gabriola garden

Sunday, June 01, 2008



Upside Down Tomatoes, Anyone? My wife, Sara, read in the Lee Valley catalog about upside down tomato planters. She was intrigued, but they were all sold out. So I Googled the subject and found plenty of online places to buy these, but they were all sold out too. It seems the manufacturer had underestimated the demand, so many gardeners were left without. However, I did find a build-your-own video on YouTube and decided--why not? I bought ten utility buckets at Home Depot, drilled two inch holes in the bottoms of the buckets, used a coffee filter to keep the potting soil from falling out, fertilized the mixture with Advanced Nutrients Iguana Juice Grow, planted six small tomato plants and four pepper plants, and hung the ten buckets upside down on the rafters of our courtyard. Sara even decorated the tops with some annuals! Some lids were left on, but they all had open watering holes. Oh, and our daughter, Hedgehog, helped drill air holes on the sides of the buckets to get some oxygen to the roots.

Tim, Sara, and the kids

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posted by Tim at 7:46 AM

3 Comments:

  • Hey Tim, looks fantastic.

    You've really inspired me to take my gardening to the next level when my wife and I move to a new place. You add aesthetics to gardening fantastically.

    I mentioned your fantastic new work on my blog.

    By Blogger Hydroponica, at 2:33 PM  

  • Hey Hydroponica,

    Thanks for the praise and the mention. I can't take the credit, the idea was Sara's and she also did most of the work. I held the ladder! :-)

    I'm mixing up a healthy cocktail for the little plants of Iguana Juice Grow, Piranha, and Tarantula. The latter two will strengthen their roots and enable them to absorb nutrients better, notably Nitrogen, which, as you know, is crucial at this stage!

    Glad we inspired you to new heights! Come visit us again!

    Tim, Sara, and the kids

    By Blogger Tim, at 4:01 PM  

  • I am fascinated by the idea of growing tomatoes upside down! My dear mother has a large allotment and corresponding back pain.

    I work on the GardenVisit.com website and we are celebrating our 10th birthday in October by offering free downloads of eBooks by our Editor - The Principles of Garden Design and 24 Historic Styles of Garden Design. Please see www.gardenvisit.com/ebooks.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:10 AM  

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