My handy husband has been very busy. He decided he wanted to try one of those upside down tomato plants. They are all over the TV and seem to be all the rage here. Lets just say that he does not like to spend money he does not need to. So he decided to make his own.
Here are the supplies you need. He got the bucket at Panera. Did you know if you walk into a Panera and ask for a bucket the will give you as many as you want? They get their pickles in them, they smell like pickles too!
You also will need a drill with the proper bit, garden soil and or dirt from the ground, scissors, a piece of garden cloth or a coffee filter, and A tomato plant.
The only thing we bought was the plant $3.00 and the soil for about $6.00. The topsy turvy sells for $20 to $30. We saved a little bit of money there.
Step 1-Get a 5 gallon bucket you can find them at most hardware stores.
Step 2-Drill a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the bucket with your drill, and place your garden fabric in the bottom with a slit in it to make room for the plant.
Step 3-Put your plant into the hole in the bucket carefully, then fill your bucket with soil (hubby also put soil from Spruce Hill in there too. He insists that there must be Maryland soil for it to taste like a Maryland tomato)
Step 4- Cover with the lid and flip it over. Let the plant grow in the bucket for a week in order for the roots to establish before you flip the bucket over to hang it up. Make sure you water it!
He made two, one for my Dad and one for us.
Step 5-Now that the plant is about 12 inches tall it is time to hang it upside down.
Step 6-hang your plant up, you need to make sure it is a strong enough place to support it's weight.
We hung ours on the very end of the swing set, were there are no swings hanging. He attached a board to the top of the swing set with screws and put two nails in it to secure it.
Another great thing about these are that even if you do not have room in your yard for a garden you can still have fresh veggies. Some people are even planting cucumbers and other vine veggie plants upside down!
Have fun with it and let us know how it works out!
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