How to Grow Upside Down Tomatoes
Many savvy gardeners have known how to grow upside down tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries for more than 25 years.
Growing tomatoes upside down has several benefits. In areas that have poor soil, tomatoes grow better in containers than they do in the ground.
Hanging tomatoes upside down puts less strain on the stalks than having them spill over the top of a regular planter, plus it increases the air circulation in the leaves, reducing the occurrence of pests and fungus. Most tomato pests are ground crawlers, so they do not bother hanging tomatoes.
Recently, special kits designed for growing upside down tomatoes have appeared on the market. These kits consist of hanging grow bags that have been specially designed to hold a plant in the upside down position.
The cost is approximately $20 per bag. While these grow bags are handy and attractive, they're not absolutely necessary.
You can learn how to grow upside down tomatoes without having to spend $20 per plant on a special grow bag.
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Instructions
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Learning how to grow upside down tomatoes is easy and inexpensive. All you need are tomato plants, soil and a container to put them in. Most people use plastic 5-gallon pails with lids and handles, like the kind that many restaurants discard. Paint buckets work as well, but they require more cleaning. You will need one pail per plant, plus enough soil to fill the pails.
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The best soil to use is a mixture designed for hanging planters. These mixtures are lighter than standard potting soils. Weight can be an issue when using something as large as a 5-gallon pail for planting. Pre-mixed soils are also sterile and balanced in PH and nutrients to give your young plants a healthy start.
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The next thing to do is prepare the buckets. Using a sharp kitchen knife or a drill with a hole saw attachment, cut a two-inch diameter hole in the bottom of each bucket, in the center. This is where the plants will hang out of the buckets. Cut the same size hole in the center of the lids as well. This is so that you can water the plants without removing the lids.
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Now it is time to plant the tomatoes. When it comes to keeping the seedling from falling back out of the hole, there are many different methods that people use, and they all work. Some people line the bottom of the pail with newspaper or sphagnum moss, surrounding the base of the plant to secure it in the pail. A paper plate will also work.
Simply make a cut from the edge of the plate, stopping at the center, and then cut a small hole in the center just large enough to fit the stalk of the plant. Place it around the plant to hold the root ball inside the bucket. The specialized grow bags use a circular piece of foam cut halfway through in the same manner. An ordinary kitchen sponge or other piece of foam will work if you prefer to use foam to protect the plant. Whatever you use, the intent is to keep the roots inside the bucket while the rest of the plant hangs through the hole.
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Gently feed the root ball of the plant through the hole in the bottom of the bucket, and then secure the plant by placing sponge, plate or newspaper around the stalk of the plant inside the bucket. If the plant has a large root ball that does not fit through the hole, you can put the plant through the other way, by gently feeding the leaves through the hole from the inside of the bucket.
Once the roots of the plant are secured inside the bucket with the leaves hanging through the hole, it is time to add the soil.
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Add the soil gently, being careful to support the root ball until the soil has completely covered it. When working with upside down tomato planters, it is helpful to hang them at waist level so you can reach both the plant and the root ball at the same time.
It also makes it much easier to fill it with soil. For best results, fill the pail to the top with soil to allow the roots maximum room to grow. Put the lids on and they are ready to hang.
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Hang the planters in a sunny location, from a sturdy eave, arbor or tree branch. The handle will fit over a heavy-duty hook screwed into an eave, or can be hung using a chain with a swivel attached to it. When hanging from a tree, use a length of rope to tie it, or a bungee cord with a hook at either end. (The bungee cord drapes over the branch and the hooks attach to the handle of the bucket on either side.)
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Once the planters have been hung, they should be watered generously to minimize transplant shock. Use fertilizer sparingly or not at all in the first week, until the plants have had a chance to establish themselves. Feeding them with liquid bone meal can be beneficial at planting time. Once the plants have begun to grow, they will need to be watered nearly every day.
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Now that you know how to grow upside down tomatoes, you can use the same method to grow strawberries, cucumbers, or peppers with equal success. You can enjoy the benefits of a vegetable garden even if you have limited space or poor soil. By following these steps, anyone can learn how to grow upside down tomatoes without having to spend money on specially designed growing kits.
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