Upside Down Tomato Planter - Upside Down Tomato Garden Review

How often and how much water are these hanging plants supposed to get? If its more than once a day I’ll probably forget and they will die.

It depends on the the local weather and the size of the plants, but this spring I’m only watering my Sweet 100s every few days and they are doing fine. That won’t be the case in July in Texas, but the tomatoes are well past their prime then anyhow.

We tried some last year with homemade ones, they did not do well at all. This year we ordered one from Gardener’s supply, it is doing very well…much better than the ones in the ground. I ordered 2 from Topsy Turvy March 6 and have not gotten them yet!!! Their customer service is non-productive as well!!!

We got ours from Amazon, and they shipped after just a couple of days. We got a late freeze and the Sweet 100’s in the Topsy Turvy spent the night in the garage, and got through it in great shape, and they are now the first in the garden to have little tomatoes growing.

Greta,
I agree that watering depends on location and also on time of year and size of the plant. I had two Topsy Turvy plants last year (bought from local Family Nursery), and had tons of tomatoes all year starting in Early June (Wrapped the green ones in newspaper at the end of the year and most ripened over 2-3 months). I planted a Celebrity (most recommended) but also had very good luck with an Empire tomato (both bush tomatoes). I am in the KC area, and the heat and plant size began requiring a lot of water during the summer. My solution was to buy liter water drinking water bottles with adjustable tops, and punch a small hbole in the bottom; fill the bottle with your finger over the hole, invert, and adjust to one or two drops/second. This gave very even watering, and one time a day is fine unless your plant becomes very large (you may want to prune it back if this happens). I had no small pest problems at all except for some ants which were easily discouraged by spraying the hanger arm with insect spray. I did have a critter chomping at low hanging tomaotes (I think chipmonks), but I tied the branches higher and it seemed to stop. This year, I elevated the plants more so that the bottom of the container is 3′6″ off the ground; I expect that I will still have to tie up the larger branches.
Hopes this helps.
Bill

Hello Bill, I live in the middle of Ohio, and I just purchased 4 topsy turvy tomato hangers. My question is, What is the best type of tomato’s to use in these upside down hangers. I will also be uing one of the hangers for cucumbers. Thanks

I was wondering how this works with large-size tomatoes? As the fruit becomes riper, and larger would gravity cause them to separate at the stem and fall off before picking? Does this method restrict one to small and medium sized varieties? I know they don’t do this when planted in the ground, but then they are hanging down in a “normal” way on the stem in that case. Am I making sense? :b

My experience is that it’s not so much the size of the tomatoes that’s a problem, but the size of the plant. These hanging tomato planters only have a limited amount of soil, and and there’s only so much you can do with water and fertilizer to keep a large plant like an indeterminate cherry tomato going over the course of a hot summer, when you have a plant that’s grown to 7 or more feet in size.

The large fruited plants don’t seem to have a problem with fruit dropping any more on a hanging planter than they would have in the garden, at least in my experience.

Thanks, that was helpful. I’m not a cherry tomato fan at all.

We did wonder about how much room there was for roots on all of these upside-down planters.

I have been having so much fun watching, watering and counting the tomatoes on our topsy turvy tomato plant, I’ve counted over 20 so far. Today, however, many, if not most, have started getting brown spots. Any idea why? I water them once a day, in the early morning, about a gallon of water. They are hanging from our eaves next to the house and they get the morning sun. The leaves have started turning yellow also. I’m so sad as they have looked so beautiful up til now.
Patsy

Well, at first these work GREAT….UNTIL you have lots of fruit. Naturally when the plants grow they grow towards the sun, well the weight of the tomatoes BREAKS the steam at the base. I have two of these dumb things and in the last week I have had 7 stems break, all were loaded with tomatoes. Also the tomatoes are rather small. I am hoping to save my crop by putting them in ground.
Great concept only if it worked

I also have the brown spots on the bottom of my cherry tomato plants. The plants looks healthy. I water and feed them
and it is in a sunny location. Now I am upset with these unsitely brown spot on the bottom of the fruit. I read it was from uneven watering and could be lack nutrients.
What a waste of money, between the Topsy Turvy, soil, food, shepard hook and now brown spot!

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Am thinking of trying these but we live in western Nebraska which means lots of wind and no place to put them where they would be protected.
Any suggestions?

You might try one of the free standing units like the Upside Down Tomato Garden or the Tomato Tree and anchor it to a patio railing or fence if you think the wind is too severe.

I wrote the note above - Some more thoughts and results.
The first part of the 2008 season was great, then some problems…
I had fewer “critter chompers” when I raised my plants, but did have a couple of cutworms (just picked them off), and also some spider mite problems - that was a big headache.
I found that hot sun on the planter body does overheat the roots, and can burn the plant. Protection is not that hard, though - just tie a sheet or trash bag around the planter so that the sun does not hit it directly.
The 2008 plants were both Celebrity tomato.
I threw the planters away at the end of last season, partly because of some degradation in the end-sponges, but partly because of the infestation problems.
Target’s price for the Topsy Turvy is $9.95 - the best I have found (available in local stores).
I am going to try the Empire tomato again this year - has larger fruit and may be more disease resistant.

Lastly, I do tie up the branches of my plants (to the suspension wires at the top of the planter) to prevent breakage and keep them off the ground.

Enjoy

Bill

I’m wondering whether this method of tomatoe gardening would help accelerate maturity. I live in the foothills above Denver, at 8,000 ft. (zone 3), where cool nights make for slower growth and the growing season is short - June thru August, with mid May to mid September optional if protection can be provided for a frost/snow or two. I tried planters, but even when buying larger plants with fruit already set, earliest maturity occurs in August, resulting in just a few weeks of harvest. Has anyone tried it in similar conditions? Anyone have thoughts/comments?
Thanks!
Andi

I watched the infomercial on the product the other night, and it said you could grow them inside. If you have the space, you might want to consider growing them that way which might extend the season and prevent frost damage.

I’ve read all the responses to this product and looks like I am in for a treat…so to speak. My plant is yellowing at the lower leaves and the stem is turning up towards the sunlight. I tried to rotate the plant daily to prevent the stem turning upward but to no avail. The yellowing concerns me too. It seems like the nutrients are leaching out of the soil and onto the leaves. Am I over watering? Doesn’t seem the case to me but maybe that is the problem. Any ideas? Thanks.

Getting lots of growth on three hanging tomato plants. Now developing large brown spots on bottom of young tomatos. water twice daily morning and mid afternoon. Temp at 100 degrees. Whats up?

I made the mistake of ordering product from Topsy Turvy online. This company is represented by All Star Marketing who began putting charges on my credit card. Three different charges showed up on my statement. I called each toll free number to each of these charges and I did not receive a logical explanation as to how this happened. They did agree to “cancel my membership and or subscription” to something I never initiated. And they did agree to credit the charges. But I am still unnerved by charges appearing on my credit card that Topsy Turvy’s marketing representative arbitrarily put on my account. It was a hassle getting it all straightened out.

100 degrees is pretty hot for tomatoes. They may survive it but they won’t bear fruit in that kind of heat, we see it all the time in North Texas.

Our plants were doing great, but today I discovered huge brown spots on bottom of tomatoes. Can these be saved?

Just looking into these things and noted plant problems. Brown spots on the the bottoms could be blossom-end rot due to lack of calcium mostly. The yellowing leaves could be normal die-back or lack of iron. Don’t forget, they don’t have alot of soil to pull nutrients from and tomatos are HEAVY feeders. They are going to need fertilizer (not more concentrated than recommended)probably daily. I would guess one specifically for tomatos, not a bargain-basement brand. Check that the fertilizer has calcium and iron (teeny tiny amounts), if not then couple times a week, use one that has them, even if not a specifically tomato fertilizer.
Another thing you can try when you plant next time is adding crushed egg shells to the the soil mix you use.

I planted 3 plants in 3 T/T hangers and none did well at all. The Early Girl produced 1 tomato. The Better Boy produced 4 tomatoes. And theBeef Stake produced 8 tomatoes, 2 of which are ripe but only about 2″ in diameter (they should be at least 6”). The T/T hanging plants were located in the same exact place I grew the same 3 varieties last year from the ground and where all 3 varieties produced a great crop of tomatoes. I am greatly disappointed. Next year I am going back to the ground, where God had intended for the roots to grow down and the vine to grow up. You can’t fool Mother Nature!

I’m very disapointed they have to be water daily and what fruit that has grown only gets to a fifty cents size turns hard and stops growning. I have added extra soil serval times and water and still nothing. The tomatoes I planted in the ground are doing much beter and look stronger and healthier.

I have the Upside Down Tomato Garden from Hammacher Schlemmer. I am very confused by the benefits of the idea and disappointed in almost everything. The concept is good; I planted 4 plants last year, and a whole bunch of herbs on top. I’m giving it another try this year, as I received it as a gift from my son and I don’t want to disappoint him. The same problem ocurred this year as last: When I water it, it seems that as much water as I put in leaks out of the holes where the stems are. I bought 3 see-though plant pots (maybe liners) and put one under each plant. After I watered it, I watched the water come pouring out. All told, there dripped a gallon of water, now brown with rich soil and minerals. I’m not overwatering them, as the dripping starts almost immediately. I think one of the problems is how shallow the tub is: the roots don’t have enough time to absorb the water before it goes to the bottom. I surrounded the holes with cheesecloth this year, which seems to hold back much of the soil. I also had to stake the tomatoes last year, as it sits only 3.5 ft. off of the ground……Ugh!!

I was going to write almost exactly what Virginia above wrote. My plant has yellow leaves, two small tomatoes that never grow and I am very disappointed. I just never seem to have any luck with tomato plants.

You should try some smaller variety tomatoes. Something like a Tumbling Tom would do better for you.

So is it worth it to buy this product or should I just plant my tomatoes in the ground?

These planters are not going to replace a whole tomato garden. They are of course better than nothing for people who don’t have place for a garden, and you need to have realistic expectations about the size of plant that will grow in 11 quarts of soil. Pick a variety that will do well in a small container. If you want a bumper crop of tomatoes or the largest in the neighborhood then grow them in the ground.

They are also great for a jump start in the spring, as they will warm more quickly than plants in the ground, and I’ve seen earlier tomatoes from them when I’ve started them as the same time. Candidly the most negative comments I’ve gotten here are related to the customer service of the TV ads, so many I’ve quit letting them get posted. My advice, don’t buy anything from those TV commercials, and if you want one of these then buy them from Amazon or a local retailer if they carry them.

[...] tomatoes and other vegetables on the patio or deck, and the combination of a larger soil box than a hanging or upside down tomato planter like the Topsy Turvy and the self watering reservoir make it a better choice for growing vegetables [...]

[...] about which planters work well in our hanging tomato planters review or even the frees standing Topsy tree, which lets you grow hanging tomatoes without the need for a [...]