Curbly

Regarding water retention rather than using landscape fabric i use a disposable nappy/dyper as it has water absorbency crystals in its makeup and will hold water at te root area.

Ann, thank you!!! thanks a lot

Garbriel, the name of the iron hanger to hang the plants on is called a Shepherds Hook and can be bought @ places like wal mart, lowes and  Home Depot.  Hope this is helpful.

This post is verry old but still usefull and inspiring!! Please if you could tell me more about the iron hanger that you used to hang the pot.

it looks really strong, does it has any legs, like a tripod or it is just stuck into the ground?

thank you for your answer

Wow what a inspiring product! Can it really handle the weight, it's amazing, will try! Thanks for the tip, it looks amazing! PEX Universe - http://www.pexuniverse.com/

this is so much fun! growing tomato upside down...what a neat idea! this could be a great alternative for people who dont have much room in their apartment or small living space and yet still want to grow their own vegetables right! We did a project similar but instead we planted ours vertically (http://www.eieihome.com/blog/do-it-yourself-vertical-gardens.html). Let us know how this will work for you!

on this topic of intercrop: basil is a good plant to plant side by side with tomatoes. they like eachother and help eachother grow. i'm not a botanist, but that's what I understand, at least.

I want to try this with cucumbers this year. Last year we had tomatoes upside down but they did not produce well. I am also going to buy a small bag of manure to mix with the soil this year. We had the farm bought kind last year but still no luck with the tomatoes.

I am trying to use up the old Giant Icecream buckets my kids get from walmart. Man they eat a lot of icecream. Anyway so far so good

May need to try this! Looks easy and fun!

Mine has been hanging upside down for weeks but has got a candy cane curve as it doesnt like being upside down.  Any way to stop this next time I grow tomatoes the same way?

You may wish to try putting some vermiculite, or perlite, in with the compost. This has been key in terms of improving my crop. It helps with moisture retention, which can be a problem with an upside down planter. More information on this tip at practical growing tomatoes 

Teri

http://www.practicalhomeandgarden.com/the-upside-down-tomato-garden

The herbs on the top do not compete significantly for nutrients. In fact, the best way to garden is to intercrop, growing companion plants right up against each other, the way plants grow in the wild.

In fact, the herbs at the top will reduce the likelyhood of pest insects finding and attacking the tomato plant, both by covering up its scent, and reducing the chances of the insects landing on the right plant. 

Insects home in on a crop by scent, but once they're in the vicinity, they chose any random green object nearby to land on. They can't tell the tomato from a basil plant, or even a piece of green paper or plastic, by sight. They will try to land on the tomato plant several times, and if they don't succeed, they give up and look elsewhere.

We did this last year. Instead of buying the containers we obtained used frosting bins from local food stores. One store gave them away for free and one store charge $.99. 

The only problem is that only one of the 5 varieties of tomatoes we planted did well (and the label went missing.) We also tried bell peppers and they weren't very happy with the arrangement either.

We are just in the process of planting our garden now. Before heading to the nursery, I think I'll see if I can find some details online about which tomato plants work best. I don't have any photos on my blog but I'll try to add some and then link to them.

I wonder if the herbs are taking nutrients out of the soil.  Would you get better tomatoes if the herbs weren't sharing the tight quarters and leeching the nutrients?

Hi!  Inspiring post.  After reading this (and a couple of other similar posts), I did my first upside down tomato earlier tody.  I'm not sure what landscaping fabric is though so I just used the normal hole of a pot.  This early, I'm afraid I may have too little a hole for my plant to grow.  Check it out too when you can.

Hi,

Saw you were going to use the 3 liter pop bottles.. I used to get them at the $ store but they quit carrying them around here... where are you getting them. I have been looking for them for a long time. Thought they may have quit making them!

Thanks

HalfBBaked: You've been very busy! You're going to have a veritable ORCHARD of veggie trees!! :)

oops forgot I have a few stumps in my yard that I welded plates to the bottom of the pipes and am going to use lag bolts  to fasten them

I am in the process of modifying 5 gal water jugs the ones for water dispensers and have welded up a couple of  "TREES" for them used 2" pipe  6' tall with 3 branches that stick out 2'  have made 2 so far gonna have a pepper tree and a tomato tree think I need to do 1 more for cucumbers