All ‘Topsy Turvey”

One of the things that keeps us all gardening is optimism- that the sun will shine, the rain will fall, the seeds will germinate and with a little luck, we will have beautiful tomatoes mid- July. We will have the tomatoes, but not from our original Topsy Turvey planting. As you can see the plants in the purchased topsys flopsied!  Too much water was the culprit. These poor plants simply drowned.

David came up with another set of directions to build our own upside down growing container (directions below). This second round of tomatoes is growing strong and seem to be holding  the water just right.

You may also notice another garden favorite growing out of the top of our planters- it’s basil. Not only is this a delicious planting pairing, it is a practical one. Tomatoes and Basil require similar soil, sun and moisture and are complementary to one another. Planting the Basil in the top of the planter creates a natural umbrella for the soil, again assisting with moisture control.

The plant on the right is bearing fruit. The brown leaves are because                                                                                             we are gone over the weekend and Topsy Turveys require regular watering. 

Hanging Bucket Tomato Planter

Purchase an empty 5-gallon bucket. This bucket can be found at hardware stores. Clean the bucket with warm sudsy water to prepare it for planting your tomato plant.

Cut a hole in the bucket using a drill or a utility knife. The hole should be right in the middle of the bottom of the bucket and about 2 inches in diameter.

Opposite of the handle, drill two holes to accommodate a sturdy cord to form a cross handle. If the bucket does not have a handle, add a second cord to form an X.

With the bucket hanging, place several layers of newspaper in the bottom of the bucket, covering the hole. You can also use a 4 x 4 inch of 1 inch thick foam rubber. This will later be used to anchor the tomato plant.

Cut a slit in the newspaper or foam rubber at the bottom of the bucket to allow you to plant the tomato plant. Plant the seedling with only about 3 inches of the plant coming out of the hole. Use soil to anchor it in the bucket.

Fill the bucket with soil. Soils with vitamin additives, like Miracle-Gro, are the best for growing tomatoes. In the top of the bucket you can plant your favorite herbs. This will help to retain the moisture in the bucket.

Hang the bucket in a sunny area and water. Tomatoes require at least 50 percent sunlight. Move the bucket according to where the most direct sun is during the day.

Harvest tomatoes as they ripen on the vine. Tomatoes will begin to form not long after the tomato plant flowers. The fruit should be red and firm before cutting from the plant.

Alec brings us up to date

A huge THANK YOU to Alec. In addition to being our unofficially official on staff garden expert, he is also today's guest blogger! 

Alec’s Garden log:

July 5, 2011

Discovered a bug that I suspect is Aphid’s on a few of the Tomatoes on Thurs.  I researched ways to get rid of them and there are quite a few methods both organic and otherwise.   Last Thurs. I smushed some of the larger concentrations on the back of some the bigger leaves.  Today, after a five day hiatus, I tried another method.  Since the last possible rain here was Saturday morning and the whole garden needed a big drink, tried the forced water method that I read about.  I held the tip of the vine in one hand, turned the vine over to expose the underside of the leaves and used the hard spray from the hose.  All of the Aphids were washed off.   This will hopefully keep the infestation at bay… we’ll see.

Two tool library customers, returning tools first thing this morning, asked me what I had planted so far.  So, I went through the list: Tomatoes, Peppers, Carrots, Italian Parsley, Eggplant, Runner Beans, Bush Beans, Cucumbers, Yellow Summer Squash,  Edamame (Soybeans), Sweet potatoes and Basil.  The beds planned for this year are about 2/3’s complete.  As we finish these beds in July we will consider the following veggies for fall: Spinach, Peas, Lettuce, Beets, Radishes, Cabbage, Cilantro, and Collard Greens.

The hanging Tomatoes took it tough.  We had planted 4 hanging tomatoes – Two in old ‘Topsy Turvey’ bags and 2 in plastic 3 gallon buckets.  We lost 1 tomato in June to too much water.  Today after 5 days of not much water, the 3 remaining were very dried out and almost dead.  Hanging tomatoes need to be watered about every day in heat.  I had hoped that they got a good soaking during the Saturday morning rain (monitored from home by radar).  I soaked them down real good this morning and they started to perk up almost immediately.   We’ll see if we end up losing any vines or if they all recover.