A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Proud New Mama of Tomato!

This is my new baby. I grew him from a seed! And I am going to grow him in this upside down contraption! I am just so proud. I am a rookie. (So tips are welcome.) I planted it with soil up to the first set of leaves and mulched well on top to keep moisture in. I can easily water it from my kitchen window with my kitchen sink sprayer! ~That was not planned but worked out very nicely! Check it out>>>>

Cherry tomato!!

That is soooooo awesome, Johnna! I have always wanted to try an upside down tomato but I'm a little worried that the gazillion mile an hour wind would just tear the pot off the house and hurl it against the car or something. Let us know how your little tomato does.

No doubt! I hope all is going to work out well with that here. It IS Oklahoma afterall!

Awesome-and I love the idea of watering from your kitchen window !

That looks very good..
And the tomato looks very healthy..
Will enjoy watching this thread updated
thru the summer.....

Are you going to plant any annuals on the top for some color?

Wow. Did not think of that!!!!! What a great idea! Sure. I just got 6 Snapdragons today, I can plant those, huh?

I did goof up though. I have to move the hook back. If it rains it may damage it. I hung it further out than I probably should have.

Wouldnt the rain be a good thing??
Congrats on your baby! Does he have a name?? (tee hee)
The flowers on top will help bring pollinators too.

Well I think the rain will be too strong coming off the roof.

Ah, the drip line off the roof. I see.

what type of soil did u use

Uh, well. I really think I used organic compost and top soil mix. Not sure I remember- but either that or miracle grow potting soil.

thanks for the advice

So it's holding up well? No wind tearing it to shreds? Is it getting big or growing slow? Sorry I'm so full of questions...

That's ok. Seems to be doing well. This is my first time to grow a tomato. I will get a pic tomarrow for you. So far the wind is not hurting it. Had strong winds last month and the plant was growing upwards toward the wall so maybe that helped protect it. But I noticed it had buds about to bloom when I saw that something was snacking on it! So I turned it around so my tomatoes would get more sun and ripen more evenly. But so far so good. I bought an insecticidal soap that I used on it. Now I wonder if I should pick those eaten leaves or the whole stem....??

[img][IMG]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m220/Johnna81/plants%20march%2007/plantupdate5-19-07003.jpg[/img][/img]

The branch sticking off the bottom to the right got eaten up. You can kind of tell by the picture. I am going to wait and see how it does I guess. Now I keep it sprayed! Stupid, pesky bugs!! Seems like it should be bushier to me, but what do I know?

Does it get full sun? Tomatoes can get leggy if they don't get enough sun. What sort of bug do you think is munching on them? Also, I've heard some people weight the stems a little bit, just to convince the plant to grow downwards.

I'm glad to hear the winds haven't bashed it to smitherines. It's looking great!

Yeah. Full sun. Atleast 7 hours, maybe 8 hours. I don't know. The bug is gone. no new damage. I sprayed it. I am afraid to weight the stems. I don't want to break it. I am sure it will be fine and maybe I will get some yummy tomatoes!

I can't blame you for not weighting the stems. I'd be worried about breaking them too. I can't wait to see you get tomatoes, I bet that is going to look neat!

My first year growing tomatoes, I didn't know any better and put a big indeterminate Yellow Pear tomato in a hanging basket. I thought since it was a cherry tomato that it would be a small plant also..wrong! Plants know to lift their leaves to the sun whether they're growing rightside up or upside down..which is why you're seeing the stems do a U-turn. That happened with my Yellow Pear also. The plant was quite prolific, in spite of growing in a seriously small amount of soil. I hung it from a tree branch (yeah, dappled sunlight too, lol) about 7' off the ground and the stems were about 2' off the ground at the height of its growth. Your tomato plant should do just fine. It might look a bit strange, but who cares if you get a good crop of tasty tomatoes.

Cheers,
Julianna