How To Make Your Own Upside Down Tomato Planters
Last year I purchased these two planters and they're nice and easy to use but they cost me $12.99 each and I thought I could make them for less.
After considering what type of container would be safe for vegetable growing I decided that these new white plastic paint buckets with HDPE #2 marked on the bottom that I purchased at a discount store would be good enough for me. I would not use a bucket that had contained paint, oil, etc. no matter how well it had been cleaned. You may be able to get free used food grade buckets from a deli, restaurant or bakery. Just be sure that the bucket has a metal handle rather than a plastic one which won't hold the weight.
Using a drill or exacto knife, put a hole in the bottom of the bucket just large enough to push the root ball of your plant through. Put a hole or holes in the lid for watering. You don't have to use a lid but container plants dry out quickly and the lid will help conserve moisture.
The purchased planters employ a piece of foam rubber with a slit. I am using some coffee filters I cut a slit in instead.
Turn the bucket over and push your plant through root first leaving some stem and leaves hanging out. Then put your hand down inside the bucket and place the coffee filter collar around the roots. If your hole seems too big for your root ball then just use extra thickness of coffee filters. You may be saying to yourself, these filters are not going to hold my plant in once I've put in my potting soil, but they will.
Now it's time to fill your bucket with potting soil to within a few inches of the top. I could lay the bucket on its side and manage this myself but its much easier to have a helper and so I had hubby hold the bucket upright while I added the potting soil.
We used chain and S hooks to hang the planters but you could use rope or anything you think will be strong enough to hold all those pounds of tomatoes you're going to grow. I spent around $25 on 4 buckets, lids and S hooks. My husband had some chain left from another project.
You could make these for free with used buckets and something you have at home for a hanger.
The package of purchased planters stated that besides tomatoes you could also grow zucchinis and green pepper plant this way. They did not grow for my but the vine tomato plants did far better than I expected and I harvested quite a few tomatoes.
Welcome to my upside down garden. It may not be aesthetically pleasing but it's definitely interesting and a sure fire neighborhood conversation starter.
