Upside down tomatoes & peppers

[Rich Engelhardt]

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.

[Gene Howe]

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.

[Craig Nickles]

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.

[David Freed]

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.

[Eric DeSilva]

Might also think about something like this:

http://lifehacker.com/5190496/turn-storage-containers-into-self-watering-tomato-planters

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

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).

[David Freed]

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.

[David G Baker]

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.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

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..

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

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.

[Eddie Watkins]

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.

[Pat Germain]

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.

[Norm Koerner]

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.

[Steve knight]

if your soil is bad fix it it only takes a lot of poop to get it going (G)

[John Shuk]

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.

[Joe Mioux]

I get several customers every year coming into my greenhouses for tomatoes who do this thing.

yes, planting in a pot will dry out your soil fast.... water and fertilize every day.

In addition to some of the water sorb cyrstals, such as Terrazorb, you can do two additional water holding tricks.

1: Mix in actual garden soil with your potting soil. Lots of good things in soil, i.e. good bacteria, better water holding capacity, improved cation exchange, etc.

2: place a couple disposable baby diapers (unused) near the bottom of the pot. Those little things absorb a lot of water.

joe

[Dave Lehnert]

I have ran a retail garden center for over 20 years.
My customers tell me that tomatoes in pots do not do very well. Tend to be small and woody tasting.

The upside down pots is the big thing right now. Do they work???? but they make me money:D

[Stephen Edwards]

I grow everything in raised beds. Yes, it's a lot of work to get started that way. For tomatoes, I use a 4' X 8' bed that is 1' deep. The tilth of the soil now is such that I don't even need a tiller to work it. It's about 1/2 dirt and 1/2 fully composted horse manure with some green manure (leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, etc. mixed in).

In this bed I grow 6 tomato plants. I made cages from 5' concrete reinforcement wire. From these six plants I supply the whole neighborhood with fresh 'maters and I've canned as many as 40 quarts in one season.

Works for me!

[Leigh Costello]

I'm with Stephen, raised beds are fantastic. I just planted maters and peppers and strawberries that I had traded blackberries for and will plant my May crops this weekend. Last year no one would answer the door when I drove up for fear of vegetable offerings!

[Homer Faucett]

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.

It's common to see tomatoes growing in, and hanging from, trees? Can you give me a source here to verify that? Anything I have ever read, and the tomatoes I have grown, indicate that tomatoes are not an epiphytic plant (growing from trees), but are a sprawling ground vine. We just cage or stake them to make cultivating easier and to keep the fruit nice and tidy (wild plants don't care about that).

The very fact that tomatoes need full sun to fruit well suggests that they don't grow from trees, as the tree would shade the plant. Additionally, there isn't much soil that accumulates in crevices in trees, which would cause desiccation of the roots. If they were epiphytic, they should be very drought tolerant like many epiphytic orchids and bromeliads. As you noted, these guys do need consistent water even when in buckets with lots of soil. That doesn't sound epiphytic at all.

Growing tomatoes like corn does sound unnatural, but I still haven't figured out how to adjust my corn planter to get the right spacing for tomatoes, so I'll just have to take your word for it. Were you using the Round-up Ready tomato varieties when you were comparing corn-style planting to upside down planting? If not, that might account for the poor results you got planting them corn-style.

Seriously, though, I'm glad a lot of you are having luck with growing tomatoes upside-down. I have some plants left over and I may have to try this out since everyone keeps asking me if I've ever tried it. However, for consistent results with large numbers of plants, I'll stand by the above-mentioned methods of adding plenty of organic material to ensure good soil, and staking/caging, etc. It's tried and true, and does not require daily watering of the 100+ plants I have.

[Scott Loven]

I have been doing it in drywall buckets for 3 years. I put a slit in a coffee filter, helps to keep the plant/dirt in the bucket. I put flowers in the top of one of them last year and it didnt seem to compete with the tomatos so I did it in all of them this year. My motivation was to be able to bring them in the fall to prolong the harvest and protect them from the frost. You have to keep them watered every day or so after they are established.
Scott

[Stephen Edwards]

+1 for the cages. I make my own from concrete reinforcement wire. They're about 5 feet tall and the grids are plenty big enough to put my hand through for suckering the plants and harvesting the fruit.

Mine are in raised beds with LOTS of organic matter. Once the plants are established I mulch the entire bed, thick. Bye bye weeds.

Whatever works, more than one way to skin a cat.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

The tilth of the soil now is such [...]


Well ya know ya got a real gardener when they start tossing words like Tilth about.

I generate lots o' Swarf when I work

[John Fricke]

You got Heavy soil.......crumble up your drywall scraps. Gypsum is an excellent soil amendment.

[Stephen Edwards]

Well ya know ya got a real gardener when they start tossing words like Tilth about.

I generate lots o' Swarf when I work

I must admit that I just learned that word last year from a friend/customer who is a sure 'nuff certified Master Gardener. Before she taught me the "new' word I always referred to the garden soil as either hard dirt or soft dirt!

Now, you've taught me another new word to expand my vocabulary. I just had to look up swarf. That's a good word to know. If I keep hanging around this place I'll soon know several hundred words!

So, I can add the swarf from my shop (as long as it ain't walnut) to my garden to improve the tilth of my soil.