Growing your tomatoes in an upside down tomato planter can help get rid of the many problems associated with growing tomatoes. In a normal garden, insects, slugs, and weeds often bother tomatoes. Picking the fruits can become difficult as you have to crawl around the plant and tunnel through the branches to collect each tomato. For these reasons and more, most growers want the technique of planting tomatoes upside down.
There are a number of good reasons to grow tomatoes upside down. Some of them include:
- Versatility – If you have limited space, you can place inverted planters almost anywhere. You can hang the planters on the balcony, patio, windows, or even on the front porch.
- Elimination of soil-related diseases and pests: Since tomatoes are not exposed to soil, soil-borne pests do not infest the fruits. The risk of soil-borne diseases is also reduced because the soils in inverted tomato planters are replenished annually.
- Air Circulation – Inverted tomatoes have improved air circulation as they hang in the air. This increases pollination, which in turn increases the chance of a good amount of yield.
- Zero weeds: the weeds that grow next to the plant are almost nil. This saves a lot of time and effort. At the same time, you don’t have to dig holes, stage, or cage your tomato plants.
Meanwhile, some people who grow tomatoes upside down find inverted tomato planters a disadvantage.
Here are some of the consequences of growing tomatoes upside down:
- Upside down tomato pots become very heavy with dirt and water, there is a chance that the pots will topple over. You need to make sure that your hanger is sturdy enough to carry the pots.
- Since tomatoes are not grown in a traditional way, the soil can get very hot. Avoid cooking the roots by placing aluminum foil around the pot to reflect some of the sunlight.
- If you don’t know how to create your own inverted tomato planters, buying them can be very expensive.
Many gardeners are employing the reverse planting technique on many of their plants. If you don’t want to give up your typical tomato garden completely, you can try making or buying an upside-down tomato planter to see if it works for you.
