topsy turvy

nursekat424 5/14/2010, 8:19 pm

has anyone used a topsy turvy? how did it work? worth buying? thanks

faith8080 5/14/2010, 9:49 pm

I was considering one also, but after reading the reviews on amazon.com, I've decided against it. There were way too many negative reviews. I did talk to a woman tonight who lives in a third floor condo, who had one on her balcony last summer. She had one plant in it, and got 16 tomatoes from it. She was very satisfied with the yield, but found the watering difficult because of its location. This year she plans to go back to a potted tomato.

Faith

Mirjam 5/15/2010, 4:43 am

You can make one yourself, cheaper than buying, and that way you can try if you like it...
I know some members are growing upsidedown-tomatoes at the moment, just can't remember which ones Smile

I remember having watched a video though...if you do a search, you'll probably find it on the forum somewhere.
I'm trying hanging tomatoes also this year, but in a hanging basket, growing from the side. Mine is a "tasty tumbler" tomatoe, so it's meant to hang over.
I didn't particularly like the look of upside down tomato plants, it's looks a bit unnatural, I think.

dmpower 5/15/2010, 7:44 am

I have seen the hanging basket, with tomatoes in the top portion as well as a plant hanging down from the bottom. The center drain hole of the basket is used to plant the upside down part. If the drain hole is a series of smaller holes, just cut out the excess and you can plant an upside down tomato along with your right side up tomato. Big Lots has these for sale for about $10 but they are just regular hanging pots. If you do a google photo search you can get a lot of great ideas for variations on the theme. A shopping search will also give a few ideas on what tomatoes would work well.
Happy gardening

Lavender Debs 5/15/2010, 9:23 am

I started a couple of them as experiments. I put them out too early and they are not doing well. they are also trying to grow right-side up instead of down. But they have no weight to them. I used mesh pots that I found. One of my boys stopped me from buying an actual Topsy Tervy tomato bag, I wonder if there is a type of tomato that does best for this or if any will work. I have an indeterminate in one basket and a determinant in the other. But, as I said, it got very cold out within days of planting them out (38 degrees at night, so it doesn't seem like a fair experiment.) I am growing basil in the top of mine.

pattipan 5/15/2010, 10:05 am

We made two of our own "upside down tomatoes" out of 5-gallon buckets (with a hole drilled in bottom) last year. Conclusion: NOT worth the trouble! The problem with this upside down setup is when you water the tomato the water comes out right onto the plant. Both vines died of blight (yellowing leaves, fruit fell off). I grew the same cherry tomatoes in large pots and they did fine. All in Mel's Mix, BTW.

I did plant mint in the top of one of them -- it came back double-fold this spring!

Patti

boffer 5/15/2010, 11:01 am

This is my less than impressive experiment a couple years ago. How to get the most out of 4sf. 12 onions, 20 peas, 2 toms, 1 pepper, 1 cuke. I haven't tried upside down gardening since! I hang flowers now Very Happy

The off-season view

topsy turvy 100_1718

Megan 5/15/2010, 11:09 am

I would call that pretty impressive, boffer! Shocked

How did you even reach in there to harvest all that?

nursekat424 5/15/2010, 8:07 pm

I really am just speachless (thats a real shocker for me). that is a very imressive mess you made there. that is seriously a 4 sqft box? it looks very small with all that in it. lol. btw boffer, i've really enjoyed reading all of your posts. some of them have had me literally lol'ing. thanks so much!

Wyldflower 5/15/2010, 8:22 pm

Wow... that's a LOT of stuff in just 2' x 2' ..... pretty amazing!

boffer 5/15/2010, 8:47 pm

LOL yes, it's really 2x2 on the inside. You can see in the top pic how I used string to support the peas-we lost a lot that were buried in the mess. (green beans do good on that 'trellis' though) The tom plants did good, but it was lousy weather that summer, and we got very few reds from any plants. The pepper plant was healthy but no fruit. I put the cuke out too early, and it froze to death. I have the space to spread out-I don't have a clue why I even tried it!

But speaking of a mess. I can't compete with my wife! These are the raised beds we had before I started converting to TT SFG. She gets a little carried away sticking seeds in the ground. Somewhere in there are green beans, cukes, and tomatoes. And some newbies wonder why they need to use grids! lol!

Unless space was really at a premium, I wouldn't recommend them.

auntij 5/15/2010, 8:50 pm

I'm thinking I shouldn't worry about an extra pole bean or 2 LOL

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