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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:
Great little strawberry planter ! I grew some upside-down tomatoes last year but used 5-gal buckets. I actually wanted to try a Topsy Turvy, but every place I looked was either sold out or didn’t carry them. The tomatoes will be grown in beds this year but the peppers will be taking their place in the upside-down buckets. I scored some free wire baskets last year, will probably plant a few pf my strawberries in those.
I’m really liking the bag planters. So versatile and easy to store. Might just try them out !
Great idea with the Strawberries! I’m going to try the upside down tomato planter this year. I have heard nothing but good things!
Looks like you should get a good harvest. We planted one in spring last year (4″ pot) and now we have 7 equivalent sized plants with about 12 smaller ones. The basket’s a good idea to help keep it in check.
I tried topsy tomatoes last year but due to blight they did poorly. The worst part is the sun ate the topsy by the end of the season. This year I am using plastic buckets in place of them.
Hey Dan, I saw your bad experiences with TT planters on your blog. I don’t know why but mine have been going for 2 years and show no deterioration. I expect to get a few more years for sure. Probably has most to do with Vancouver’s climate. Not too hot, lots of moisture, and while I have them in the hottest spot of my garden, they are under the eaves of the garage so protected. I’ll be following your project though as I love the bucket idea.