Make your own upside down tomato planter – UPDATE
Apr 24, 2009 cheap, peppers, tomato
Every time my daughter sees the Topsy Turvy commercial on TV she asks when we can grow tomatoes upside down. I am definitely not one to pay $15 to $20 to buy one of these things in the store when I could have the fun of making my own for much less money.
Though this has been commercialized recently, the concept growing plants upside down is not a new one. Many people have been growing plants like tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets or hanging baskets for decades. Not having any spare bucket or hanging basket to sacrifice I went with my daughters suggestion and used a 2 liter bottle.
Materials required
- Empty 2-liter bottle
- Eye bolt with washer
- Duct tape, contact paper, or spray paint
- Drill or hot nail
Step 1 – Create access hole
Make a hole on the side of bottle, this has two purposes: it allows adding soil much easier and also provides an convenient way to water your plant. I used a 2-inch hole cutter, though you may also carefully cut a hole with a knife.
Step 2 – Add the hanger
By design 2-liter bottles are extra thick in on the bottom immediate center which will make a perfect place to hang it. I used a drill of the same diameter as the eye bolt. This allowed me to thread the bolt right into the bottle, which was pretty strong it itself. Though expecting a great harvest, I also added a bolt to prevent the discovery of my plant on the ground after having a hard fall.
Step 3 – Covering your planter
Roots can be damaged if exposed to light for long periods of time so you need to cover your planter. You should consider color depending on where you live. In colder regions a darker color will help keep the soil warm on cool mornings, though in hotter climates a dark color could fry the plant. I would recommend a medium to light green color for moderate heat absorption and little more aesthetically pleasing in the garden. Not having any paint I used good ole duct tape. Wrapping around the entire bottle (even covering the access hole.
I then cut an X through the access hole and bent the corners in to soften the rough edges caused by cutting the hole.
Step 4 – Decorate (optional unless you have kids)
We used permanent markers to personalize both of my daughters planters.
This completes the construction of your upside down tomato planter. I will admit the first design flaw of this planter is its size. It will be fine for root growth but it can dry out very quickly. In response to this water retention was my primary concern when deciding on medium to fill the planters with.
I chose 2 parts WonderSoil (peat moss or coconut coir okay substitutes) , 1 part perlite, and 1 part Groden granulates. WonderSoil it contains coconut coir which retains water well but also contains water retaining polymers. The perlite and Groden granulates both provide water retaining properties an allow for proper aeration for easy unrestricted root growth.
To give the plants a good head start I also mixed in a couple of tablespoons of bone meal and tablespoon of balanced organic fertilizer. Add some water until the mix has the consistency of a wrung out sponge .
Lastly I used my tomato plants from my hydroponic experiment and carefully fed the roots into the now bottom opening of the bottle. We then added our soil mix until it reached the bottom of the access hole. Given the plants had a well established root system just the friction and weight of the soil is enough to keep the plant from falling out
Even though the medium retains water well the plants should be watered every day to the point until some water comes out the bottom. Within 24 hours we can already see the leaves turning over to face the sun.
You can also try other heat loving plants such as peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. So if you every wanted to try growing plants upside down with the directions above you can have your own for less than $0.50.
If you want something a little more aesthetically pleasing there is always the commercial option, this one from Gardener’s Supply seems much more sturdy than the ones I have seen on TV:
UPDATE: 05/24/09
It has finally started to get a little warmer at night in my garden so seems like a
good time for a little update on the upside down tomato planter. I wish I could give a direct comparison of the growth of these plants with plants a planted at the same time in the ground though unfortunately we had a light freeze that killed them off. Interesting enough both plants in the upside down tomato planter survived and even are showing some small blossoms.
Now as part of my pepper planting experiment, I also put a pepper plant in an upside planter with much less exciting success. Just to test if my super paranoid water retention worries had any backing I simply filled this one with regular potting mix. And the plant dried out very quickly which shows in the following results.
Given these results I am going to stick with my 2 parts WonderSoil (peat moss or coconut coir okay substitutes) , 1 part perlite, and 1 part Groden granulates recipe in the future.
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April 7th, 2009 at 5:08 PM
What a brilliant idea!
April 8th, 2009 at 1:14 PM
Last year I made them using plastic planters but I ended up throwing them away. This way I can make them again cheaply with things I already have. Thanks so much!!!
April 8th, 2009 at 3:51 PM
An upside down tomater plant was the first article that I did a writeup on:http://red-icculus.com/?p=34It works great against pests and makes fruits easy to pick.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:19 PM
CVG- you are a geniuos. Bonafide- I have one of htose topsy turvey things I recieved as a gift, but I am definitely gonna try one of these!
April 9th, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I love this idea! My family broke down and bought a couple different upside-down tomato planters this year. Many years ago, I used to grow them upside down out of the bottom of a regualy hanging pot. It worked fine, but the plant tries to grow upright – it doesn’t really hang down like in the commercials. It will be fun to see how they all grow this year.I will be making some planters like you’ve described as well – thanks!
April 9th, 2009 at 7:25 PM
This is deserving of an award. Nice work CVG
April 10th, 2009 at 4:34 AM
this is great! I just did a post on creating your own tomato hangers, but I wish I’d had your link when I wrote the post! http://veriance.blogspot.com/2009/04/hanging-tomatoes.html
April 11th, 2009 at 1:06 PM
The plants seem to be holding up well, depends how sunny it is but actually holding water better than I expected. Overcast days I can skip a day between watering. They definately have turned over all their leaves but still growing downward.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:31 AM
I ordered three of the self watering ones this year. I am a sucker for garden gadget. It will be interesting to see how yours does compared to mine.Thanks for posting about that time lapse camera. I seen it a while ago and have not been about to find it. _______________________________Check out my veggie garden blog:http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/
April 12th, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Brilliant! I have seen those expensive hangers that you can buy, but you have found a much cheaper way. I will have to go find a bottle now!
April 15th, 2009 at 4:17 PM
great idea. thanks for the how-to. I can’t wait to try it.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:42 PM
I love this post! My husband came home with the Topsy Turvy a while ago. He bought it mostly so we could use the idea as a template, thinking of tarp material or something. So far the plant has been thriving so we were looking to make more of our own. Your idea is fantastic and so simple!
April 19th, 2009 at 6:39 AM
I’ve included your idea on Green Food Tallahasee, it’s a good alternative to purchasing a device. I am curious to know if the eye bolt is strong enough to hold the gowing plant and the soil?cara
April 19th, 2009 at 6:44 AM
What a wonderful idea! We’ve started quite a few tomato plants and will try a few of them in this setup. Also – what a great way to get my 3-yr-old son involved by “decorating” it. He’ll be quite impressed with trying this.Mark F. Garso 36
April 19th, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Dan, I should do a side-by-side comparison. Maybe next year…Matron, bowreality, Madeline: Good luck on yours please let me know how they turn out.Green Tallahassee, as for if the hook can hold the weight I went for the scientific, pull on it as hard as I can technique. Given I am a pretty strong guy seems to hold up pretty well. I am concerned if sun exposure will weaken the plastic though given they should survive in landfills for hundreds of years, figure they can survive a year or two in the sun.Mark Garso, seems like many of my projects have a “decorating” part. Might also want to check out the butterfly/hummingbird project. Similar idea and can use many of the same tools and also has some decorating involved.
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:59 AM
the tape is tacky lookinghttp://www.tomatogarden.info/hanging-tomato-planters.jpg
May 5th, 2009 at 5:43 PM
great idea…my hubby would love it. i have a question…do you have any ideas for keeping larger watermelons from rotting underneath…i mean a cheap idea? thanks marmee
May 12th, 2009 at 7:55 PM
Hi, just wanted to know how did the plants do,(in number of tomatoes) compared to regular planted.Thanks alot ,liked your idea alot!!!!!!!!!
May 20th, 2009 at 8:38 AM
That is a great idea I just planted mine buckets that I had to go buy I am curious though, are 2 liters enough soil for the plant. I am going to try a couple and see
May 25th, 2009 at 2:51 PM
This is a great idea, I was thinking that someone must come up with an affordable way to do this. Good job.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:36 PM
mary,As long as the sun to continues exist in the sky plants will grow up. Though as the plant bears fruit gravity should win and it should look more like the classic topsy turvey pictures.
May 31st, 2009 at 9:27 AM
I was disappointed in the three 5 gal buckets I used. Two tomato plants suffered from rot around the stem where it exits the hole. Two other identical plants bought at the same time and planted in the ground are basically large tomato BUSHES now. The bell pepper has 6 peppers on it, but they are very small. Another pepper planted in the ground at the same time has 2 large, almost ready to pick peppers on it.Basil, French tarragon and dill planted in the TOP of the buckets is doing very well.Anyway, it was an interesting experiment, but since I have the ground space, I won’t be repeating it.
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 PM
EricJ, funny thing is my plants have done the opposite have had some nice weather the past week and the in ground plants are starting to do better. Definitely think average day/night temperature is a huge factor.
June 5th, 2009 at 4:44 AM
This is a fabulous idea. Do you think I can use 1gallon water bottles to create this?
June 9th, 2009 at 9:19 AM
I knew there had to be a way guess I'll have to buy a few things of soda. Something we don't drink! Thanks for the post.
June 11th, 2009 at 7:47 AM
The Lady, I am sure that would defiantely work. I have taken a look at our white organic milk bottles and thought about the same thing. Wouldn't even have to cover it with duct tape, though still would be a milk jug hanging from the garage
MOGS, if you don't drink soda is always sparkling water, lemonade, etc that come in the same containers.
July 7th, 2009 at 5:28 AM
I follow someone on Twitter who mentioned your fantastic idea of growing tomatoes in 2 liter bottles…didn't check out your post right away…instead headed out directly (materials in hand) to the garden. Afterward, I thought it would be fitting to see how your planters were conceived…and I am so glad I did. I blogged about my experience and referenced your blog and your truly inspired planters, several times. Feel free to check it out. Many, many thanks for such wonderful DIY project!
July 8th, 2009 at 6:46 PM
Riveted, glad to be an inspiration
Your design looks similiar to my first version for my pepper plant. Be careful exposing the roots, some plants don't like that. I think for version three I may drill a 1 inch hole on the side instead of putting the plant through the bottom hole to prevent some of the water from getting on the too much water on them.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Great idea CVG!! There is one important thing that you all must keep in mind. If you are going to compare this to ground growing you must consider the size of the container. If you plant tomatoes in a small pot you will get smaller and less tomatoes. Use this idea for applications that make sense like herbs, Cherrie tomatoes or anything that is meant to grow small or you will always be disappointed. If you increase the container, "like the comment with the 5 gallon buckets", you need to add more drain holes and/or rocks at the bottom to allow the water to drain and the roots to breath. This is a great economical idea but sometimes you just have to spend money to get what you are looking for. I tried “Topsey Turvey” this past season and had good success with tomatoes but not good with eggplant. This was my first season trying TT so I will be trying again next year and giving less water to some of my plants. I use a Home Depot premix of compost and manure and feed with Schultz all purpose plant food all summer long. This plant food great and it's twice as potent as Miracle Grow. Personally, I hate miracle grow because the product is not as good as the manufacturer claims. I have great results with Shultz and I grow everything from pots because I have a cement yard. Sometimes you have to spend a little to get really good results. Good luck all!!
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 PM
I've found that covering the watering hole helps prevent plants from drying out as quickly. Next season I'm going to try using right-side up milk jugs with plant holes at the bottoms. Five gallon buckets may produce larger fruit, but I'm not in a position to use anything that bulky.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Hi, I LOVE your green approach! I was wondering if you think a 'palm' plant which is a medium size house plant will grow in this type of planter. My daughter suffers from eczema and is allergic to dust. Palms are great air cleaner and releases a liter of moisture everyday : ) It would be wonderful to help her breath a little easier with your invention. thank you!!AL
November 19th, 2009 at 8:41 AM
alicelusieges, well of the features of this planter is water drains out of the bottom when it is full, which indoors would definitely be considered a design flaw. Also for grassy plants like palms my have difficulty twisting their leaves to direct the tops toward the light since I presume gravity probably would win and they will all fall straight down.Though how about just making a hanging planter out of the 2-liter bottle? Just cut the top off, punch/melt a couple holes to support and hang from the ceiling? This way no leaking water and plant can grow a little more naturally.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I love your detailed pictures! The duck tape is also a great idea. I didn't even think about roots being exposed to sunlight. I want to try it out this coming Spring.
February 21st, 2010 at 1:28 PM
this is a great idea
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:05 PM
I have a new design envisioned for this year so stay tuned…
February 28th, 2010 at 8:39 PM
This is a great way to use two liter bottles to grow tomatoes. We have been growing tomatoes out of two liter bottles for years now but we have not had them upside down. This year we will be painting the bottles to stop light from growing algae.
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:10 PM
How many tomatoes did you get out of your plants last year? Were they relatively good sized tomatoes??
March 5th, 2010 at 7:20 PM
I don’t know anything about gardening but want to grow my own vegetables. I would LOVE to use this sort of setup to grow tomatoes on my balcony. What I don’t know is: do I buy seeds or do I buy the small plants from Walmart that have already grown a bit?
I live in San Diego, so it’s 60’s right now in March and lots of sun.
March 8th, 2010 at 7:25 PM
Curious Newbie, I had pretty good results. I wasn’t very good and keeping them watered so probably could have had better results. Have some ideas to make this work better this season.
Sam, I would recommend getting a plant from Walmart (or other home/garden store) though if you have time to start indoors you can always grow your own seedlings.