Make your own Upside Down Tomato Planter

Recently, you may have seen the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planters around the web and on TV. They seem kind of interesting, but a lot of people have taken to making their own. I thought I would try one myself, as it seemed pretty straightfoward and relatively inexpensive. While I am no green thumb, this project looked to be one that I could handle, and that with a little luck I would end up with a decent amount of tomatoes this summer.

I plan on posting updates of the growth of the plant through the season.



Here's what you'll need:

Soil, a tomato plant seedling, a small section of landscaping fabric and scissors. I elected to go with a coco planter for the plant, as it is both attractive and relatively inexpensive. I also used some Miracle Gro Tomato food, at the recommendation of the garden expert from the store. I think she thought that I could use all the help I could get!



The first step is to cut a hole in the bottom of the coco planter:



I decided to use a little square of landscape fabric on the bottom of the planter. I cut a hole in the fabric and aligned it with the hole in the planter. I thought this would help support the root ball of the seedling. I then carefully fed the plant through the hole. The hole looks smaller than it really is, because I cut some slits on opposite sides of the hole to allow the hole to open up to more easily feed the plant through. I sort of tucked the fabric under the root ball so as to provide a little more support.



Once you've fed the seedling through, start filling the planter with soil.



I plan on watering the plant regularly, as this helps prevent blossom end rot in Tomatoes. Here is a tomato growing tip page that I plan to follow (although some tips are for the traditional, ground based tomatoes, the other tips still seem relevant.

Finally, I hung the plant on a corner of my house that gets a decent amount of sunlight. You need to ensure that wherever you hang the planter can sustain the weight of the planter, as it will be fairly heavy.

Underside:





Now, if all goes well, it will just be a matter of time (a couple of months or so) before we'll be able to enjoy our very own upside down-grown tomatoes.





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