Sow There! 2-16 upside down tomatoes
The daffodils are starting to bud and I’ve finally gotten some blooms on the flowering quince. Although I am hopeful for a boatload of rain this month to stave off a drought, it’s beginning to feel like spring.
This week I dug through the kitchen junk cupboard and found a packet of peat pellets from last year.
I’ve planted tomatoes in peat pellets as early as January in years past. But when we had that cold snap, I pretty much forgot about planting anything except for primrose. This week the sunshine made me hopeful for spring.
I have a west-facing bay window that is perfect for planting seeds. I take pie tins — those cheapie ones that come with pre-made pie crusts. Allow the peat pellets to absorb enough water to make them fairly mushy. Then, with chopsticks, you rough up the surface enough to place the tomato seeds.
UPSIDE DOWN TOMATO
(What's upside down with that? New way to plant tomatoes is supposedly a winner vs. planting them in the ground).
After planting, I cover the tin with plastic wrap. I like to label the container so I can see how long it takes for them to germinate, just out of curiosity, and write down which variety is in each tin.
After they sprout, they’re transferred to peat pots or to other small containers I have lying around.
In the windowsill, tomatoes have a tendency to get leggy, and might need to be rotated a quarter of a turn every few days. But with this plant, that’s no big deal because when you plant them, they benefit by being planted deeply down on their stem. Roots actually grow out of the stem, so a deep planting benefits them.
While doing some random Internet research, I came across a planting method that sounds intriguing.
It’s called upside-down planting.
You take a five-gallon bucket or some other safe container. It’s best that the container have a handle so you can hang it on a patio overhang or other tall structure. Drill a hole in the bottom, about 2-3 inches in diameter.
Take the tomato seeding and push it through the hole in the bottom, so the foliage peeks out of the bottom. Then cover the roots of the plant with soil.
You’ll need to do this carefully so the stems and roots aren’t damaged.
The lid of the bucket can be placed back on the top. Some people drill a hole in the top of the lid to allow for watering.
When the plant grows, it grows upside down, through the bottom of the bucket.
Some folks use a coffee filter or paper towel between the plant and the soil to help prevent the plant from coming loose until the roots have established their grip in the soil.
From what I’ve read, this cuts down on disease because the plant is well-ventilated and also avoids some bugs that crawl up through the soil.
Another bonus is that the plant is mobile, so if you’re not getting enough sun in one location, you can just untie the entire thing and move it to another spot.
Some people also ditch the lid of the bucket and plant other herbs at the top of the container.
I had planned to double the amount of tomatoes I planted this year, as Tommy and I really enjoyed noshing on salsa last summer. I also froze a couple of huge batches of the stuff and have been bringing it to dinner parties throughout the cold months.
For some photos and success and failures regarding this method of planting, check out: www.oklahomahistory.net/tomatos.html.
Comments
;tried this last summer worked well but I left for 8 weeks with auto water system. hose slipped out and dried up plant but lstill got some good tomatoes. Need information on fertilizer for this system . Think it should be slow release.
Posted by: Gene | February 28, 2007 11:14 AM
Hello, I like the upside planter idea, and I am making a few for my container garden this year, but I am unsure what to use to hang the bucket, since it will be heavy after adding dirt and as the plant grows. What type of hardware did you use to suspend the bucket from the wood post?
Thanks,
Veronica
USEFUL INFORMATION: Yes, that puppy will weigh a ton, especially after you water it.
Our bucket had a handle on it. My beau just used some plastic-coated clothesline wire, shimmied up the tree and tied it to a tree limb.
If you didn't have a handle on the bucket, you would need to drill holes in the side, I suppose, to suspend the plant.
The bucket hangs close to the tree, with opening of the bucket where you add the water at about eye-level.
Some people build elaborate supports upon which to hang the buckets. This might be ideal for giving the upside-down plants full sun. But in our case we just took the first good vertical option (the tree).
It might be easier to affix the bucket first, and then add the soil after the bucket is secure.
When putting the plant into the hole in the bottom of the bucket, be careful the plant doesn't just pop out when you water.
One way to prevent this is by using a coffee filter to hold the soil around the plant roots. I especially need to do this because I plant tomatoes by seed in peat pellets, so the root ball is very small at first and could start falling out of the hole in the bucket.
Posted by: Veronica | February 5, 2008 08:12 AM
I hope that the 5 I've done comes out ok . I just can't get the watering right.
Posted by: Mona Sevin | May 2, 2008 04:47 PM
I hope that the 5 I've done comes out ok . I just can't get the watering right.I'm from Chauvin,Louisiana about 1hr45minutes from NewOrleans
Posted by: Mona Sevin | May 2, 2008 04:48 PM