Hi,I bought 4 planters on sale for $3.99 each and have set them up using the advice given here. I'm not sure I've got the soil mix right, but, only time will tell. I used newspaper to "anchor" the plant inside the "x" to try and insure the plant wouldn't fall out. I'm currently using plastic wrap to create a green house on the top to try and keep moisture in, but the herb/flower idea sounds great. I have been lucky so far this season that I have been able to remove the wrap when it was raining and putting it back after it stopped. When I picked the plants up at the green house I grabbed a summer squash plant by mistake and decided to plant it like the rest as I figured I had nothing to lose. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for all the good ideas.

my friend and i used this method and it. worked. amazingly! it was cheap, very quick and has brightened up our backyard significantly. thank you!

gardening tip- push the plants through leaf-first, not root first as  plants with damaged leaves will still grow,  damage roots however may kill the plant.

I have been trying to grow tomatoes upside down for the last 3 years and have gotten a bit better each year but I would seem to have problems with drying out and blight. Last year another gardener told me about making sure there was alot of vermiculite at the top of the bucket (at the top when upside down) -this is to keep the moisture where the drinking roots of the tomato tend to be - they are generally deeper when grown the right way up but at the top of the upside down planter.

So I would stress the importance of point 6 - mixing the compost with vermiculite. This tip really seemd to bring my crop on last season. This site I found has a couple of informative articles on this whole subject of growing tomatoes upside down - http://www.practicalhomeandgarden.com/the-upside-down-tomato-garden

Granted, I am just trying this out this year, but one thing that I do really well is researching something before I do it.  I have seen a lot of sites that, when using a 5 gal bucket, suggest leaving the lid on the top, and cutting a hole in it.  Until I saw all the posts about the dirt drying out, I couldn't figure out what that was for.  I would imagine that even with a regular basket, you could still put a lid or cover on it with a hole for watering on top. 

I love this concept and hope to implement it this year. For the person who wanted a solution for what to do about water while away...I think one could prop a soda bottle with tiny holes in it to "self" water a bit while away for a couple of days maybe??? For the people concerned about fertilizer dripping on the plant... use organic types like worm poo (okay okay...castings!) or compost tea. You can even spray either on the plants. I've heard that the worm castings even provide some deterrent to pests. Google and you'll find plenty of advice on how to "make" your own.

I just wanted to let you know how successful we were - actually my husband.  We live in Florida and he started this in August, our hottest month.  He is now going through his 3rd yield and it appears that there is another one coming.  He did have to hang it from the overhang because the shepherd's hook wasn't strong enough.  He waters them 2 times a day and fertilizes them regularly also.  He has had plenty to share with family and friends.  So with all that...Thank you. 

Great idea, though I had a little bit of an experience with it that I'll relate. I did this using a double-hook 'shepherd's crook' design that I purchased from Home Depot. Got home, filled up the 12 inch baskets (one for each side) and the hook immediately bent over pretty far. The baskets were way too heavy (didn't think of that), but I luckily had a perfectly sized clothes-line setup so have used that. Just be careful and know how heavy these are and how bad the basic shepherd's crook is for a two basket setup (or at least the one I bought was.)

better than those hideous green cylinders they sell on tv that are supposed to blend in with your garden somehow. maybe people these days grow green cylinders, I dunno.

darn, i thought i invented this :-(

oh, well, i can report success with this method, having planted a 12" basket with a couple of SunGold cherry tomatoes poking through on opposite lower sides of the cocoa liner, with marigolds and basil on top. next time i'll limit it to one tomato plant per basket, but yes, my plants have done very well so far this summer, with no problems from birds or bugs. i pruned them back and fertilized them and am looking forward to more delicious little tomatoes. i will definitely do this again.

one observation: it's amazing how determined the plants are to grow up , reaching for the sun! my plants developed hellaciously strong stems using this method.

another observation: there were too many plants in my basket competing for nutrients: 3 marigolds, a bushy globe basil, and two vigorous, indeterminate tomato plants. next basket will have fewer plants.

I am glad I found this!!! I have no gardening experience, but want to start a small garden on my deck. I was considering the very same method for hanging tomatoes. I agree that this is more decorative that the Topsy Turvy. I do have three questions.... 1)What is the minimum basket size required to adequately soil the root system? I've seen these baskets in 12", 14", 16", etc.... I have space limitations so the smaller the better, however, I want them to be productive. 2)Do standard tomatoes require larger basket capacity than cherry tomatoes? 3)I also thought it might be decorative to plant basil out of the top of the basket while the tomatoes hang thru the bottom. Is this advisable or will the roots choke one another??? Thanks for the ideas and feedback!!!

I hate to say this, but the Topsy Turvy product is only about ten dollars. Not much of an investment. Unless you're attempting to re purpose some materials you have laying around, the by all means do it. I have one Topsy Turvy and four hanging baskets currently growing and have to admit that TT gets the best grade!

Other than space-saving (and avoiding land-based bugs), what is the advantage of growing the tomato plants upside-down? Also, have you had difficulty with any tomatoes falling off the plant as the ripen and gain weight? Also, what types of tomato plants are especially or not good (i.e., climbing vs. bush/patio types). Thanks, MMZ

I have no probs with growing the toms in baskets but was just wondering what time of day is best to water them. I hear so many wives tales and i yearn the truth. Any takers. :)

I was wondering if you ended up having enough dirt for roots in the end. What size hanging planter did you use? What is the purpose of planting the peas - what is the benefit to the tomato plants? Thanks!

tomatoes and peppers want to grow up. will they eventually go down from weight and gravity or should I assist them with a weight? first time I've tried this. seems the hanging plants are grow faster and are stocker than the ground plants. thanks for your info.

I think yours are the best looking of all the methods I have looked at. I am trying this out for the first time and did not like the looks of the commercial planters. Yours are very decorative! Thank you very much for the information and pics!

I have tried this and it works well. It also works with bell peppers.