How do you grow tomatoes upside down and why even bother to do it?
Actually, it’s pretty smart, and many tomato growers swear by the fact that their tomatoes are bigger and more plentiful as a result. This article will discuss how and why to grow upside down tomatoes.
When tomatoes are growing upside down, the shoots and stems are not fighting gravity. Gravity is actually helping the plants to grow so the stems grow stronger and healthier as a result. There is improved air circulation around the plant which also encourages growth.
Another benefit to growing your tomatoes upside down is that you never have to stake them or support them as they develop. Normally with the tomato plants growing rightside up, the plants must be staked or supported to help them bear the weight of the developing tomatoes and keep them from settling to the ground.
When tomatoes are allowed to settle to the ground they fall prey to pests, diseases and rot. It’s a bad thing which must be avoided – and hanging the plants upside down avoids it more effectively than any other technique.
How Is It Done?
It’s really quite simple. You will be growing your tomato plants out of a bucket. Most growers prefer five gallon paint buckets that can be picked up inexpensively at your local hardware store.
Cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket at least 2 – 2 1/2 inches wide. Set the bucket on the ground. Find some old newspaper or better yet a coffee filter and put it on the bottom of the bucket, over the hole. Fill the bucket with soil and place the cover over the bucket.
Now turn the bucket over so that the hole in the bottom is now on top. Remove the coffee filter and reach in with your hand and grab enough of the soil out of the bucket to make room for the planting of a tomato seedling
Gently plant the seedling in the hole and replace the soil around it, packing it in firmly. Now place more old newspaper or a couple of coffee filters around the young plant to secure it in and prevent soil from dropping out when it is suspended upside down.
Now gently pick up the bucket and set it rightside up so that the plant is suspended upside down. Remove the cover from the top of the bucket and suspend the bucket – plant arrangement on a firm hook, a firm trellis, a plant support or some other similar plant-holding structure.
Water the plant by simply watering the soil at the top of the bucket until you start to see a few drops coming through the 2 inch hole on the bottom.
You’re done! You can now look forward to your upside down tomato plant producing healthy, large, sweet delicious tomatoes all spring and summer.