Do Upside Down Tomato Planters Work?

About fifteen years ago, we moved into our first small house. It had a nice little car-port complete with multiple hooks for hanging plants. The whole neighborhood was the same style house and there were so many beautiful flower arrangements hanging from the end of each carport. We followed suit and hung a few baskets of petunias.

I wasn't very excited about it until I saw a house with more than just hanging flowers. They had a hanging strawberry basket and a Hanging Herb Garden. That got me thinking about other edibles you could grow in hanging pots, and before long I had a hanging basket of lettuce. Tomatoes were too big to grow in a hanging pot, but I managed to grow one out of the bottom. It worked pretty well and I was able to grow marigolds in the top part.

I never considered using anything other than a traditional hanging basket, but now there are containers on the market that are designed specifically to grow tomatoes from the bottom. I first saw these a couple years ago but resisted the temptation to buy one... until now!

I now have my very own Topsy Turvy Upside-Down Tomato Planter- as seen on TV even. I don't watch much TV and have never seen any commercials for this product. My daughters laughed when I showed them my new Topsy Turvy Tomato planter. They said, "That will go well in your Tomato Playground. It's like the one on the commercial". I guess it really is seen on TV. Some people are drawn to the "As seen on TV" slogan but I usually shy away from products with that claim. So what do I have with my Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter (other than a mouthful title)? Will it work? I think it should work fine. It will be a pretty cool novelty addition to my container garden section this year.

It will be great, according to all that is written on the box. Here is the list of positives they cite:

Grow delicious & Juicy Tomatoes all Season Long

Hangs on Deck, Balcony or Patio (I would add Car-port)

Eliminates Weeding, Caging and Staking

Can Grow Organic Too! (Always)

Also grows other vegetables including Green Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Eggplant, and more!

How it works:

Uses gravity as a vertical growing advantage

Vertical grow bag heats the plant like a greenhouse so the root system explodes

Gravity pulls the water and nutrients directly to the roots

It features:

Swivel top for easy turning

Simple to set up and maintain

Uses ordinary potting soil

Great for growing your own organic vegetables

UV-resistant, durable materials to last for years

I didn't make all of that up. It is what is written on the back of the box.

The Topsy Turvy isn't the only upside down tomato planter on the market. Look at this funny, but pretty cool Hot Pepper Planter

It seems that I am late to this vegetable hanging party. The more research I did, the more I found. They also make a big stand up system called Upside Down Patio Tomato Garden System Check this out:

That is really cool - and you can grow flowers, herbs or lettuce in the top part like I did so many years ago with my home-made upside down tomato planter.

So what's the verdict with these upside down grow bags? I would love to hear from those of you who have tried them before. Do they work? Do they work better than a "normal" patio container? Did you have fun with them, or were they a hassle to deal with? I will be answering all of these questions this season as I experiment with my Topsy Turvy Tomato bag. I think I will also try to make some home-made upside down tomato planters just for fun.

What do you think? Are they worth a try?