Garden: Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower

Here is my homemade version of the topsy turvy tomato grower!

1. Find a bucket
2. Cut a hole in the bottom
3. Plant tomato plant in bucket (with the leaves facing out of the bucket and the roots inside the bucket)
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4. Fill with potting soil
5. Hang in a sunny spot and keep watered

By Misty from Wooster, Ohio

Answers:

Garden: Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower

I have an empty shepherds hook and a spot in my garden so I think I will try this. I have never heard of a hanging garden and I will definitely be the first on my block to have one! Any other suggestions? How high off the ground does it need to be? (06/20/2008)

By Mary

Garden: Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower

I just potted some topsy turvy tomatoes yesterday and again today. I don't have a camera I can use to take a pic, but I will tell you what I did. I used a 2 liter cola bottle. First of course you rinse it out making sure it is clean. Then you get a pair of pliers and a heat gun, grab hold of the top part where the lid goes with the pliers, then turn on the heat gun aiming it right at the spot where the neck part rises up to meet the bottle, as you are doing this use the pliers to gently push the top down into the bottle.

forming a "gully" inside the bottle.

Please use caution as it won't take long for the bottle to warm up enough to allow the neck to be repositioned and if you hold it too close or too long the heat gun will burn holes into the bottle. Now take something sharp and cut off the very bottom of the bottle. Then take the sharp tool and punch four holes into the top on the sides of the now cut off area. Tie four pieces of strings into the four holes and tie them together, or use small chains, this will be how you hang it up. As you can see the top is now the bottom and the bottom is now the top.

Very gently take your young tomato plant or cucumber etc...and push it up into the opening (where the lid use to go), I like to push it up past the bottom two leaves. While holding the tomato plant with one hand to keep it inside of the bottle making sure to sort of lean the root and stem over to the side of the bottle, add a few rocks using the larger opening, to keep the plant and dirt from washing out and fill with potting soil all the way to the top.

Hang it up and water it. Its not as cumbersome as the buckets and practically everyone has those 2 liter cola bottles around, you can also use milk jugs, the kind without the handles. Happy planting and especially happy eating! (06/24/2008)

By NanaMimi

Garden: Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower

I wanted to buy some topsy turvy planters but none was available until 7/25; this was 5/20. Found a site that also used a two liter soda bottle(cut off the top, invert, attach using hot glue gun); I used duct tape to attach and then sealed from within with silicone caulk. I knotted two long pieces of soft cotton twine and taped this to the sides; covered the container with an inverted plastic flower pot for shade. I have two tomato and six pepper plants potted this way, only cost is tape, caulk and twine.

Mpo<Used plastic covered steel rods (three vertical, one horizontal)connected with steel ribbon hose clamps to suspend four pepper plants; beneath the pepper plants are four more tomato plants in the ground in a sunny spot about 3.5 x .5 feet. Used six hard wood stakes (two at each vertical) to stabilize the hanging contraption and provide support for the tomato plants.

<p class="art">Today is 6/30 and so far so good.
(06/30/2008)

By Tracy Leonard

Garden: Topsy Turvy Tomato Grower

Here's an updated photo. I will take another one again today or tomorrow and show you all what it looks like now.

:) (08/02/2008)

By Misty