topsy's

[FILMNET]

I have 2 of these, used them last year, Can i use Green Grape plant in 1? I have grown 3 plants of green grape and they are small plants 35 days inside, with sun and lights. My dwarf plants are Tiny Tim, Czech bush, Siberian, are under 8 inch, and my Green Grape are only 8". Or can I use any of the dwarf one?

[dice]

Short answer: use Tiny Tim.

Explanation:
You could try with any of those. The usual problems will be
the container drying out rapidly in hot weather and blossom
end rot (BER, from almost all dissolved calcium in the container
mix ending up in the leaves instead of the fruit). Figure on
needing to water it twice a day (maybe 3 times) in hot weather
and expect fertilizer to wash out of it quickly.

Green Grape may have small fruit with less tendency toward
BER than a plant with larger fruit, but the plant itself is a
compact indeterminate that usually gets to 5' tall,
according to the description at Tania's TOMATObase.
Tiny Tim is probably a better idea for a container as
small as a Topsy Turvy, because the plant itself is
much smaller and requires less water to stay hydrated.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Green_Grape
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Tiny_Tim

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/C...o_Variety_List

[bwilliams]

Hi, this is my first year growing Tomato's and I really dont know what I am doing yet but things seem to be working out, as it happened for XMas, most of my family got me a bunch of Topsy's.. they seem to do ok, I am watering every day and adding fertilizer, not a lot but a few tablespoons every few days and there are a bunch of Tomato's growing.. some look great, some not so much.. but.. I will try and attach a few photos..

[dice]

Those look about as healthy as any plants that I have seen
growing in hanging tomato planters. I hope they stay that
way through the season for you.

[veggie babe]

Welcome to TV. I am glad you posted the pics of the topsy turvy, those are the best i've seen. What tomatoes did you plant, or any heirlooms? I need an alternative way for my mother to grow maters, she broke her knee cap and will have to use a walker to ambulate.

Neva

[dice]

Note that the BER issue with these is going to be the
same as it is with any container, the container mix
getting too dry for the plant to absorb calcium, which
must be in solution for the roots to take it in. (I was
probably thinking of some other thread when I mentioned
the calcium all ending up in the foliage. That happens
with large, actively growing plants in hot weather, and
that is also a cause of BER.)

[BlackThumb]

For a topsy-turvy I would recommend a regular cherry tomato type rather than a dwarf version like Tiny Tim.


The dwarfed versions growth is too slow and are a too small to do well in the topsy-turvy. I feel that a regular cherry tomato plant is probably the best for a topsy-turvy; otherwise I would use a regular cherry tomato plant; a dwarf version would likely be my last choice for a topsy-turvy.


I suspect the dwarfed versions would probably be mostly in the shadow of the planter. Whereas something like a cherry tomato plant tend to grow very aggressively. A regular cherry tomato plant will strive to get to the sun then it will grow high until the point it starts hanging back down toward the ground but by then it'll probably be so far away from the planter that the leaves will be in the light much of the day. When they start becoming so long that they start dragging on the ground I will then start using twine to coach the tips to climb back up toward the planter.


One of the bad things about topsy-turvy's is they require a lot of water. At first when the plant is small it may be only a necessary to water once a day or maybe even every other day. However once the plant becomes larger and starts bearing fruit it's going to require increasingly more and more water especially when it's hot and dry out. If you don't water enough your plant is liable to be stunted, have problems with excessive cracking skin, and blossom end rot.


The water that is poured into the topsy-turvy's often just runs right back out the bottom. One of the tricks that some people use is to cut a 2 L bottle in half and drill a small hole in the lid of the bottle and use it as a permanent funnel and too slow the rate that the water is added to the plant to give it a little more time to absorb the water and so there is less of a chance that the nutrients be flushed out of the soil. Once it gets hot and the plants become larger and start bearing fruit they will probably require watering two or three times a day. The plants often get midday or late day droops as they are using water faster than they are taking it in.



Hanging tomato plants seem to be less prone to disease as long as you keep the vines from dragging the ground. However since they require so much watering you need to watch the stem where it leaves the planter as this is often wet and has dirt and nutrients draining down on it; so this area of the stem can be prone to mold and mildew's and other diseases. I would recommend spraying this area with neem oil and or some other fungicide every couple of weeks once the plant starts getting large and requiring a lot of watering.


I would consider the topsy-turvy and other upside down hanging type of planters to be novelties. If I had the decent garden and if I was in good physical shape I would prefer to plant in the ground. However it is somewhat novel to have a hanging tomato plant as a conversation piece and somewhat of a nerdy experiment (curiosity interest). For some people with disabilities or the don't have a decent place to plant; the topsy-turvy or other type of hanging planters may be the best alternative.

[gryffin]

I found a link on line where someone made a reservoir by cutting off the bottom of a 1 gallon milk jug and placing it in the top of the planter. A wick is used to draw the water from the reservoir into the planter. This makes the topsy turvy behave more like Gardeners Supply's Revolution planter.

I went this route and used one of the spare wicks from one of my Revolution planters. I am trying the following varieties:

Revolution planter - Jolly Elf grape
Revolution planter - Moskovich
Topsy Turvy - Japanese Black Trifele
Topsy Turvy - Matt's Wild Cherry

I've got another 8 plants in self watering right-side up containers, so I'm not betting my whole tomato summer that these will work out.

[bwilliams]

I have one Heirloom in them, its a Cherokee Purple the rest are walmart hybrid of some variety.. I never looked at the tags.