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Posted by Jack on April 5, 2007, 8:12 am
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>> Found this in another garden area. It might help if you stilkl have
>> problems the next season....
>
> hmm. what are the benefits? lack of disease? low maintenance?
> kylie
More usable Space, no contact with garden soil fungal problems, better
air circulation, More light, (recycling old buckets)
perhaps a dripper system incorperating hydra-ponic type chemicals
would also make them water eficient.
No bending for picking.
>
>>>>>> .I noticed an ad from Amazon.com regarding Upside-down Tomato
>> Gardens. Wondering if I was looking at an April fool ad from Amazon, a day
>> early, I had a look at the Upside-down Tomato Garden website. It seems
>> that growing tomatoes upside-down in special containers, only available in
>> America, gives you more tomatoes per plant than you would hope to get
>> growing them upright. I've grown tumbler tomatoes in hanging baskets with
>> some success, but would never had thought of growing the whole plant
>> upside-down.
>>
>>
>> The older neighbor up on the ridge above me has been growing tomato's in
>> two gallon buckets "upside down" now for over five years. He uses one of
>> those iron hanging pot post things that used to be sold for people to plug
>> into their front yards and hang five hanging pots from. The tomato's are
>> the vining types, not the bush varieties. He grows them in full sun, the
>> buckets are drilled with a three inch bit. He uses good compost and hangs
>> the buckets (five gallon buckets are too heavy, but he came over with his
>> drill bit and he advised me to half fill the buckets to keep the weight of
>> the soil, plant and moister to a minimal, since these buckets usually hold
>> that much weight and more......like those buckets you see at the huge box
>> stores that sell detergents, or drywall mud, or even cat food! A metal
>> handle with the plastic sleeve for the hand is essential. we bored the
>> holes, I bought Mr. Stripey, Sungold cherry and Mortgage lifter tomato
>> plants at Lowes, plucked the lower leaves off like I would when I plant
>> them in the ground or in the buckets I grow them in on my kitchen deck
>> (balcony, etc......) and threaded them through the hole, filling the
>> bucket half full of good soil. Not too rich, mind you, all leaf and no
>> fruit! LOL
>>
>> I hung them from the deck railings from iron hooks that easily supported
>> the weight of the plants, the soil and the rains and waterings.
>> Unfortunately I underestimated the need for MORE sunlight since the young
>> maple tree and Pawlonia hogged the south and western sunlight.
>>
>> You can use ANY vining type of tomato, and they have to be hung in direct
>> sunlight. Since they benefit from any rains, and drain well, the only
>> thing you need to do is plant the seedling tomato plant deep to allow the
>> whole stem to make roots (which I do anyway when planting them to grow
>> upright. Makes for a stronger plant and they feed better and produce just
>> as well.....) The soil might trickle out from the stem when you do this,
>> so I took a piece of fine window screening (not the metal, but the plastic
>> stuff they use now) or landscape fabric or even cheese cloth, or even a
>> COFFEE FILTER and slit an opening to thread the plant through to keep the
>> soil from washing out.
>>
>> Heirloom, vining types would work fine, I'm sure the determinant, bush
>> varieties would work just fine as well.....you'd just get all the tomato's
>> at once like you would when they grew upright. And cherry
>> tomatos....ahhhh, excellent! Tomato's? Better boy, Stripey, Cherokee
>> Purple, Beefmaster, Early Girl, Aunt Ruby's Green, Pruden's Purple, Yellow
>> Amish, paste tomatos, you name it. full sun, good soil but not TOO rich
>> (too rich makes beautiful leaves and little fruit). This year, the
>> buckets will hang out front where they'll get full southern and western
>> sunlight as I don't have much direct sunlight anywhere else and want
>> tomato's everywhere and I have raised beds of perennials where I have the
>> sunlight required for tomato's and peppers. (I also have my spinach and
>> lettuce in buckets, will grow my okra and squash in buckets as well and
>> stage them on the steps where they'll get at least seven hours
>> sunlight.......and my friend will let me plant the rest of my seeds in her
>> garden that gets direct sunlight for more gratification of productivity.
>>
>> Make sure you have good sturdy hooks to hang the handles from. And that
>> the buckets are the kind that holds heavy stuff. I scrounged the buckets
>> people buy pool chemicals in five gallon size with the ringed tops because
>> it's a tough bucket and won't split. You don't want a flimsy bucket. I'd
>> bet you could use galvanized ones, but why ruin a good bucket? Now if you
>> had a bucket that had a hole in it............as long as the handle was
>> secure, you'd be in business. And by the way, those really huge hanging
>> baskets would be excellent as well, just make sure the wires are thick
>> enough to support the weight of the soil, plant and watering threaded
>> through the holes. Sometimes you can get those tough fibre pots when a
>> plant dies that has hangers on them at the box stores when they toss them.
>> I'd water them with diluted bleach water to kill diseases and drill a
>> small hole in the bottom for the tomato and you're in business. I also use
>> chains threaded through the holes on the hanging larger baskets to insure
>> support.....
>>
>> Good luck! Keep us posted on your success.
>>
>> madgardener up on the ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking English
>> Mountain in Eastern Tennessee, zone 7, Sunset zone 36
>>
>> The plant does fine. Heavy fruit? please. How does the vines when
>> they're upright support the fruit? The same way! We're not talking 10
>> pound 'maters here folks. I've seen Mr. Cates pick off a pound tomato off
>> his and there was no problem. I asked him what the possibility of growing
>> eggplant or peppers on top of the soil while the tomato grew upside down
>> underneath would be, and he said that since they both required the same
>> light, and as long as I fed the plants, he saw no problem! Or even
>> marigolds to deter pests..........
>>
>> companions for tomatos are carrots, cucumbers, parsley, peppers, allies
>> are Basil repelling flies and mosquito's, improves growth and flavor. Bee
>> balm, chives and mint improve health and flavor. Dill, until mature,
>> improves growth and vigor. Once mature though, it stunts tomato growth.
>> Marigolds deter nematodes. Pot marigolds deter tomato horn worms and
>> general garden pests.
>>
>> and for your information......I've planted potato's in a bushel basket,
>> layering them in soil and leaves and at the end of the growth, just dumped
>> the basket out and there were the spuds! LOL
>
>
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