Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), 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.

MikeCT

Upside-down tomatoes will work, but the only person I know that has tried
them was disappointed. She may not have done it correctly, or watered it
correctly, or whatever. When she plants them the traditional way she always
picked a lot more tomatoes. I think it is a new idea that people like to
try because it is different. Try it and report back.

Dwayne (in Kansas)

"MikeCT" wrote in message
news
Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), 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.

MikeCT

"Dwayne" wrote:
Upside-down tomatoes will work, but the only person I know that has tried
them was disappointed. She may not have done it correctly, or watered it
correctly, or whatever. When she plants them the traditional way she
always picked a lot more tomatoes. I think it is a new idea that people
like to try because it is different. Try it and report back.

Dwayne (in Kansas)
---
Thanks Dwayne, so it wasn't an April fool after all! As we here in the UK
are not it seems able to buy the special containers from a UK supplier, I'll
have to make my own and give it a try on a nothing ventured, nothing gained
basis.
Only problem is, what variety of tomato should I use for the experiment?

MikeCT

On 1/4/07 15:11, in article ,
"MikeCT" wrote:


"Dwayne" wrote:
Upside-down tomatoes will work, but the only person I know that has tried
them was disappointed. She may not have done it correctly, or watered it
correctly, or whatever. When she plants them the traditional way she
always picked a lot more tomatoes. I think it is a new idea that people
like to try because it is different. Try it and report back.

Dwayne (in Kansas)
---
Thanks Dwayne, so it wasn't an April fool after all! As we here in the UK
are not it seems able to buy the special containers from a UK supplier, I'll
have to make my own and give it a try on a nothing ventured, nothing gained
basis.
Only problem is, what variety of tomato should I use for the experiment?

Heaven forbid I should crush such enterprise but if nature decreed plants
should grow 'up', why, I wonder, would we expect them to be better if grown
'down'. I hope you will try and will let us all know because it sounds
interesting. I must be getting (I know I am) but I do have a touch of
scepticism about this. I'm waiting for someone to suggest we grow potatoes
(not Solanum crispum for the smarty pants!) up a trellis. ;-)
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

On 1/4/07 23:50, in article ,
"Gregoire Kretz" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
snip
I hope you will try and will let us all know because it sounds
interesting.

Absolutely. For once gravity and the weight of the tomatoes will pull
the stems in the same direction.
Maybe there will be consequences as to how much sunshine each tomato
receives, too.

The mind boggles but also remembers the date on which these tomatoes will be
sown.


I must be getting (I know I am) but I do have a touch of
scepticism about this. I'm waiting for someone to suggest we grow potatoes
(not Solanum crispum for the smarty pants!) up a trellis. ;-)

Well, they do grow those gardens vertically now...

Of course they do.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/
(remove weeds from address)

Sacha wrote:

Heaven forbid I should crush such enterprise but if nature decreed plants
should grow 'up', why, I wonder, would we expect them to be better if grown
'down'.

There have been experiments, notably to grow plants in space: I remember
seeing some at Epcot, where they were more or less growing lettuce in
some sort of rotating tumble dryers. I can't remember if the roots were
inside or outside, but they were fed by spraying.


I hope you will try and will let us all know because it sounds
interesting.

Absolutely. For once gravity and the weight of the tomatoes will pull
the stems in the same direction.
Maybe there will be consequences as to how much sunshine each tomato
receives, too.


I must be getting (I know I am) but I do have a touch of
scepticism about this. I'm waiting for someone to suggest we grow potatoes
(not Solanum crispum for the smarty pants!) up a trellis. ;-)

Well, they do grow those gardens vertically now...



Greg
--

Have you ever really considered how much your buildings actually weigh?

No ficus = no spam

MikeCT wrote:
Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), 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.

MikeCT




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

On 2 Apr, 07:29, madgardener wrote:
MikeCT wrote:
Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), 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.

MikeCT

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

"There's a hole in my bucket dear Mad'e dear Mad'e
There's a hole in my bucket dear mad'e a hole.

Then Plant it dear..................

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

ato
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

"There's a hole in my bucket dear Mad'e dear Mad'e
There's a hole in my bucket dear mad'e a hole.

Then Plant it dear..................

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

Youre showing your age David...

On 4/2/07 9:02 PM, in article
, "Jack"
wrote:

ato
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

"There's a hole in my bucket dear Mad'e dear Mad'e
There's a hole in my bucket dear mad'e a hole.

Then Plant it dear..................

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

Youre showing your age David...

I remember that song!

On 3 Apr, 02:02, Jack wrote:
ato 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

"There's a hole in my bucket dear Mad'e dear Mad'e
There's a hole in my bucket dear mad'e a hole.

Then Plant it dear..................

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

Youre showing your age David...

After 3 days of clearing brambles, some with stems of over 20ft, I'm
also feeling my age. So today I have managed to catch the chaps from
BT and have ordered 12 telegraph poles, have also ordered a pallet of
concrete blocks and a ton of sand
so much for the wife's "Free glasshouse".
The poles are for a shade structure for early chrysanths.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

"MikeCT" wrote

Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), I noticed an ad from
Amazon.com regarding Upside-down Tomato Gardens. It seems that growing
tomatoes upside-down in special containers, only available in America...

Hi, Mike. You can buy the upside-down tomato planters here in the UK. I've
seen them in one of my seed catalogues (can't remember which one), but it's
also available online at Gone Gardening:
http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/...op/product.htm

Hope that helps you.

Regards.

"MikeCT" wrote


Whilst attending to my G-Mail yesterday (31/03/07), I noticed an ad from
Amazon.com regarding Upside-down Tomato Gardens. It seems that growing
tomatoes upside-down in special containers, only available in America...

Hi again. These topsy turvy bags are also available cheaper at Crocus.

Dave Hill wrote:
On 3 Apr, 02:02, Jack wrote:
ato 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
"There's a hole in my bucket dear Mad'e dear Mad'e
There's a hole in my bucket dear mad'e a hole.
Then Plant it dear..................
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
Youre showing your age David...

After 3 days of clearing brambles, some with stems of over 20ft, I'm
also feeling my age. So today I have managed to catch the chaps from
BT and have ordered 12 telegraph poles, have also ordered a pallet of
concrete blocks and a ton of sand
so much for the wife's "Free glasshouse".
The poles are for a shade structure for early chrysanths.

David Hill
Abacus Nurseries


You cant be shifting all that by hand. Whats your secret?

"Melanie" wrote:

Hi, Mike. You can buy the upside-down tomato planters here in the UK.
I've seen them in one of my seed catalogues (can't remember which one),
but it's also available online at Gone Gardening:
http://www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/...op/product.htm

Hope that helps you.
------------
Hi Melanie,

Thanks for your reply found on my return from a few away days. I'll
certainly have a go with upside-down tomatoes as Sacha suggested and report
back later in the year. However, I still doubt I will have any success.

Regards,
MikeCT