Upside Down Tomato Garden – Great for Balconies and Apartments

There are a number of ways to grow tomatoes upside down. There are the omnipresent hanging tomato baskets and planters, which include the Topsy Turvy upside down planter. But one of the best ways to grown tomatoes upside down is with the Upside Down Tomato Garden. We take another look at the product to see where it’s best used.

We had previously looked at reviewed the Upside Down Tomato Garden some time back. It’s a product that’s offered by Hammacher Schlemmer, but you can buy it through a variety of vendors (Amazon usually has a good price on it.)

Basically it’s a free standing planter it’s great for growing tomatoes on an apartment balcony or an outside patio or deck. These are actually ideal surfaces because it’s important that the garden is placed on a level surface. One of the major complaints about the unit is that it can topple over, so don’t underestimate the need for a flat level surface to stand it on. The base can be filled with either water or sand, and this helps the stability greatly. And using a potting mix instead of topsoil will make it less top heavy as well.

The unit without plants weighs just under 20 pounds, with a planter thats just over 50 inches high. Most of the parts are made from black plastic, and it has a base which holds 4 supporting legs (these are made of plastic, early models had metal poles), and the garden unit itself is held by the legs. Many gardeners find that it’s necessary to add support to the unit keep it form toppling, so putting near a patio rail and securing it to that may be a prudent approach.

What makes this Upside Down Tomato Garden Unique is that you can not only plant tomatoes upside down (it has holes for 4 plants), so they grow out of the bottom of the base, but you can add more plants that will grow out of the top of the planter. You can grow more vegetables, like peppers, or herbs and flowers are also popular choices.

Tomatoes love growing upside down. They get lots of air circulation, you don’t need to stake them or bother with tomato cages, since you add the soil to the planter you don’t have problems with soil borne diseases.

One added advantage of the hanging planters is that the soil can warm more quickly, and you can get tomatoes 2-4 weeks earlier than those planted in the garden. And while you can’t easily move it to the garage, covering it when the plants are young is simple enough, so an early frost doesn’t need to do damage to your early spring tomatoes.

How well does it weather? One obvious concern with any unit made of plastic is the ability to stand up to several seasons of weather. Unlike the Topsy Turvy hanging planters, which sometimes will only last a single season, the Upside Down Tomato Garden has been in use for several years, and the experience seems to be that they will last several years.

As with any container grown tomatoes or other vegetables, one problem is keeping it well watered. While its not as effective as a self watering planter like the EarthBox planter, you may want to invest in some of the self watering bulbs, or add some water retention granules. Otherwise just be aware of the need to check it regularly.

Complaints about the Upside Down Tomato Garden: Summarizing the reviews of the tomato garden, there are a few common threads. One: the older models had metal legs, while the current models have plastic legs, which are not as strong. Two: the design can be a little top heavy and prone to tipping over, so keeping it level, loading the base, and maybe even anchoring it to a railing or the house are all things you may consider. Three: like any container grown vegetables, it will dry out if you don’t watch it. Growing vegetables in the ground definitely holds water longer.

Give it a try. The Upside Down Tomato Garden is a great solution for growing tomatoes in places that you normally couldn’t grow a garden.