Amish Paste Tomato
Globe Artichoke
Topsy Turvy Upside-down Tomato Planter
$19.99 at Shop.com
The little guys sure love the sun. Another stint out in the sun, and look how nice they are looking!
We didn't have much sun for them to enjoy, but they got a little
time out there. Was kinda a cold cloudy day, so didn't leave them out
long.
Been reading about "Upside Down Tomatoes". At first it seemed a
little odd. Don't they grow up, toward the sun? But then I started
thinking about how they fall with the weight of their fruit and have to
be trellised. They still get plenty of sun. The sites I've read say
that the plants will grow up the side a little until the fruit starts
to weigh them down. At that point they will grow down more. I've also
read that you have to be careful about watering, like you do with any
containers. A lot of people find they do not get great results, but
upon questioning, they water them the same as they do their in-ground
plants. In ground plants have more dirt to store water. These plants
need a good soaking, but not as much as you would put on your ground
plants. They will then need watering more often. Water from the top and
let it soak down to the roots and eventually the leaves.
They sell some special pots for these, but you can make them too
(what I'll do). Just use some old kitty litter buckets, drill a 2 inch
hole in the bottom, place a coffee filter over this hole and fill the
bucket with dirt. Some sites say to then hang it, and plant your tomato
in the hole (cutting the filter first). Others say to put the lid on
the bucket, turn it over, plant the tomato and give it time to
acclimate before upending it and hanging it. You choose which method
you like best.
What to do with the top is also up for discussion. I think that more
stuff should be planted in the top. Here are some choices: Trailing
nasturtiums or marigolds. The marigolds scare off some bugs that you
don't want around your garden, the nasturtiums attract others. Some you
want in the garden, others you don't. The ones you don't are then
nicely congregated on one plant and can be easily cleaned off. Another
option is strawberries. I've been reading about hanging your
strawberries in baskets to thwart the dreaded slug and other land bugs.
This will get you two fruiting plants in the space of one.
I'm probably gonna do all three. I plan on having 30-50 hanging
buckets this year, so it will be a good experiment to see how they
work. Details will be posted here.
