How to Grow Tomatoes Upside Down Using a Hanging Basket
A hanging basket, laden with ripe tomatoes, saves space in the garden and provides fresh produce just an arm's length away. Of all the vegetable crops, tomatoes are particularly adapted to growing upside down in a hanging basket. The tomato plant grows from a hole in the bottom of the basket. As the plant matures and begins to produce, the tomatoes hang down toward the ground. Growing tomato plants upside down provides the plants with more air circulation than traditional planting methods. The increased air circulation discourages infestations of harmful insects. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hanging planting container, 13-inch
- Drill, small saw or sharp knife
- Potting soil or soilless mix
- Tomato food fertilizer
Instructions
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Select a hanging planting container basket at least 13 inches wide and 15 inches deep. A 15-inch deep wicker basket lined with porous cloth to prevent soil from draining out works well. Equally suitable is a 5-gallon bucket.
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Cut a 2-inch diameter hole in the center of the bottom of the planting container. Use a drill, small saw or a sharp knife for both plastic or wicker baskets.
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Fill the planting basket 2/3 full with a well-draining potting soil. Alternately, nurseries and garden centers sell pre-formulated soilless growing mediums for container vegetable gardening that are lighter than potting soil. Apply water and mix the soil until it is thoroughly and evenly damp.
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Hang the basket, filled with soil, from a porch overhang where it will get at least 6 hours of sun each day.
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Select a 2-inch tall tomato start. Slide the start out of the nursery pot. Press the roots into the soil through the hole in the bottom of the hanging basket. Reach your fingers up into the hole and press some of the soil away. Work the roots into the hole until only the stalk and leaves of the plant are protruding, upside down, from the hole in the bottom of the basket. Press the soil around the roots until it is secure in the pot.
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Water every day, ideally in the morning when the air is still cool. Apply 1 qt. of water into the top of the hanging basket. The water will seep down through the soil, wetting the roots.
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Fertilize once a week using a liquid tomato food fertilizer. Check the back of the package for appropriate application amount and method. Apply the fertilizer by placing it in the top of the basket. As the fertilizer seeps into the soil it will nourish the roots.
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Harvest tomatoes from your upside-down hanging tomato plant when they are ripe on the vine.
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Tips & Warnings
Tomato plants take between 45 and 90 days to produce harvestable fruits, depending on the variety.
References
- Photo Credit Tomato plant image by Trombax from Fotolia.com
