My "Topsy Turvy" tomato is vaguely distressing

[K8-EEE]

It looks healthy enough (just planted yesterday) but geez there is something so gitmo about seeing a tomato HANGING like that! Every time my husband walks by it he goes, "I'll talk, I'll talk, get me offa here!" in his little "tomato voice." LOL.

Has anybody tried one of these things?? I'm seduced by the idea of fitting in more veggies. I have it hanging off of an arbor that I'm growing "trombetta" zucchini on.....thinking of getting another upside downy thingee and putthing "ronde de nice" zucchini in it.

[bluethruandthru]

1. Ha! Your tomato hostages!

Thanks for the best laugh of the day! I just bought a couple of topsy turvy things but it won't be warm enough to plant anything in them for a few weeks. I've tried container gardening for tomatoes but I just don't get great results. I'm hoping this will work better.

[K8-EEE]

2. I am now tormenting a zucchini too!

Misery loves company, LOL.

I will have to take a picture of this tomorrow, I got the cheapo $10 ones that have the tacky pattern on them....

OK so now that I've planted it I understand how it holds the plant in place and all....what I DON'T get is how the hell you are supposed to water it without waterboarding it! I was always taught not to get the foliage wet and to water at ground level. Well of course the entire plant gets DRENCHED every time you water it. Maybe hanging like that increases air circulation or in some way makes up for it. I don't want to set myself up for powdery mildew, fungus etc!

[bluethruandthru]

5. I got the cheap ones too. I think tacky is the new cool.

I'm wondering what to hang them on that's strong enough. I'm thinking standard shepard's hooks might not do it.

[K8-EEE]

6. OMG they are HEAVY!!!

Well that's the thing when you water then they probably weigh 100 pounds! I have mine hanging on a wrought iron arbor & I hope it doesn't start bending from the weight of it....so far so good! But the zucchini already looks a little worse for the wear, and they're both just FILTHY! Dirt all over the leaves. :shrug: No getting around it as watering just soaks the poor inverted little things!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. I'm going to try one cherry in the ground, and one in the 'topsy-turvy' planter.

I tried one plant upside down in a moss-bowl planter last year... it was a dismal failure.
Gram apparently bought the Topsy thing a few years ago and never tried it out, so I'm giving it a shot this year. :shrug:

[K8-EEE]

4. It will be interesting to see what happens. ONE TIP:

you have to have it hanging at waist-height to initially plant it....I used a bungee cord which worked great cuz I could see what I was doing on the bottom and then stretch it down to fill it up.