So am I going to turn my tomato growing world upside down this summer?
Why would I want to – to try out a Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato planter of course!
These first appeared last summer, mainly on blogs written from the US , where the trend began, swinging gently, intriguing their purchasers as to how it would all turn out. Mixed it would seem – some pictures captured productive plants, happy hanging out and shooting the breeze. Others looked a bit yellow about the gills as if to say ‘….put me down…please…now…enough…..’
So what do I think? I don’t buy the science (gravity pulling nutrients down, roots nearer the sun, the wonders of solar radiation etc). In fact I think you could topsilly, turvilly, mix up all the words which describe the planters’ benefits and come up with another set of claims which make the same sense (with the same scientific gravitas) as those written the right way round.
But ultimately the thing I can’t make stack up is how it works out better against existing alternatives. The promise is larger tomatoes and better yield but £9.98 buys 2 grow bags and 6 tomato plants which surely together would produce more than 1 plant in a TT planter?
So if it’s Icarus complex, airborne tomatoes you want, I’d say keep your feet firmly on the ground and try a hanging basket instead.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
To be honest, I can’t see the point of those. I suppose they’d be useful if you are short of space but I think it’s easier to use pots or plant them into the good earth. They’re probably intended for the mini-cherry types which you can grow in hanging baskets – could you see that supporting a fully-laden beefsteak tomato vine? You wouldn’t want to stand under it for too long…
As for better yields and larger fruit – nah, the vine would become pot-bound after a while and run out of nutrients. That probably accounts for the yellowing ones you’ve seen. The ‘science’ is probably bunk too – roots don’t want to be in the sun, they want to be surrounded by dark, moist earth.
My opinion is that its a marketing gimmick, and as you say, a waste of money. All IMO, of course
Agreed! I knew it was science being used to baffle when the spokesperson started bringing in the concept of Geotropism – delighted as I was to know what it meant ( I think) it’s not normally something that us growers have to worry about….
As I went into the garden center today someone passed me coming out with a growbag and 3 tomato plants – far more ‘grounded’ choice !