Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Do It Yourself Upside-Down Tomatoes/Vegetable Planter
There are many blogs, web sites and forums on the Internet. We took the idea from
Disadvantages
~ Can weigh up to 50 lbs with the soil, water and full grown tomatoes so you may need to rig something very sturdy to hang it up.
~ Commercial planters are quite expensive at $20 each plus $8 shipping. So if you want a few of these it will be costly.
So what are the Best Tomato Varieties for Upside Down Planters
We did find the article @
Materials required
~Empty 2-liter bottle
~Eye bolt with washer
~Duct tape or spray paint
~Drill
Family Fun made one with a 5 gal. bucket
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/topsy-turvy-tomatoes-672321/
~Empty 2-liter bottle
~Eye bolt with washer
~Duct tape or spray paint
~Drill
We used an aluminum tape, James is a little worried that it might get over heated, but it looks cool.
Family Fun made one with a 5 gal. bucket
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/topsy-turvy-tomatoes-672321/
I Also liked this website
I think we will try it with a 5 gal. bucket and see what works best
So what are the Advantages of upside down gardening?
~You won’t have to dig holes, weed, stage, or cage your tomato plants.
~No stooping over to feed and water your plants.
~Since the plants never touch the ground bugs can’t ruin your plants.
~If you don’t have a lot of yard space it’s handy since your plants are off the ground.
~You won’t have to dig holes, weed, stage, or cage your tomato plants.
~No stooping over to feed and water your plants.
~Since the plants never touch the ground bugs can’t ruin your plants.
~If you don’t have a lot of yard space it’s handy since your plants are off the ground.
Disadvantages
~ Can weigh up to 50 lbs with the soil, water and full grown tomatoes so you may need to rig something very sturdy to hang it up.
~ Commercial planters are quite expensive at $20 each plus $8 shipping. So if you want a few of these it will be costly.
So what are the Best Tomato Varieties for Upside Down Planters
We did find the article @
"Many gardeners are finding that growing tomatoes in hanging baskets or upside down tomato planters is a great way to grow tomatoes in apartments or balconies that a normal garden or even a normal planter might not be able to do. And in general these planters work pretty well.They also have the advantage of setting tomatoes and maturing them more quickly that the ones grown on the ground as well.
But if there is one common complaint about growing tomatoes upside down in these planters, it is that they need a lot of water, and the plants sometimes seem to die earlier than they would grown in the garden.
This is really the result of unrealistic expectations. Recall that for many plants like trees, the rule of thumb is that the root system is about the same size as the foliage above ground. Whether that is an exact size for your tomato plants, it should be obvious that these planters have to have a limited root system simply because the size and weight of the planter would be excessive if they were any larger. So large plants (not necessarily large tomatoes) should be avoided if you want them to last the summer. For example, cherry tomatoes are indeterminate and will grow to be huge over the course of a long summer, and will be stressed after a while in a hanging planter. So the tomato varieties for home gardens may not be the best for hanging tomato planters.
Suggested Tomato Varieties
Smaller vined, determinate tomato varieties work well. Celebrities and Roma tomatoes work well, and Patio tomatoes have been favorites for years for growing in containers. Some folks have reported success with Tomato Tumbler, Tomato Garden Pearl, and Tomato Yellow Pigmy.
Recently there are a few new hybrids that are being marketed for growing specifically in hanging tomato baskets. These include Window Box Roma, Micro Tom, Basket Boy Yellow, Basket Boy Red."
But if there is one common complaint about growing tomatoes upside down in these planters, it is that they need a lot of water, and the plants sometimes seem to die earlier than they would grown in the garden.
This is really the result of unrealistic expectations. Recall that for many plants like trees, the rule of thumb is that the root system is about the same size as the foliage above ground. Whether that is an exact size for your tomato plants, it should be obvious that these planters have to have a limited root system simply because the size and weight of the planter would be excessive if they were any larger. So large plants (not necessarily large tomatoes) should be avoided if you want them to last the summer. For example, cherry tomatoes are indeterminate and will grow to be huge over the course of a long summer, and will be stressed after a while in a hanging planter. So the tomato varieties for home gardens may not be the best for hanging tomato planters.
Suggested Tomato Varieties
Smaller vined, determinate tomato varieties work well. Celebrities and Roma tomatoes work well, and Patio tomatoes have been favorites for years for growing in containers. Some folks have reported success with Tomato Tumbler, Tomato Garden Pearl, and Tomato Yellow Pigmy.
Recently there are a few new hybrids that are being marketed for growing specifically in hanging tomato baskets. These include Window Box Roma, Micro Tom, Basket Boy Yellow, Basket Boy Red."
The Bucket Garden
Garden of "Eatin" - I know it's dumb, but I couldn't resist
West View
East View
Even though the yard has been taken over with weeds, from all the rain that Arizona has had this winter, we have had no problems with weeds in the buckets.
Our kids think it is like living in Ireland, because it is so green.
The great thing about the buckets are we can pick them up for optimal sun exposure and mowing(the weeds)
Part of the first planting, February 27 2010, these are the 3 broccoli plants that our Son used in a science fair project for school. He took 3 different plants and played 3 different genre of music for 15 min to each plant, rock, rap, and classical. The results, The broccoli plant that the rap music was played to grew faster.
All three plants seem to be growing the same rate now.
Lettuce
We planted 3 lettuce plants to a bucket because I read that you can plant 4 each in a square foot garden. I am not sure that I will do that again. They are growing like crazy.
In the round container we planted Herb - Oregano, Cilantro, sage and thyme. It looks like only the Oregon0 and Cilantro are coming up(first planting)
In the rectangle container we planted radishes(second planting). It is a very shallow container only about 6 inches. We figured that radishes don't need the depth of the 5 gal bucket
West View
East View
Even though the yard has been taken over with weeds, from all the rain that Arizona has had this winter, we have had no problems with weeds in the buckets.
Our kids think it is like living in Ireland, because it is so green.
The great thing about the buckets are we can pick them up for optimal sun exposure and mowing(the weeds)
Part of the first planting, February 27 2010, these are the 3 broccoli plants that our Son used in a science fair project for school. He took 3 different plants and played 3 different genre of music for 15 min to each plant, rock, rap, and classical. The results, The broccoli plant that the rap music was played to grew faster.
All three plants seem to be growing the same rate now.
Lettuce
We planted 3 lettuce plants to a bucket because I read that you can plant 4 each in a square foot garden. I am not sure that I will do that again. They are growing like crazy.
Onions ~ We planted the onions using sets
Peas
We planted from seeds, and added the stakes so that they would have something to trellis on.
We had some extra container laying around with out any lids and decided to use the bigger containers for the peas.
Squash
Single Strawberry Plant
*The Second Planting - April 3, 2010 *
5 Better Boy Tomato Plants, 1 to a bucket 
Strawberries - We planted 3 to a bucket
Corn
In the round container we planted Herb - Oregano, Cilantro, sage and thyme. It looks like only the Oregon0 and Cilantro are coming up(first planting)
In the rectangle container we planted radishes(second planting). It is a very shallow container only about 6 inches. We figured that radishes don't need the depth of the 5 gal bucket
Getting Started
We have always wanted a garden. We have tried before but were never successful. We had been on several web sites square foot gardening and in fiqured this would be the best system for us. How ever after being laid off Oct 09, our funds were very limited. How were we going to do this garden like our church leaders have told us for years when the very little we ave extra needs to go to bills? We came up with the idea of making concrete containers, They would be able to be movved and would look fairly nice. Then we saw a youtube vidio for 5 gal. bucket gardening
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)