How to Plant Hanging Upsidedown Tomatoes

Using hanging baskets instead of 5 gallon buckets, I will show you how to grow a hanging tomato plant. There are many instructions online to make hanging tomato plants out of 5 gallon buckets, but I think they are ugly (no offense meant). I had tomatoes in my ground garden last year, but i had a very hard time with tomato bugs. I also had cut throat bugs too. The best solution I could think of was to hand them :)

Step 1: Materials Needed

You will need the following materials:
-hanging coco basket with a hole in the bottom of the frame
-dirt (more on this later) I used peat moss, manure, and vermiculite
-something to hang it from (I used a Shepard's hook)
-and a tomato plant!!!!

The plant needs to be a baby plant, not one of those huge 1 gallon bucket plants.

Step 2: Cut the Hole

Using very large scissors, cut an "x" shaped hole in the bottom of the coco liner. This is harder them it looks, at least it is if you are female. Try to place the cut so that the basket will support it later if possible.

Step 3: Put the Plant in the Basket

Next you need to put the tomato plant in the hole. You can put it in plant first, or root first. This plant has a very small root ball, so I put it in root first. one other one I did had a much larger root ball, so I put it in plant first. When you plant tomatoes, put part of the stem int he dirt. I buried the first 2 leaves.

Step 4: Check the Placement of Your Tomato Plant

This step is very important!!!!! Check the placement of your tomato plant. Ensure the stem is not to close to the frame. As you can see my baskets have a cross in the frame under the coco liner. I also have ones with a circle hole with no cross. These with the cross work better. They prevent the cut from opening with the weight of the dirt and water.

Step 5: Hang It Up

Be Sure you hang it up now. Do not lay it on the ground or you will smash the baby tomato plant.

Step 6: Mix the Dirt

Next you can mix your dirt. I do Square Foot Gardening, so I used that mix recipe:
1/3 Vermiculite
1/3 Peat Moss
1/3 Compost or manure

Step 7: Fill the Basket

Fill the basket with your dirt. Be sure to support your tomato stem and root ball by building up the dirt around the plant. Once the plant is supported, fill the rest up. I found it easy to hang the dirt container up next to the basket, that is what the last 2 pictures are showing.

Step 8: Plant the Top of Basket, If You Want

This step is optional.
I planted peas in the top of my pot to help as the tomatoes are growing, these will die as soon as it warms up much. I pushed the peas under the surface after I took the pictures.