How to Make a Hanging Support for an Upside Down Tomato Plant
A 5-gallon bucket filled with soil weighs 50 to 60 pounds, making sturdy support imperative for a delicate tomato plant growing upside down. Many gardeners hang their buckets by the handle or a chain basket from a swivel hook attached to a lag thread eye bolt embedded in the underside of a deck or balcony. Others use an 8-inch S-hook connecting the bucket handle to a spiral staircase deck railing. A freestanding support can support numerous buckets if this is the best option to locate the buckets in a bright part of your garden with many hours of sunlight. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Two sawhorse brackets
- 5 2-by-4s, 8 feet long
- Chop saw
- 8-penny galvanized nails
- Chain
- C-Clips
Instructions
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1
Saw four of the 2-by-4s to 6 feet in length. Slide these legs into the sawhorse brackets. Nail in place with two nails in prefabricated openings in each side of the brackets.
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2
Space the V-shaped sawhorse legs about 7 feet apart with a helper. Snap the 8-foot-long crosspiece into the top of the brackets. Nail on each side of the bracket to stabilize the crosspiece.
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3
Place the hanging support in the sunny spot in your garden. Loop chain over the crosspiece and through the tomato bucket handles and fasten end links together with a C clip.
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1
Tips & Warnings
For a simpler and portable hanging support, use an old coat rack.
For a more permanent and taller support, anchor two post anchors in cement bases 7 feet apart. Attach two 6-feet tall 4-by-4s to the post anchors and post beam caps on top of the 4-by-4s. Run an 8-foot-long 4-by-4 crosspiece across the tops of the vertical posts and nail into the post beam caps. Hang the tomatoes by heavy-duty lag thread eye bolts threaded into the sides of the crosspiece.
References
- Photo Credit tomatoes image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
