Topsy Turvy Tomato planters

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

Has anybody had any real success with these things? This is year 2 with ours and last year we had tomatoes about the size of tennis balls and a good number of them but they never turned red. I watered regularly every other day and once a week water with MiracleGrow tomato fertilizer mixed in.

This year we went with cherry tomatoes to see if we could get some earlier and try a different type of plant. I water regularly every other day and fertilize like they say on the instructions in the box. They are haning from the eaves on the south side of the house and get full sun from 9am til 5pm.

What are we doing wrong? Whay are they not turning red? The cherry tomaotes have a bit to go to get to the right size, but what happened last year? If we do not water the leave wilt and I will water and they will perk right back up?

Any pointers?

[reinhard1]

i have the same complaint. i went to www.dakotagardener.com there you have the complete story on what a farce it is. i am not a expert on tomatoes so i asked like you did about these tomato upside down planters and i got the site above from a poster here. tomatoes are made to grow the right way-roots down. the article shows how laughable the claims of this outfit are. some may have had good luck on them but this is my last year with them. i turn into a amature gardener next year and will ask for a lot of advice i'm sure. good luck.

[sticknstring]

Give them some time... ours that are upright in the garden are still green as well. If they're still green in two weeks, then you're onto something.

[Steve Foss]

It's too early for red tomaters up where I am. We have a Champion in a topsy turvy system, and it wasn't until I trimmed off all the non-flower-producing foliage that it really went to town. You're supposed to do that anyway to keep the plant putting energy into flowers and fruits instead of leaf stalks, many of which don't produce anything. I trim back my tomato plants once a week. That allows new shoots to come in and start to flower, so I'm positive which will be producers and which won't before I start whacking with the scissors. Thinning useless foliage also allows the sun to hit the tomatoes more thoroughly, which moves them along toward ripening faster. It makes the plants look spindly and ugly, but I don't grow tomatoes for their gorgeous foliage.

I've got 25 tomatoes on the Champion now ranging from marble to pool ball size, and I fully expect they'll ripen OK in a few weeks. I also have to water these every other day, or they dry out in the topsy turvy. I've fertilized them only three times since planting.

In contrast, the topsy turvy with the Sweet 100 cherry tomato plant in it, which gets exactly the same treatment, is lagging far behind the regular 3-gallon bucket with a Sweet 100 in it. Upside down one's only got about 10 tomatoes started, while the one in the bucket has about 30.

All three of these are in the same part of the full sun garden. We now have some really nice wide mulch aisles between our raised veggie beds, and the bucket with the Sweet 100s is in one of those aisles. We're done with the topsy turvey ones this year, too, and will go to buckets for the two or three plants we'll have next year.

Tomatoes are one of those things where it's just too darn tempting to buy a cheap 4-pack in May and put them all in instead of a single plant. We don't use that many tomatoes, so they'll just grow out our ears if we plant too many.

[reinhard1]

being a beginner at gardening i would asume trimming back on watermelon plants would be a good idea also? i had a couple spots in my back yard with full sun. so i planted some seeds just for fun, not having a garden yet. well with regular watering and some occational miracal grow in the liquid form it growing great. i have a bunch of yellow blooms on them,but a lot of green leaves. so do i trim some of the non booming stems off? thank you and good luck.

[Steve Foss]

If I'm getting lots of fruits/veggies and the season is growing a bit short, I'll trim back on some leaves and trim vines so I don't allow any new fuits/veggies to come in, allowing the plant to put all its energies into fruit/veggie size and maturation, and opening things up to the sun.

Squash, cukes, watermelon, cantaloupe tomatoes, pumpkins, etc.

[reinhard1]

man you are a man of many talents. thank you. good luck.

[KEN W]

Steve is right.....I will let fruit set for another 10 days or so.After that I pick them off,since they won't get ripe anyway.I also put the melons up on overturned pots to get them in the sun.Also to be able to see when they are ripe.

I don't prune the ends of my melons.The leaves are what is producing the energy for the fruit....I picked my first 2 ripe cantalope yesterday.They weighed about 3 lbs.

[reinhard1]

i have no fruit just the flowers. do you think there is enough time left to produce some fruit yet this year? thanks good luck.

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

Ok back to the original subject of the topsey turvey. So what happened last year? We had green toamtoes all the way to the first frost which of course killed the plant. They were all sized about like tennisballs.

Why did they not turn red or heck even a light orange for that matter?

[KEN W]

i have no fruit just the flowers. do you think there is enough time left to produce some fruit yet this year? thanks good luck.

Can you remember what variety they are?You live south of me(just outside of Fargo)so you should still get some fruit.Also depends on bees polinating them.

[KEN W]

Ok back to the original subject of the topsey turvey. So what happened last year? We had green toamtoes all the way to the first frost which of course killed the plant. They were all sized about like tennisballs.

Why did they not turn red or heck even a light orange for that matter?

Can you remember what variety they were?

[reinhard1]

i'm sorry i dont remember. there are bees around and i'm hopeing for the best. thank you and good luck.

[Whisker Trout Slayer]

Can you remember what variety they were?

I wish I could. I am thinking if they do not produce any red ones this year that thing is gone next year.

[KEN W]

The problem a lot of people have is they like those great big red tomatoes.So they go to the greenhouse and buy Big Boy,Big Girl,Better Boy.They are OK in a warm normal year.But if it is cool.....all you will get are a lot of big green tomatoes before freeze-up.

People should buy earlier ripening tomatoes....I usually buy a few of those,but don't depend on them for my regular crop.One of the problems is that some greenhouses don't have much else.

People need to ask questions at the greenhouse.....what is a good early variety for this location?

I plant all early to mid season varieties....I have been eating ripe tomatoes for 2 weeks now and started canning today with 10 pints of spagettii sauce.

[reinhard1]

i think you are doing all the right things. for me a novice at the garden i am done with the topsy turvy tomato. next year when my garden is started this topsy turvy thing will no longer be cared for. right side up and take care of my garden as best i can. i think the topsy turvy tomato planter is not normal and best not to buy. good luck.

[Steve Foss]

We grow Champion or Celebrity for exactly the reason Ken mentioned -- they mature more quickly than many other varieties. Up here, that can make a big difference.

We started with the "turvies" because we have a south-facing porch with windows all along the front of it, as well as on the east and west side. This acts as a greenhouse, extending our season by a full month and a half, if we have plants that are mobile enough to move in and out of the porch. Thus the turvies.

Next year it'll be 5-gallon buckets, which have more room anyway.

[KEN W]

Champion and especially Celebrity are excellent varieties.Celebrity is an All-American tomato.Develops fruit in big clusters.

[Steve Foss]

Ken, I rarely grow any other standard tomato varieties anymore. Champion or Celebrity is everything we need. We love slicers, and their medium-sized fruits are great for that. Nice and firm, great flavor, pretty fast ripening. And I like to pick a handful of Sweet 100s just after sunrise on a cool morning and pop them one at a time in my mouth while wandering the gardens.

[harvey lee]

I do not have the topsy turvy but my tomatoes are almost ready. I picked 7 yesterday and it looks like BLT's for supper this week.

Man I love the garden tomatoes. Large crop this year.

[boec0020]

I have the topsy turvy pepper planter and I am surprised how well it is working. I don't think I will get more than a season out of it, the plastic bag gets pretty weathered.

[corncob]

I grew several tomatoes upside down and several right side up with exact soil and conditions.....Both did well,BUT,the right side up ones out performed the upsidedowners......So much for that idea!....

[reinhard1]

i posted earlier on the upside down dissapointment plant. i am a rookie when it comes to this and all garden stuff. next year will be my first acutual garden. i followed all instructions, gave the plant the best soil i could find, periodicly fertilized it with miracle grow, water as needed [it seemed it needed it everyday], and it had full sun. it grew great and bloomed, had fruit on it but no ripe ones. just out of spite since i have purchased the thing i will try again next year. next year i will try what a neighbor tried. she put one plant on the bottom like usual and filled it with soil and then put one on top. so she had plants comming out of both ends. worked great for her and with good results. the only complaint she had was the watering of it. good luck.