base of the bucket undrilled I believe will extend my watering interval and prevent plant death from accidental drought ( me forgetting to water).

  7. #7
    I like Cliff's idea. I have heard mixed reviews on the Topsy Turvy, and I am too much of a cheapskate to pay for something I'm not sure will work, but I have lots of buckets. I have already set out my tomato plants, but I'm going to get a couple more plants just to try it.
    Last edited by David Freed; 05-03-2009 at 1:36 PM. Reason: added info

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Posts
    3,559
    I purchased a couple of the Topsy Turvy planters today just to see how well they work. I am going to use Miracle Grow potting soil with the moisture retaining additive and hang it from my deck where it will be easy to water and maintain. I have read a lot of negative reviews on the Internet about the upside down planters but thought I would try it anyhow.
    When I was a kid in lower Michigan we had tons of very healthy tomatoes. We never watered them, never sprayed them for bugs or tomato worms and all we did is to try to keep the weeds down. Tried planting them a couple of years ago in Mid Michigan where I now live and had tons of tomato worms and a lot of bad tomatoes. I was very disappointed. I am assuming that the soil was the problem due to the excessive amount of pine trees that once occupied the area.
    David B

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Gene Howe View Post
    We planted two (baskets?) last week. The Cherry tomatoes died within 3 days. The Beefsteaks are still alive.
    I'm wondering if there is a type that does better upside down than others.
    I've done little tiny goldens that looked like pears a variety of larger tomatoes and a couple of heirloom goldens.
    I think that all tomatoes are happy hanging like a climbing vine. I'm wondering if those cherries that failed were bad from the supplier..

  10. Quote Originally Posted by David G Baker View Post
    I have read a lot of negative reviews on the Internet about the upside down planters but thought I would try it anyhow.
    Possibly the negatives were as to the rig they sell on TV. The holder might not be string enough and the poly bags might rip I don't know. I hang mine ion a home built rig: Two 8' long 4 quarter PT deck boards held apart by chunks of 2*4 glued and screwed together at the top the 2*4 chunk is long enough that it projects out both sides a tad more than half the diameter of a 5 gallon poly bucket. I cut a little notch in the end of that chunk of 2*4 to catch the steel bail and that's it. Two buckets per pole. I have a goofy little assembly that catches my Deck Rail for support. The deck rail is heavy to have a Cage Fight match inside so nothing falls over.

    It was commitment from the get go.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Oklahoma City, OK
    Posts
    476
    LOML planted a topsy-turvy last year and had great luck with it. She used potting soil and it started producing early and continued into the fall. It did have to be watered every day or two, though.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Colorado Springs
    Posts
    2,742
    Tomatoes like a lot of sun. Hanging them under a covered deck might not be the best place.

    I had a very successful garden when I lived in Virginia. It was small, but I could never use all the tomatoes I got from just a few plants. I would think building a planter and filling it with a pickup load of garden mix soil from a local nursery would create the perfect environment for tomatoes, no matter how lousy the local soil. After dumping in the soil, mix it in with a heavy duty tiller. (Rent the type with the tynes at the rear.)

    For my gardem, I would build long, wide, tapered mounds of dirt and flatten the top. Then I'd dig a trough in the mound with a spade. I'd sprinkle in some nitrogen vegetable fertilizer for and mix it in thoroughly with a claw. In went the tomato plants with penty of room between them. The plants would then get covered in soil.

    I made growing cages from hog wire. I would just make a loop, about 18" across, then wire the ends together and stick one on top of each tomatoe plant. Not long after, POOF!, tomatoe frenzy.

    To keep pests away I used Diapel dust. To apply it, I would scoop some Diapel into the foot from a pair of Mrs. Pat's worn out knee-highs or panty hose. This worked great for sprinkling just a little of the dust on the plants.

    Of course, if you want to organic, that rules out the fertilizer and the pesticide. But be prepared for lousy, pest-infested tomatoes.

    I haven't tried gardening in Colorado Springs. The growing season is very short here. Most gardeners have to use a greenhouse to get things going.

  13. #13

    Tomatoes

    Try this folks: Use plastic five-gallon buckets--drill a few quarter-inch holes about 6 inches up from the bottom--fill that 6-inches with gravel--put in a layer of coarse woven cloth like burlap--fill most of the bucket with potting soil--plant your tomatoe. Water from the surface and the excess will run out the holes. OR have one bigger hole in the side through which you stick your garden hose as needed. Have fun.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    portland oregon
    Posts
    1,286
    if your soil is bad fix it it only takes a lot of poop to get it going (G)
    Steve knight
    cnc routing

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Putnam County, NY
    Posts
    3,086
    I just invested in a few Topsy-Turvys. I built a rack to hang them on. I'm hoping it works out well. This is my first time ever growing tomatoes.
    I could cry for the time I've wasted, but thats a waste of time and tears.

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