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Upside-Down Tomatoes

Recently some students in the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series asked about growing tomatoes upside-down.  I can happily say that I’ve done that without any special equipment – and it works!

One year, on the patio of our apartment, my husband and I decided to take a regular hanging planter and plant a tomato in it.  Instead of staking it up, we let the vines hang down.  It flowered, it set fruit, the fruit ripened and we ate well.  There are a couple of caveats, however, to be aware of when using a regular hanging planter:

1) The branches do bend or crease at the base and that can compromise the integrity of the vine.  This happened with our tomato plant, which shortened its life a little, but all in all it was okay.

2) Watering the plant gets the vines wet, which is generally not a good idea.  Tomatoes can develop airborne fungi much more readily if the leaves are wet.  If you can make watering a two person job, one person holds the vines out of the way while the other person waters (and the water drains out the bottom of the pot).

A solution to both of these issues is to get something that is specifically designed for growing tomatoes upside-down.  I opened the Gardener’s Supply catalog this evening, and lo and behold – there it was on the first page.

Gardener’s Revolution Planter
37-000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also have a stand available so you can grow more than one at a time:

Four-Armed Plant Hanger
37-536

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just thought I’d share that since there was such synchronicity in the air this week.  You can click on the links above to be jettisoned straight to Gardener’s Supply.  It’s not a bad place to be.

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Veronica

    Do you know where you bought the upside-down planters shown in the photo? We have a couple that look just like those, but the interior mesh broke and I’m working on sewing a new liner and need to know the manufacturer so I can either get a new one or get the manual to get the sewing pattern.

    1. Christy

      They were at one time offered by Gardener’s Supply, but I don’t think they carry them anymore. They went on to sell on TV and retail stores so they are probably still out there somewhere.

  2. Christine Jennings

    Where can we buy a 4 stand hanger

  3. Enrique Mitz Salomé

    Buenas tardes, gracias por la información, lo he probado en macetas de forma vertical con guías, sin embargo voy a probar con este tipo de forma vertical inversa, me parece formidable, saludos

  4. Steve Killeen

    Where can I buy a four planter stand for tomatoes?

    1. Christy

      HI Steve, I wish I understood your question. Not sure what a “4 planter stand” is. Can you elaborate?

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