grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Found this in another garden area. It might help if you stilkl have
problems the next season....

.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

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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



.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

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Jack wrote:
0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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.


This can be beneficial for so many different reasons.

nudge nudge wink wink


--

"Truth matters, God doesn't & life sucks."

-- House, M.D.

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Tonto Goldstein wrote:
Jack wrote:
0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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.


This can be beneficial for so many different reasons.

nudge nudge wink wink


We like to grow vegetable not use them...

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Tonto Goldstein wrote:
Jack wrote:
0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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.


This can be beneficial for so many different reasons.

nudge nudge wink wink


Spit it out man. Say what you mean.
Were all organic here.

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Jack wrote:
Tonto Goldstein wrote:
Jack wrote:
0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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.


This can be beneficial for so many different reasons.

nudge nudge wink wink


Spit it out man. Say what you mean.
Were all organic here.


Say, for example, the pool guy comes to clean the pool you don't have,
and you're bending over to pick your hydroponic "vegetables", and much
hilarity ensues, with Funniest Home Video moments and suchlike.

Is that the time?

Must be going now, bye!

--

"Truth matters, God doesn't & life sucks."

-- House, M.D.

grow Tomatoes in a different way.
 

Tonto Goldstein wrote:
Jack wrote:
Tonto Goldstein wrote:
Jack wrote:
0tterbot wrote:
"Jack" wrote in message
u...
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.


This can be beneficial for so many different reasons.

nudge nudge wink wink


Spit it out man. Say what you mean.
Were all organic here.


Say, for example, the pool guy comes to clean the pool you don't have,
and you're bending over to pick your hydroponic "vegetables", and much
hilarity ensues, with Funniest Home Video moments and suchlike.

Is that the time?

Must be going now, bye!

Suggest you keep going in the same direction. With a bit of luck you
will be quite a while coming back. Though to mention back would amuse
you I guess . Such a waste of lack of humor, or taste.. wink wink say
no more.