Chicken bald back

[AJuff]

Has anyone tried a topsy turvy to grow upside down tomatoes?

 

 

I really fancy trying to make one from a food grade bucket. Anyone able to recommend a variety of tomato that would grow in one?

[theherd123]

Could you explain what a topsy turvy is first as im totally lost?!

[Cinnamon]

Me too!

[Laura & CTB]

I think it's one of .......

 

These

 

There's a couple of tomato plants suggested at the bottom.

 

cheaper here

[AnnieR]

They look great.....

I might even try one myself!

[Guest]

we've planted our toms for this year but if anyone trys one, let us know if they're any good please and we might try it next year

 

you could do this with just an ordinary hanging basket though couldn't you

[theherd123]

you could do this with just an ordinary hanging basket though couldn't you

 

Thats this years plan Poet!

 

I am growing basket toms and hope they turn out really well - fingers crossed

[little chickadee]

They look very cool

[FruitandNutCake]

you could do this with just an ordinary hanging basket though couldn't you

 

Do you mean an upside down hanging basket?

 

I've just planted 3 hanging cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket the normal way up!

[Guest]

you could do this with just an ordinary hanging basket though couldn't you

 

Do you mean an upside down hanging basket?

 

I've just planted 3 hanging cherry tomatoes in a hanging basket the normal way up!

 

yes, you could just do them upside down in an ordinary basket, or so I would think anyway, couldn't you?

 

we've got ours in baskets along the fence, DH will train them so they'll tumble over the edge of the fence, the side away from the garden so the girls can't get to them

 

 

[AJuff]

What type of tomatoes though?????

[FruitandNutCake]

But wouldn't the soil fall out of the hanging basket - along with the tomato plants if it was upside down?

[Tara.F]

I've seen this done (on another forum) on someone's allotment.

and....in true allotment style, they made their own using large plastic cola bottles

 

A decent sized rootball keeps the plant steady, the only problem I envisage would be keeping the roots cool

[Guest]

What type of tomatoes though?????

 

we've got "tumbling toms"

[Lesley]

I bought a Topsy Turvy last year........ and then we had blight, so I didn't get round to using it.It has a foam disk with a slit in it which holds the tomato plant in.

 

I wonder where I've put it?

[Tara.F]

well, thus inspired I'm off to make my own in a pop bottle

 

I'm going to try a lightweight, soil free mix for a growing medium (vermiculite mixed with my chicken poop/aubiose compost) that should hold water well without getting too heavy.

 

So thanks for starting this thread Ajuff! I'll let you know how I get on

[AJuff]

I've decided to make my own too. A friend is saving two large food grade buckets for me . . . .The tumbling toms are ordered too!!

[chickencam]

We have had great success growing hanging basket tomatoes for the last few years. Tumbler are the best variety with good sized cherry tomatoes that ripen much earlier than greenhouse varieties and even earlier too if you hang them in the greenhouse instead of outside.

 

Tumblers are very nearly impossible to get this year we finally found 2 plants in homebase a week ago, apparently there was a seed failure last year.

 

The next best is Tumbling Tom, they produce loads of smaller cherry tomatoes, again early ripening. Will 'tumbling' varieties you get many more tomatoes for the space available and don't need a greenhouse.

 

We usually plant them up with some trailing Lobelia arounf the edge and when they are in full production they look every bit as good as a flowering basket.

[Tara.F]

I aint got none of them

 

So....I'm going for broke with enormous tomatoes instead

I'm doing 'purple ukraine' fruit the size of a goose egg and the colour of blood

and 'Ivory egg' which look like it says on the tin

 

weeeellll.....in for a penny, in for a pound

[AJuff]

I was planning on growing them attatched to the fence in my veggie garden. Do birds/flies etc eat them??? Will I need to net them off?

[Tara.F]

I don't think so

none have ever attacked mine (except me chooks of course, they love 'em )

 

However, watch your watering. If you let your toms get dry then it rains heavily the fruit will split and then beasties will get in.

 

Blackbirds love overripe toms that fall from the bush but I've never seen them 'steal' one from the vine (not that I'd mind if they did)

[Lesley]

You have better behaved blackbirds than we have then!

[Reikiranf]

I grew plum tomatoes in a topsy turvy planter that I bought from QVC last year and we had our best crop ever! Mind you, that was before we had chickens I'm a bit concerned that this year the girls might think I've provided them with an eat as much as you like buffet

[Valkyrie]

Are the Tumbler toms F1 hybrids? If not, you can always save the seed. Then you don't have to rely on the seed company. We do this with Tigerella and other ones that we like - I tend to avoid hybrids so that I can save the seed - with the exception of Sungold, everyone likes those.

[Lewis]

We've got loads of tomato plants this year.

They are Red Pear, Money Maker and Sweet Million.

 

Do you think we could plant any of these in an upside down 2 litre bottle?