casey00001 wrote:You are better off with a five gallon bucket. Drill a inch and a half hole in the bottom for water to drain, and you can plant one tomato plant on the top of the bucket and grow one out of the hole in the bottom. Do a google search on "five gallon container gardening". You can hang the bucket at eye level and its easy to water, with no bending over or weeding.

I agree, and the bucket lasts longer! I use the orange Home Depot paint buckets. The other good thing about planting this way is you can put the plants out earlier and take them in in case of frost. I have hooks in the garage....

I would not recommend this if you live in a HOT climate. Northern states will do best with this product. (Kansas, Missouri etc.. or farther north)

cjpowers wrote:3. Not only peppers and tomatoes, but cucumbers too! Probably would also work with eggplant.

Good idea. I wonder if watermelon would work....

gnnash wrote:My mom uses one of these. Works surprisingly well, keeps the tomatoes off the ground and away from hungry critters

Like birds?

I've used this in the past, worked well for me.

Can't find it at a Dollar Tree here (DC area), in fact saw it at a nursery today for $18.99! So what states are finding these at the Dollar Tree?

It's good to hear that some folks have had good luck with these...the topsy-turvy failed on all fronts here. We got a couple of green tomatoes after faithfully hanging and watering, the plant curved and grew upwards, and most importantly - the fact that it was hanging did NOT deter the evil fur-bearing minions known as "squirrels" whose only purpose is to destroy anything I enjoy.

Two things,

one: my biglots has these for $2.50 as well as similar ones for strawberries for $1.

two: we haven't had much luck growing in these, maybe you'll fair better. After the season we had with them I don't know that we will actually use them next year.

We live in south Florida, have used the same planters for at least 4 years. The clear coat peels off after a season but they still function. We have had best luck with cherry type tomatoes. Use a "container mix" soil, this has more organic material than potting soil, and is therefore lighter.
You must water them everyday, and about every two weeks we mix in some tomato plant food.
Wind is a problem, so we hang them from the eaves of the house on either side of the front door, which is a southern exposure. This protects the plants from our worst winds, associated with cold fronts. Our growing season is October to March.

I used one of these a couple of years ago... true, tomatoes will grow right side up and upside down... however, this thing keeps the tomatoes clean, in good shape, and grow well. I used it on my deck, which was nice since I didn't have a vegetable garden. You will use less water, less work keeping bugs off, no weeding needed, and tomatoes grow fast!

Plants will always grow towards light, so it's natural for the limbs of the plant to curve up, even if it's "growing" down from the bottom of the bag. The point of the planter is to keep it up off the ground and away from snails, slugs, and other crawling, non-flying pests. I have tried these, and they work better for lighter plants. I have peppers growing in one now here in Texas. Watering daily is crucial - I would use moisture control potting mix, or moisture crystal additive to your potting soil, additionally. There's not a lot of space for a lot of dirt to hold a lot of water :D Tomatoes need lots of sun - 8+ hours per day - if they're going to produce, and different varieties of plants grow different sizes. I have 6 varieties growing in my square foot gardens, and some of them are over 5 feet tall now, growing in cages. I'm not sure a topsy turvy planter could handle that large of a plant!

DaZoneRanger wrote: I didn't plant that one, yet, though, because Home Depot doesn't have the 4 or 6 packs of seedling peppers. They'll have them soon, though. Right now, they've only got big plants and they're too expensive. Those seedlings are only like $1.99 or $2.99 for 4 or 6 plants. The pepper planter has 7 holes on the sides.

I like to grow plants from seeds of the food I buy at the store You can plant some pepper seeds in dirt in an egg carton and transplant the sprouts when they're about 2-3 inches tall, and save yourself $3-5.

Am I missing something? $10 bucks shipped for two empty bags? What Tiny Flowers!!!

Saw at the dollar store....for - guess how much?

You read my mind!

I haven't tried these, but have tried this book on alternative means of growing tomatoes, which I can recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/100-Pounds-Tomatoes-Inexpensive-Foam/dp/0961977809

Had these for 2 years. Couldn't grow anything. Got stem rot and wasp nests in them.

The plants try desperately to grow upwards. Why would you fight that?? Let them do what they want to do. There is no benefits to growing them upside down. The nutrients don't "fall" down through the plant as the ads indicate.

wizwor wrote:Well S&H is $7.95 per set, so the cost of the four planters is $25.90. Compare that to woot's 3/$19.97 and woot is still a little cheaper per plant. Since the strawberries are a throw in, the 3/$19.97 price is much better that 2/$25.90.

Saw these at walmart for $5 ea -- strawberry or tomato. Just sayin'

Kacia wrote:I would love to grow my own tomatoes... Unfortunately I live in a condo with a balcony that is in full shade.

Ah! you live in my building! I can't grow much in the fruits and veggie department, but I definitely have plenty of foliage growing on the balcony. I found a few plants that don't really appreciate a lot of light, mainly plants that grow on the forest floor. Lilies of the Valley are blooming this time of year, and there will be Begonias in no time. I bought several varieties for lots of color and difference in flower shape. I plan to try a few annuals of flowers and herbsto see how they do on the balcony. Most important of all, I'm keeping a notebook which tells me how this all is working, I'll know what to plant.

Sorry big tobacco bought the rights to this nifty idea from Homer a LOOOONG time ago.

I bought these last year. They are better made than I would have thought but are poor performers. I was religious with water and fertilizer but got about 1/10th the crop of my plants in the ground. Buy a 5 gallon bucket from home depot for better tomatoes.

afarina wrote:My wife is a gardener and you sir are incorrect. Tomatoes will grow anyway you plant them.

Well I've planted them every way there is to plant them and they never grow for me!

My 2 cents. The wife has been wanting to try these out for a while so I grabbed them when they popped up on Woot.

I planted three tomato plants in three Topsy Turvy's per the directions and hung them in full sun (8+ hrs) and watered them daily. Plants went from healthy and strong to sick to completely dead in about a week.

I've successfully grown heaps of tomatoes/peppers/herbs in conventional pots for years but the Topsy turvy experiment was a complete failure.

Not that anyone is going to read this, but these are great for exercise. Whenever I want a tomato, I have to walk over to my neighbor's garden because our topsy turvy plants have none!