Hanging Tomato Plants

[joy99]

I would like to put some outdoor tomato plants into hanging baskets.  I saw pictures where you can cut a hole in the bottom of a planter and let the plant hang upside down and bring it inside and let it continue growing.  Has anyone tried this?

[Sunny Gardens®]

Growing Tomatoes Upside-Down

At first glance, this might look like an unusual way to grow tomatoes. But Jim Appleby from Iowa has discovered several benefits to hanging his tomatoes in buckets. First, the air can circulate better so the plants have almost no disease problems. Second, the fruit doesn’t rot as quickly as that on the ground. And finally, some critters that eat tomatoes have trouble getting to the ripening fruit.

To make the upside-down containers, Jim used 5-gallon buckets with tight-fitting lids. He recycled his from a restaurant, but says you can find them many places, such as paint or hardware stores.

Jim scrubs each bucket out with soapy water and makes sure the handle is attached securely. He cuts a 2-inch or larger diameter hole in the center of the lid and one in the bottom of the bucket. To make the holes, he uses a drill with a hole saw bit (an attachment for cutting a door to install the doorknob).

With the bucket standing upright and the lid off, Jim covers the hole in the bottom with a coffee filter or scrap of fabric. That way the soil won’t fall out when he turns the bucket over. He fills the bucket full of a lightweight potting mix, shaking it to settle the soil.

Before he puts the lid back on, Jim lays another coffee filter over the soil where the hole will be. Next, he puts the lid on and turns the bucket upside down.
Jim cuts a slit through the filter in the hole and plants a tomato seedling. To give the tomato a fast start, he strips off the lower leaves and plants the seedling deeply so roots can form along the stem. He places the planted bucket in a sunny location and keeps it well-watered for the next few weeks.

When the plant is about a foot tall, Jim’s ready to hang it up. The bucket needs a solid support to hold the weight. A clothesline pole is ideal. If you hang the bucket from a building, make sure it won’t bang into a window or the siding on a windy day....


You can read this story in its entirety at Mini Farm Homestead.

There are similar methods for hanging tomato and other plants such as the one described at http://finnotype.blogspot.com/2005/06/hanging-planter_19.html.

[joy99]

Hey, that is almost exactly like what I had seen before.  I see now that he can put a lid on these.  I also have resources to plenty of buckets at the supermarket's bakery.  I am thinking that the five gallon size would be way too large for me to handle but these photos do lend a few ideas to personalize my own way to do it.  Thanks for sharing that link.  I love that he put his tomatoes on polls to keep the animals from eating them.  genius!