Crazy Ways to Grow Tomatoes
By Kira Hamman
Bored with your usual run-of-the-mill tomato plants?
Never fear – the powerful forces of capitalism have conspired to bring you new, different ones!
Do they really produce tomatoes? Who cares? They’re cool!
The upside-down tomato garden hit the scene a couple of years ago. Billed as a planter that “takes the toil out of tomatoes,” this bizarre-looking thing will fit on your balcony and, in theory, provide you with gobs of (upside-down, presumably) tomatoes. Wait, doesn’t a regular pot fit on a balcony?
Oh, sorry, am I being cynical?
Another version of the upside-down tomato is the Topsy Turvy tomato planter, which unfortunately can’t hold the weight of all those tomatoes and had to be recalled for tipping over unexpectedly. Wow, those plain old pots are looking better and better.
Then there’s the as-seen-on-TV Giant Tree Tomato, which allegedly grows to be 8 feet tall (not unusual for a tomato, in my experience) and consistently produces 2-pound tomatoes. Do they taste good? No one says. But you’ll get 60 pounds per plant!
Has anyone tried any of these things? If so, tell us about it! I’m prepared to be swayed…
September 4th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
If I’m not mistaken the upside down planter in the photo was actually recalled. But I’ve seen people do upside down tomatoes but said they were doing them right-side up the next year.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Yeah, the pictured it was recalled earlier this year.
September 5th, 2008 at 8:31 am
…so if you have one, take it back and get a big pot instead!
September 30th, 2008 at 10:15 am
I’ve tried growing them upside down. Didn’t seem to make much difference in the tomato or how many I got, but it was fun to see everyone look at them;-) The one advantage was I could grow my herbs in the top of the planter and the tomatoes on the bottom. The disadvantage was I needed help to hang the planter up!
You can make your own planters, so if you want to try it, do a google search and make it on the cheap!