Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter
Reviews and Tips
To Buy, or Not To Buy?
The topsy turvy tomato planter is one of the trendiest inventions I've seen in awhile. It has a few drawbacks and a few perks. Read up on our reviews and tips to see if the upside down planter is for you.
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With home gardening on the rise, it's no wonder such a concept is spreading rapidly. For utilizing a device that grows a plant above and off the ground allows homeowners to grow tomatoes (several other vegetables, etc. are also recommended by the manufacturer) with freedom from the usual garden pests, such as squirrels and rabbits. And with the odd art of growing a plant upside down in the topsy turvy tomato planter, you can prevent the tomatoes fruit from touching the earth. A great means for any gardener who's grown tomatoes the traditional way and found fruit that had rotted from laying on the ground a little too long.
Also, as long as a sterile potting mix is used, soil-borne diseases are not a worry. It also allows for mobility. If at the start of summer one location is ideal for your tomatoes but at a different time you need to move the planter, you would have that possibility. All of these and more are great advantages of container gardening and the topsy turvy tomato planter.
Let's walk through the process that I underwent on my use of the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter while I note the pros and cons of this unique way of tomato gardening.
Assembly and Planting:
Beware Of The Giant Tomato Plant
After unpacking the unit, assembly should be quite easy and quick. However, I did catch myself puzzled for a moment or two when it came to adding the hanging mechanism. But with a quick look at the photo instructions, I was well on my way.
One of the trickiest parts for me was "planting" the tomato plant inside of the container. The manual calls for the use of a supplied sponge-type device that keeps the soil and the tomato plant from falling through the hole at the bottom of the planter. You're instructed to wrap the sponge device (which has a slit to do so) around the stem of the plant. After you do that, you're next step is to thread your tomato plant with sponge already attached, into the bottom hole of the planter. I found this to be quite cumbersome. Trying to put an average sized plant through a hole that is only a few inches in diameter is not easy. The stems of my plant were several more inches in diameter than that of the hole, so some stems were bent and even broken in the process. Take careful consideration of this aspect of "planting" your tomato plant, the more mature the plant is, the more difficult it will be.
Difficult? Yes!
Impossible? No!
Adding Potting Soil:
Don't Break Your Back!
Once your plant is installed, you can move on to pouring in potting soil. Make sure potting mix is used...not top soil or soil from the garden. Choose a soil that is a lightweight mixture such as Miracle Grow Potting Mix. It will allow good drainage and the roots of the plant will thank you for their ease of growing through the dirt. This step is an easy one. Just be aware that after adding your lightweight potting mix, the planter will still become quite heavy. With my location to hang the container, I had no choice but to add the soil before hanging. When it came time to lift the pot, it was indeed difficult to manage and lift above my head to the location of my hook.
Tip:
Whatever you do, don't water it in before hanging. This will just make the topsy turvy tomato planter even heavier.Hanging Variations
Hook
If you choose to hang the topsy turvy tomato planter onto the hook provided, by all means ensure that the hook is inserted well into a sturdy piece of wood such as a wall stud, etc. The planters weight could easily pull out the hook from the wall if not securely screwed into solid material.
Topsy Turvy Tomato Tree
A neat concept for a very flat surface. Decks, patios, etc. are ideal locations for this product.
Own One Already? What Do You Think?
Pulley System
I haven't used this method, but a pulley system could be used to allow the user easy access to the container. If hung high enough, a pulley would allow you to access the fruit and also allow for easy checking of the soil for water needs.
Decorative Tee Hangers
Once again, I haven't used this method. However, my Grandfather and neighbor have, and seem to enjoy it with good results. You can buy two types. One made for a single planter, and one made for hanging two planters. As long as they are plunged into the ground deep enough, they are sturdy and allow for somewhat easy access to the containers while sporting a more "fancy" approach to hanging the planters.
Watering The Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter:
Not As Easy As You Might Think
That brings us to watering of the planter. Once again, this is an easy task unless things are not set up right. The higher the planter, the more difficult it is to check the soil for dryness. Even more, the only access to the inside of the pot is a small opening on the top lid. If the containers top opening is out of site, I found it difficult to judge the location of the watering port. Thus, there were several times when a lot of the water from my watering hose didn't make it into the planter, but rather on my instead.
If a curved ended watering wand or something similar was used, or even if the watering port was more at eye level, watering should be quite an easy task. I would also recommend using a small step stool, etc. if the watering port was out of site. This would allow a gardener to lift open the top lid and check the soil for dampness. I had a visitor to the website ask about watering needs for this exact planter. My answer here. Judging the amount of moisture in the soil is impossible if you don't have access to the top lid.
Photo Credit: Lentini
As we come to the end of our review of the
Topsy Turvy Planter, there's one more observation that needs to be pointed out. As seen in the photo to your left, although the tomato plants are hung and grown upside down, the plants still have a strong tendency to grow upwards and towards the sun. A problem that I came across, was when the fruit of the plant matured to a large size, the size of the tomato weighted down the stalk of the plant to the point where there was some damage. One stem cracked while another broke completely off. I tied a small piece of rope to a few more stems just to ensure the plant was supported. I'm not sure if this was an isolated incident, for during another season of growing tomato plants in the topsy turvy tomato planter, I was never presented with that problem.
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Run Down Of Good and Bad of The
Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter
| Pros | Cons |
| Plants are away from garden pests and insects. Safe from soil-borne diseases. | Inserting of initial tomato plant is cumbersome and damage to plant is easy to do. |
| No Weeding. | Planter is very heavy after soil is applied. |
| Possible to plant 1 or more tomato plants in one planter. | Watering port is on top and out of site. The higher the planter, the more difficult watering is. |
| Some models allow to plant herbs and vegetables in one planter. | Plants grow upward towards sun. Heavy fruit can weight down stems and cause damage and/or breakage. |
| No Staking or Cages Required. | Checking soil for watering purposes is difficult unless top is at eye level. |
| Fruit will never touch the ground=No rotting. | |
| Planter is moveable to different locations. | |
| Reuse year after year. |
Conclusion
All in all, the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter would be a great addition to anyones gardening methods. With just a few bumps you might need to roll over, with proper watering and fertilizing, a productive tomato plant should be well in your future! Good luck in all your growing efforts!
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Read Other Stories And Tips On How To Grow Tomatoes
Click on the links below to see some great reviews, stories and tips about The Topsy Turvy Upside Down Planter. They were all written by other visitors to this page.
Topsy Turvy Watering Issues
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I'm writing to tell you about my experience with the Topsy Turvy Upside Down Planter. I used tomatoes, as most of the Topsy Turvy users do, and ...
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Last year I planted 6 tomato plants in the ground and six in the Topsy Turvey. I followed all instructions carefully, fertilized them in the same way,...
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