On Mar 23, 9:24*pm, Charlie wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:28:10 -0700, Billy
wrote:





In article , Charlie wrote:

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:30:02 -0500, Jangchub
wrote:

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:44:36 -0400, "Not@home" wrote:

A few years ago I only saw the inverted tomato planters on late night TV
ads (the kind where the pitch man screams at you) and figured they were
a gimmick. *But now they are showing up in the more reputable catalogs I
get.

Do these work? *I'm tempted because we live in a city with limited
garden space, and apparently these could be used on a porch or patio..

i am trying one this year. *I have a tomato plant growing in it now in
the greenhouse and by the weekend it will be moved out of the
greenhouse. *It is growing very quickly and healthy.

I think this will prevent a lot of diseases which splash up onto the
foliage from the ground. *I'll be interested to see how well it does.
If it does well I am going to make more using those IKEA bags which is
basically the same material the Topsey Turvey is made of.
Victoria

For those who aren't too picky about looks, I've done this with a
five-gallon bucket, using a wad of spaghnum to hold the initial root
ball and plug the one inch hole I cut.

Charlie

And? What did you think of the results? Giving up dirt?

Not as bad as I expected, but not as good as ground 'maters. *I had
the water problem Val mentioned. *They are sorry looking things, fer
sure...like some animal hung up ready to be gutted. *From a distance,
without the specs on, they looked like a mossy octopus hanging from
the rafters.

I plant indeterminate 'maters, so they hang clear to the ground. *I
would imagine that a determinate variety would at least look purrtier.

I only did that one year....since, I've planted cherry 'maters right
side up in hanging buckets and let them drape down, covering and
shading the bucket. *The cherries do very well this way, and have the
benefit of not having to train/tie/stake them upwards for six to ten
feet. *I ran a piece of split garden hose around the rim to soften the
angle of the dangle. *Still takes a lot of watering and fish juice,
etc.

Giving up dirt? *Not a chance, just trying to grab a little more
growing area on our small spot.

Charlie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

yeah, that's what I was thinking; seems like there would be more
mechanical problems with the whole upside down process, and i can't
see any advantage over having a suspended bucket and letting them
drape down like you said.

definite advantage in not having to worry about those persistent
diseases in the soil; disadvantage in that buckets need a lot more
attention to the soil because of their small capacity.