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Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Garden Planter Review; Grow Tomatoes Upside Down
Date of Review: Mar 19, 2009
The Bottom Line: The Topsy Turvy Planter allows you to plant vegetables/fruits hanging upside down, allowing for easy reach and greater absence of earthy insects.
I garden every year and grow my household's favorite vegetables. Although I don't care for the taste or texture of tomatoes, my daughter loves them, so I always put out about 10 plants, figuring I could use the surplus to can sauces. Every single year it's one disappointment after another, with the tomatoes. If they don't rot from the amount of rain we get, they end up with the blight and die off anyway. The others out here usually have similar stories, and a lot of the farmers had taken to drilling holes in 5 gallon buckets and planting them hanging upside down; no doubt inspired by the Topsy Turvy or similar products. They had much greater success with the crops that way and it really got me looking into the procedure myself.
I ordered a couple of the Topsy Turvy planters from a garden catalog, figuring that they would work better than any homemade rigs I set up. The Topsy Turvy Planteris a plastic, tarp-like, and foam hanging planter that is designed to allow a vegetable or fruit plant to grow from below, which will prevent a lot of "ground problems" (bugs, diseases, etc) plants can have. Since the plant grows upside down and hangs down towards the ground, you won't have to bend over to pick the fruit/veg and there's no weeding or staking needed. They work well with tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cukes, zukes, and various peppers and herbs. I paid $25 for 2 of them and used one for cherry tomatoes and another for Goliath tomatoes. You can order them direct from their website, or go with a different retailer (Amazon, for one) and maybe save some shipping costs.
The Topsy Turvys have a sturdy dark green frame with a type of funnel on the top section and a hole in the bottom for insertion of your plant. A slightly thick tarp-like bag covers the frame. You will need to pay attention to the instructions when you set this up because if you try to "wing it" you may damage your plant and have to start over. Basically all you have to do to set it up is remove the foam piece on the bottom, insert your plant, slip the foam piece around the stem of your plant and slip back in place, and then start adding dirt.
When you put your plant in, especially if it's a tomato plant, it's a good idea to put as much of the stem inside the bag (which will be under dirt) as possible so new root will sprout and make your plant stronger. Also, probably the most important, is to slowly add dirt in the bag from the top, do not dump it in. Pouring a lot in at a time can damage your plant's roots. If you are able via stepladder perhaps, to hang the planter up before filling dirt that would be the best thing because this bag gets really heavy. Included is a sturdy hook and hanging kit but you will need to secure it to a wooden surface (unless you use a pole) because siding or sheet rock just won't hold the weight.
After replacing the lid, you will have to water this often. Since it's not in the ground, it can't pull moisture form the earth and if you have yours in full sun like I had mine, then it can dry out fairly often. I'd recommend making sure it has a consistent watering and doesn't go too long between waterings, otherwise you may risk black/blossom rot. I don't think you could really overwater the plant because excess will drip out. It would be great if there was a way to collect the water and dirt that drains out so this could be an indoor plant, but in reality, it is much too messy.
I used soil that was only lightly fertilized and I started this "project" right at the start of summer. Everything went great. The plants grew, blooms shot all over the place and eventually, I had nice ripe tomatoes ready for the picking. Speaking of picking, I only had to reach up and pluck them off the vines which was a different experience for me. These are reusable and I used them the following year as well. They need cleaning out before storing in a dry place, however, or they could get crease rot. I had one of them eventually strain with the weight and a tear appeared and so I finally retired them and just like my neighbors, starting making my own versions.
They do work and while I was using them I didn't have any slugs or moles or any other creepy crawly thing destroying my plants. My plants yielded enough cherry tomatoes to keep my daughter's salads more to her liking for the summer and we had quite a lot of tomatoes to use. I put two to a planter the next year and they took really well, so that can be done too. I don't really know how I'd feel about recommending this product. Yes, it worked fine but one can make their own with a hanging basket if they wanted too and it would cost a lot less money. But, if the idea of an upside down planter appeals to you, and if you are in an area that tomatoes don't do too well in the ground, then this may be something you'd like to try. One of mine only lasted 2 plantings/seasons just to give an idea of their durability. I don't think I'll ever buy any more, but they did solve a problem I was having and I don't regret ever buying them. I'll leave them with a 4 star rating.
