How to Make The Topsy Turvey Tomato Plant Hangers With Every Day Home Items

We have heard about the topsy turvey tomato upside down tomato hanger on T.V. and sold in stores. Naturally, we went out and purchased one and gave it a try. They do work but at over $20.00 dollars I decided to do my own experiment on making the same item with things from around my home, and it worked just fine. I even put a light inside where it could be plugged in at night which made a great nightlight also while my tomato plants were growing. Here's how I did it and you can also

Things You'll Need

• small, medium or large bucket with lid.
• drill for holes in one end of bottom
• potting soil

Instructions

1. A lot of different items will work such as 5 gallon buckets, large coffee cans or anything with a good lid. I choose 5 gallon white buckets and purchased mine at Wal-mart for about $5.00. No telling how many I threw away over the years and when it came time for to find one they were all gone. You will need to also drill small holes around the bottom of the bucket for drainage. The center hole on the bottom will have to large enough for you to get the small tomato plant threw it. You will place the plant inside the bucket and slide the top of the plant threw the center hole and leave the roots of the plant inside the bucket.

2. Now fill your bucket with potting soil so your plant will have sufficient room to grown and get a good rooting system going. Bucket have handles so just hang the bucket while you are working on the lid. Now take your lid and drill small air holes around the top. Pour water inside to start the growing process and place the lid on the bucket and hang it anywhere you like and watch your plant flourish. Always check your plant every few days to make sure your plant is getting enough water.

3. This is something more that I did to my tomato bucket upside down plant. I bought a light fixture at Wal-mart for about $5. the fixture will come with a 4' cord so I drilled a hole into the upper side of the bucket so I could run the cord though the bucket. I drilled a larger hole into the top lid and attached my light fiture and tightened it down. I purchased 60 watt light bulbs and placed one in side on my light fixture. I plugged it in and it came on fine. I used a 60 watt buld because they do not get hot enough to hurt or burn the 5 gallon buckets. I leave mine on all night and turn off during the day. This is also the main reason for the small holes around the top of the bucket lid. It allows any sort of heat to escape. We put Texas A&M stickers on our bucket and white bucket put off a lot of light at night when it's dark. Works great as a tomato grower and night light. When we turn it on each night you can light up our hole place and clearly see our Aggies and Cowboys buckts hanging from the trees. So give it a try and save yourself some money. I've sold these in my store and they work wonderful.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy as many buckets as you want and make as many upside down tomato plant hangers you want. Remember you can grow peppers like this, and we actuall did one with watermelons coming down the vines (small mellons). We watched them grown hanging right on our front pourch. You can also use large coffee cans and just paint the can or leave it natural and use the same process about.

• Always have safety in mind when working with tools.