Basic Garden Tips

Growing Upside Down Tomatoes

One of the latest crazes in home gardening is growing upside down Tomatoes. Does this really work? Why upside down? Here is the what, why and how of growing upside down tomatoes.

There has been a lot of publicity and advertising lately for growing upside down tomatoes in the home garden. It seems to offer several advantages to in-ground tomatoes.

First, being away from the ground, there is less chance of pests from invading your tomatoes. Unless they can fly, they can not reach the tomatoes. And most tomato pest are ground crawlers.

Second, being suspended, the water is applied above the roots and therefore, flows down by gravity to water the plant. This results in a healthier plant and higher yield.

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Third, the tomatoes never touch the ground avoiding rot which is common when tomatoes sit on the ground. Additionally, since you can easily walk completely around the plant, it is easy to see and pick the ripe tomatoes.

So, how do you grow your own upside down tomatoes?

You can buy a complete kit with all you need, ready to go, for about $15-$29. Or, you can do it all yourself for practically nothing with the instructions here. If you want to buy, go to our Garden Store here. If you want to make your own, here's how.

You'll need some containers. You can use almost any type container but the best is used 5 gallon plastic paint buckets with a handle.

Turn your bucket (or other container) upside down and cut out a 2-3 inch circular hole in the center of the bottom of the bucket. If you use plastic, this can be done with a drill or even a sharp knife.

Holding the bucket right side up, thread tomato plant leaves and steam through the hole you made in the bottom of the bucket, leaving root ball inside the bucket. Wrap several layers of newspaper around stem and root ball to prevent plant from falling through hole. Then fill bucket with soil up to within 1 inch of top.

Hang the bucket with it's handle on a nail in a sunny location. Water and fertilize as needed. Check the soil level, periodically, to make sure it does not settle down more than 2 inches from top of bucket. Add soil as needed.

Suspended tomatoes will tend to grow upwards toward the sun, until they begin developing fruit, so check daily to make sure the stem is growing out of the bucket and not back into it.

This whole process can be done in about 15 minutes and cost nothing if you have access to some used buckets.

So, give it a try this year and you can amaze your family and friends with your "Upside Down Tomatoes".

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