Upside Down Planter?

[AlittleSalt]

I've been making a MS Word document of tomato varieties with info and pictures. I started with what I call, "Small" tomatoes = 3 oz. and under. Today, I'm at Super Sweet 100. I went to http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Super_Sweet_100_F1 Where I read, "Can be used in an "Upside Down" planter with excellent production."

That must be one heck of an upside down planter. SS 100 grows 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide in our garden.

I've seen upside down planters for sale in nearby stores but they were all pretty small in size. I've never planted like this.

I'm wondering if any of you have planted in upside down planters? Is there a good use for this or is it more of a novelty? I know people out here would think it would be interesting - I'm just not sure if it's worth trying?

[ContainerTed]

I grew this one back in 2008. The Super Sweet 100 plant is coming out of the bottom of the terracotta pot. It made watering much easier, but I still put a plastic cutout of a 5 gallon bucket lid over the growing medium to slow evaporation. Worked fine, but was quite a hassle on the water issue.

[AlittleSalt]

Those pictures look even better here at Tomatoville Ted.

Everyone here really likes the looks and taste of Super Sweet 100 and Sweet 100 I have grown them every year since taking up gardening. I have got some Sweet Million seeds to try this year. I hope I can come up with enough garden space to grow all three varieties. I may be trying the upside down gardening myself.

[ContainerTed]

Robert, I also tried Sweeet Million and a couple of others and they didn't stand up to SS100 for me. That plant got about three time the size you see in the first picture. The last picture is one of my personal favorites. "Tomato Babies"

[AlittleSalt]

Ted, the last picture is perfect. Very detailed with the dark background.

SS 100 for us, is a plant that has new ripe fruit on it every day. They always outgrow the 3 feet spacing we plant in. Even this year, with the unbelievable amount of rainfall that stunted so many plants - SS 100 grew almost six foot tall and three feet wide.

[Worth1]

Salt there are threads here and there about them.
But what ever you do dont buy the planters.
You can do the same with 5 gallon buckets if you are inclined to do so.
Here are the draw backs.
The things have to be grown in some sort of light weight potting mix which can be expensive.
Why not just hang the 5 gallon bucket up and let the plants sprawl out of it from the top.
You can buy corks from Wall Mart and drill holes in the bucket that they will fit into.
This way if you need you can plug the hole to flood the bucket and then pull them out.
A tapered stick will also work.

There just isn't any advantage to growing a tomato out of the bottom of anything.
Worth

[Gardeneer]

Years ago, when the Upside Down planters were hot, I made my own from a green 5 gallon bucket ; Planted a cherry tomato coming out from the bottom and some ivy petunia on the top.
Petunia did much better than the tomato. I got very few tomatoes from it. I would never again do such thing. Not pretty, not productive either.

I think planting a cherry tomato in a BIG hanging basket is much more practical, and better looking than those upside down things.
It seems to me that most people would want to try it once just for the heck of it.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Years ago, when the Upside Down planters were hot, I made my own from a green 5 gallon bucket ; Planted a cherry tomato coming out from the bottom and some ivy petunia on the top.
Petunia did much better than the tomato. I got very few tomatoes from it. I would never again do such thing. Not pretty, not productive either.

I think planting a cherry tomato in a BIG hanging basket is much more practical, and better looking than those upside down things.
It seems to me that most people would want to try it once just for the heck of it.

Gardeneer

This may sound like I am talking out both sides of my mouth but.
No matter how kooky and worthless some of these contraptions are that are sold I like them because of one thing.
Someone came up with the idea and they made a ton of money and it helped feed their families.
The world is full of gadgets and contraptions that made the little guy rich, who am I to complain and go on some crusade against them.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

Any variety with cascading vines does great in a hanging basket, and looks a lot nicer than the topsy tom planters. Tumbling Tom Yellow has been my favorite so far, but next spring I am trying a lot of new OP varieties that should be suitable for hanging baskets.

I'm still not a big fan of the idea of hanging basket tomatoes, but I have a lot of customers who really like them. In hot summer weather, they require being taken down and dunked in a 5-gallon bucket of water once a day. Unless you run drip emitters to them, they are a lot of work to care for. Squirting them with a hose is not adequate watering.

[Bipetual]

I have a cousin who must have tried the upside-down planters and had issues. He has told me emphatically every time I mention containers, "Just don't use those upside-down ones. Those don't work!"

I guess I won't buy him any for Christmas!

[Worth1]

I know a guy that lives in an HOA he thinks everything he does is the night way and everyone should have their hair cut just like his.
He was telling me his neighbor had the upside down planters hanging in his back yard and he was furious about it.
How dare he hang those things up in the yard they are unsightly.
What an idiot.
Every time I hear about these planters I think about this guy.
He also goes around telling people his wife gave him permission to fool around on her as long as she didn't know about it.
I mean really how stupid is that.
Everybody has permission to fool around and break the law as long as they dont get caught.
Speaking of upside down.
The guys wife flips his car upside down and he is more worried about his car than his wife.


Worth

[Zenbaas]

Sounds about right for that kind of person Worth.

[Labradors2]

Beware of ever buying in a HOA or POA as they attract exactly that sort of person. The kind who likes to spy on the neighbours and report them for any infractions. Of course "they" can do no wrong. Ugh!

We have friends who bought those upside-down containers and loved them the first year (probably because they paid an arm and a leg for them). They kinda went off them after that, and now they only grow tomato plants in the ground.....

[Gardeneer]

Back to Robert's question :

1) The simple fact is that tomato plant's roots do not grow upwards. So the roots are not going to get a lot of nutrients.

2)When you water an upside down plant, eventually water will run away from the roots, rather than to them.

3) depending on the medium, the foliage is going to get all the dirt on them. Now talking about keeping foliage dry and clean.

In the final analysis , WHEN YOU GOT TO HAVE IT, THEN YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE IT.