There are many types of upside-down planters available and none are expensive in the least.  I have seen many people who use 5-gallon buckets but I must say that once you buy all the hardware you will probably be spending more than just buying a Topsy Turvy planter or the self-watering planters I have hanging on my garage.

The Topsy Turvy planters are cheap but incredibly ugly so I welcome any photos or ideas folks have to make them a bit more presentable.

Materials:

• 1-2 cherry, grape or other small variety tomato plants
• Upside-down planter
• Solid ring hooks
• Bamboo stake
• Self watering system (see Step #8)
• Tomato fertilizer
• Container gardening soil or 40% peat moss / 60% soil

Directions: 

1. First things first, choose the right tomato plant for the hanging planter.  There is just no sense in picking a beefsteak or other large varietal. Large tomatoes generally grow on large plants and have heavy fruit.  These small planters are better suited to determinate/bush forming (as opposed to indeterminate/vine growing) so that the plant can build girth rather than length below the planting bag.  Also choosing container-loving cultivars like Tumbler, Jolly Elf, or Gold Nugget will ensure fruiting is prolific even on smaller plants.

2. Location is another important factor in hanging planters.  Check out site selection for Growing Strawberries in Hanging Containers / Grow Bags as it’s pretty much the same: 8-12 hours of fun sun a day.

3. Prepare your soil for planting by either mixing 40% peat moss 60% high quality organic soil mix (like Sea Soil) or a container gardening mix in a wheelbarrow with some water.  It’s best to moisten the soil before planting to ensure it will hold the water not just run right through the planting hole.

4. Remove your plant from the nursery pot and secure the stopper around the stem, being careful to not damage the stem.  All store-bought planters come with a stopper: either a foam ring or plastic disk with a hole in the center for the stem.

5. Have a strong helper hold your planter while you gently GENTLY maneuver the plant upside-down into the bottom hole from the top.  Again, don’t damage the stem.  If the leaves get a bit mangled it’s OK, but if you damage the stem get a new plant and start over.

6. Gently fill the moistened soil around the root ball about half-full, add a handful of complete organic fertilizer and fill up the rest of the way with more soil.

7. Hang the planter up on sturdy hooks (that should be included with your planter) no less than 7-8 feet off the ground.

**While most folks stop at this point there are a few lessons I’ve learned from growing tomatoes successfully on my garage that I shared in this post:  Topsy Turvy: Ugly as Stink But Good Tomatoes.  These few extra steps will help with the most common problems of upside-down tomato planters: dry soil and broken plants.**

8. The challenge with an upside down planter is that when they dry out, they are difficult to re-moisten.  Water generally flows through dry soil, and with upside-down planters, it can flow right through even moist soil. Unless you want to spend most of your free time slowly watering these planters all summer long, it’s best to set up a self-watering system.  Luckily the new planters I bought have a self-watering trough at the top. Success with this system comes from to ensuring that you don’t let the wick dry out.

You can also make your own self-watering system with these plant stakes or make your own by cutting a hole in the bottom of a soda bottle and poking a few weep holes in the cap.  Screw the cap on firmly and sink into the soil.  Fill with water and let drain.  To see the bottle watering system, check out the photos in this post about Topsy Turvy Tomato Planters.

9. Tomatoes are meant to grow upwards and left to their own devices, they will curve up toward the sky, grow big beautiful tomatoes…and then the stem will break right off in the wind or from the weight of the fruit.  Easily deal with this by sticking a bamboo stake in the bottom hole with the plant, and train the plant downwards as it grows.  An easy solution to a fatal (to ripe fruit at least) problem.

There you have it.  All the tools you need for successfully getting an upside-down planter started this year. These instructions also apply for peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, or squash so get creative with this weekend project.

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For the past 2 years I have been growing tomatoes in those fugly Topsy Turvy planters.  Sure they are ugly, but I don’t have a lot of space and I love a lot of tomatoes and they actually do grow great tomatoes.  Last year I hung three on the southwest corner of my garage and no one even noticed the crappy green ivy design because of all the cherry and grape toms dangling from below.  There were a few factors that made it a success for me and I’ve listed that all here. 

This year I decided to try a strawberry planter because let’s face it, who wouldn’t want delicious fresh strawberries growing off their garage?  I had a bunch of strawberry runners over at my community garden plot and I found this handy “Flower Tower” at Value Village for few bucks.  You can buy Topsy Turvey ones with the same general idea, or I can assume that cutting some holes in a bucket would really yield the same results.  I filled the planter with garden soil, tucked in the runners, and voila – a hanging strawberry planter. 

For now the biggest challenge has been to water it without the soil running through the holes.  But as it compacts a little, it seems to be holding better.  I’ve got about 36 plants in there so lets hope for a good harvest.  If this works it may be the only way I grow strawberries again!  Here are a few hanging container products if you want to start your own:

And a sucess it was!  In August and September, I have had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with.  It’s mid- September, and they are still going strong.  I walk by and pick a few off for snacks, cook some, freeze some, dry some, and give them away and still I have tons leftover.

So now I spend my rockin’ weekends putting them by in various ways.  These Sweet Heart Grape Heirlooms are so sweet and meaty that I just couldn’t bear freezing them.  So the lucky fellas got oven-dried overnight and will be preserved in olive oil for pizzas and pasta.  

• grape or cherry tomatoes
• coarse salt
• olive oil
• fresh herbs

Directions:

Wash, dry and half the tomatoes.  Arrange tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.  Dry in the oven at 175 degrees F for 6-8 hours.  After you have done it a few times, you’ll know how long it takes and you may be able to leave them overnight safely.  I find mine take about 8-hours.  Pack into a jar with some fresh herbs & olive oil.   Refridgerate and start enjoying.  Note: these aren’t meant for long term storage, so eat ‘em up (like that will be hard).

 I grew Topsy Turvy Tomatoes last year on my garage.  I put 2 tomato plants (as they recommended) in each of my 3 planters and got only about 15 cherry tomatoes and 4 regular tomatoes. I also tried a zucchini plant which didn’t grow any fruit.  I think that there were a number of factors working against me last year: weather, soil, type of tomato, staking, and watering. 

Here is how I did it differently this year:

Weather: Last year it was a cold and rainy summer, this year, so far it has been warm and sunny. 

Soil: Last year I used coconut coir and topsoil with a bit of manure, this year I have used ½ compost from my garden, 1/2 organic vegetable mix, and a handful of complete organic fertilizer for each planter.

Tomato bounty from upside down planters (cherry) & early coast plants (Siletz) from front flower beds

Type of Tomato: Last year I used 2 types of cherry tomato and a beefsteak.  This year I bought tomato seeds meant for containers because they produce on small plants (Tumbler Cherry, Sweet Heart Grape tomatoes, and Gold Nugget Cherry).  I still have 2 tomato plants in each planter, but this is working a whole lot better this year.  The Tumbler is setting a lot of fruit, and the gold nugget is nice and bushy with small leaves.  The only one that is too leggy and not setting fruit yet is the Sweet Heart Grape.  I got these all at West Coast Seeds.

Staking: Last year the tomatoes grew up towards the sun then got heavy or wind blown and the main stalk would break or crack.  This year, I’ve staked the plants downwards.

Watering: last year I would water from the top of the planter as recommended, and the water would run right through, taking all the soil nutrients with it and getting soil all over the leaves and fruit.  This year I have put pop bottle watering spikes filled with sand to slow release the water over 12 hours.

The result: so far so good.  After a sunny and average temperature June, I have lots of little tomatoes and steady healthy growth.  No yellowing or drooping, the leaves are bright green, and they are setting fruit in healthy clusters.  My next step will be pruning them.  And the final step? Bruchetta, and salad, and salsa, and pasta, and omelets, and…