Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

Tired of weeding your garden, and do not have enough space to have a large garden in your yard.  Well, here is the answer to your problem, for only $9.99 you can start to solve your problem.  These are still new to the gardening world but they are doing the very well.  You can purchase these for anywhere from $5 to $10 each at any home improvement store.  Bill Felknor of Oak Ridge, Tennessee invented this planter a few years ago.  You can hang them in most any place that you see fit, from decks, porches, and balconies all of these will do.

Description
This is a green very tough tarp (vinyl) like plastic bag, which measures approximately two feet in length.  This length includes the wires at the top that you hang this from.  It is nine inches in diameter and you will need at least seven feet of clearance to hang this up.   This also comes with a large open eyebolt, which can be used to attach this to whatever you decide to hook this up to.  This also comes with a split lid that has a small opening in which you can still water this with ease.  This has three rust proof cables, which are attached permanently to the wire ring at the top of this planter.

Experience
You will need to purchase a twenty-pound bag of soil to fill this planter.  The other thing that was a little bit of a shock was that they did not give you any seeds to plant any plants with.  They did think of everything else, even the open screw hook to hang this on. When you first open this, you will need to straighten it out a little because they flatten it down to fit it in the package.  The most important thing to do is to find a solid place to install this, because this weighs over twenty pounds when it is wet with water.  Once you have opened this you will see a circular sponge located at the bottom that has a slit in it, this will allow you to put the plant in the bottom without it falling out.  Once you have done this, then you can hand shovel the soil into the planter filling it up until you have about two inches of space left in the bag.  Then when you have filled this up with soil, then install the split lid on top before you attempt to hang this up.  I started with seedlings that were 6” in height, so far, they are doing well.  I just have to make sure that I water these quite frequently, because they have no way of absorbing any extra moisture from the surrounding area.  It is very nice that you do not have to spend anytime pulling any weeds.  I noticed since that I had more than one of these that it was easier and better to pre-drill a hole, rather than just screwing it into the wood.  If you do not do it this way, you might split the wood that you are going into.  If you do not want to screw this into your deck, you can also purchase a very tall plant hanger and wire it to one of the deck posts.  This is what I did; this way when they are done you can simply just remove the metal hanger for the winter.

Just in case your seedling dies prematurely, you should plant two of these together.  This is always a nice insurance policy.  I also found that the best time to plant these is right after Mother’s day, this way you will be sure that you will not have any more frost.  Since this is so heavy, when it is in the hanging position, I have found it easier to put the seedling and soil all inside before you hang this up.  I have been watering this planter every other day and that seemed to be sufficient for my purposes.  However, if you are in a very hot climate then you might have to water yours on a daily basis.  I have hung my planter in an area that gets at least some shade, I have found that this helps so that it will not be burned out.  When I had my large garden I would get an unlimited supply of tomatoes, all I would is let them grow as big as they would get.  I never did trim them, I would only fertilize them.  On the average, I would get approximately more than 30 tomatoes per plant.  When you are done you can reuse this next year, all you have to do is just rinse it out and collapse it and keep it in a dry place.  I have also noticed a lot less bugs and insects doing it this way.  The basics of this planter and how it works are very simple; it will use gravity to feed all of the roots, never losing nutrients to any weeds.  The vinyl bag act as if your plant has been in a greenhouse all summer long, and we have seen what the advantages of having your plants grown in a greenhouse can have.  I am also in the process of trying some other plants in this product such as cucumber, green pepper, green beans, strawberries, and any other kinds of garden-variety plants that I can think of.

Conclusion
I have found this very valuable in my case since I have moved.  We have lost our big garden so I decided to try a completely upside down garden.  You can hang these on any tree or post that you can find.  The concept is excellent and it will probably save time in the end.  The only real time is in the beginning when you have to set everything up.  Other than that, all you have to worry about whether or not they are getting enough water.  In addition, after you are all done with these planters, you can use the soil to fill any low spots in your yard.