Sunday, April 25, 2010

Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter - {re}Redux or Year Two


Topsy Turvy at Two Weeks

The tomatoes in the Topsy Turvy planter didn't perform well at all last year despite my many efforts.  It is a heavy planter that needs a pretty strong support, and I didn't have any place to hang it except for under the eave of the house. While I'm pretty sure that it got enough sun, it was definitely not happy and never produced a single tomato.    Note:  Do not just leave your Topsy Turvy planter out in the elements over the winter, even if you have mild winters, or it just might dry rot like this:


When I decided to give it another round after borrowing a plant stand from my son and daughter in law, and found it in this shape, I truly considered just giving up on the Topsy Turvy altogether for this year, but darn it... I really hate to admit defeat, so... I bought another bag and here I am again!

I know, I know... last year I gave y'all some links on how to build your own homemade Topsy Turvy, but have I mentioned that I'm a) an Amazon shopping addict and b) a bit lazy? Hey. I spent my entire life busting my behind in the corporate world, trust me. I've earned lazy! Anyway...

I put one Better Boy tomato plant in my Topsy Turvy planter this year and moved it onto the plant stand in the middle of the yard, though clearly I had to order a new planter. 

I was hoping that moving it out from the eave and into the middle of the yard would help, but it is pretty heavy and bending the rack forward quite a bit. I sure hope the stand holds up without collapsing and dropping and breaking my plant like last year when it fell off the eave! I'm especially hoping that the raccoons don't try to climb it like I suspect they did when I found one of my banana trees broken last year.

The Turvy when I planted it.  Curious about the meaning
behind this picture? Click here.

I planted the Topsy Turvy the same time I planted all of my tomatoes on March 30th and gave it a dose of Epsom and tomato fertilizer, though it really was a pretty hardy plant - despite coming from one of those 6 count cell packs. Sorry I didn't get a better picture but the sunlight was a little harsh.

Topsy Turvy at One Week

Well, here it is not even a month later, and I'd say it is pretty happy out here in the middle of the yard, so take that as lesson one.  Location. Location. Location.  The success of your Topsy Turvy is gonna be pretty dependent on location.

Topsy Turvy at Just Under One Month

Next I do need to see if I can find a more sturdy holder. This bad storm that passed through here this weekend had me so worried over the planter that I actually took it down until the storm passed after watching my patio umbrella stand blow over.  There is a holder that is sold specifically for the upside down planters, and with my luck, might be the way for me to go, since I don't really want to put down anything permanent like a cemented pole.

At any rate, now we wait! Let's see if we end up with any actual tomatoes on the Turvy this year!  (Sssh... don't tell anybody, but there are two, tiny little tomatoes on there right now.} Stay tuned.




~

5 comments:

  1. I have thought about trying to use one of those a couple of times. I think I will wait and see how it works for you this year. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wanted to get a Topsy Turvy planter because I thought it might be easier for my dad and he wouldn't have to bend so far over or pull weeds. When I told him about it he said "Couldn't we just plant it in the ground?"
    Bless his heart...

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL Bill! Actually if you set them up for him, he'd probably love it. I saw someone who had done like two T-posts with a post across the top and then screwed in like 4 or 5 hangers into the top post. Nice set up! Thanks for swinging by - long time no see!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh lordy, are they STILL burning? How many leaves do those folks HAVE over there, anyway??? Geez...

    Hope your Topsy-T works out well...I remember last year's disaster...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes Holly! As you see we are very close and that arrow is right where they were burning! Right by the back door to my house. Multiply that by 10 others around us and you can see why it is such an issue for me being allergic to smoke!

    Definitely had some challenges with the Turvy last year - rotting plant, then it fell and broke the plant, then the last plant, nothing. Hopefully this year will be better, but time will tell! I do think it likes the location better, but I also think I need a sturdier stand.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome & thanks for taking the time to comment! From time to time, comment moderation may be activated due to comment spam. I also reserve the right to edit, delete or otherwise exercise total editorial discretion over any comments left on this blog.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
All content and images, including any not yet watermarked, are ©My New 30 2008-2017, unless noted otherwise. You are free to print articles for personal use, but please do not republish anything from this site without prior written permission. All rights reserved.
Is someone stealing your content? Click here to find out what to do.