Does the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter work?

Answer 1

My experience with buying TopsyTurvy was a disaster. First, they offered two-fer-one, but the order form does not tell you how many to order against what you want to receive. Since there is NO communication method on the web site I went through the pain of writing to the domain owner and threatening legal action if they did not cancel my DOUBLE order. Then the (two-week delivery) shipment did not arrive for four weeks, so I called (on a Friday) and asked... I was told they were in the warehouse, and they would be processed that weekend, and I that I would have them within two weeks. Well, three weeks later they were dumped on my doorstep. One dropped off the hook with plant and soil as I was watering the first time. The side split, but I used complete cicles of Duct Tape and it's holding well. But the dense foam split circles that hold the plants in at the bottom have no accommodation for the plant stalks, so the plants have died from compression strangulation. Let's go back a bit... I looked at the pictures and thought to myself, I can do the same thing with a $2 plastic bucket and some soil! So I started without 'em... Shopping list: - Cheap plastic buckets, ONE bucket for each TWO plants you plan to plant. - Bags of tomato-specific-ready soil. I found that soil stayed blacker, looser and lighter than the other commercial soil I bought, which packed down fairly tight with watering. - time-released all-purpose fertiliser. - a drill-mounted device for cutting holes in doors for locks (the big hole). - a relatively small portion of white 1" styrofoam insulation, depends on how many buckets you plan to use. - Plants to work with. Up-end the bucket, put the hole-cutter into your drill, and cut two holes into opposite edges - the same edges as the bucket's handle attachments. Leave maybe 1/2 inch between the hole and where the bucket's bottom inside starts to turn vertical, for support for the styrofoam inside. Now turn the bucket right side up and with a sharp knife and a sawing action cut a circle of styrofoam the same size as the bucket bottom inside. Push it into the bucket, hold it against the bottom from inside, and up-end the bucket again so you can see the styrofoam through the holes you cut. Mark the approximate centers of the holes on the styrofoam with a pen - you could even just shove a pencil through each one. Remove the styrofoam and cut exactly in half in a straight line through these two marked centers, and with a sharp knife enlarge the spots where the marks are - to about the size of half a penny each. Put one half of the styrofoam back in the bucket, lined up with the holes in the bucket bottom. Now prepare two plants to be inserted - by knocking them gently out of the seedling pot and holding them loosely between the fingers, roots towards you. There should be one finger outside of the plant stalks and two fingers between the plant stalks. Again, hold loosely for wide spacing. Have someone hold the bucket for you (with the half-portion of styrofoam inside) or hang it securely at an appropriate height, and lower the plants so the two plant stems fit into the two half-penny grooves you cut into the styrofoam. Still holding the plant stems, fit the other half of the styrofoam so the two half-penny cut-outs surround the stems. Let the plants drop into the styrofoam hole to the point where the root ball is holding it, and start adding soil around the edges until the root ball is held firmly in place. Continue adding soil to about halfway up the bucket, add a small sprinkling of the slow-release fertiliser, and continue to fill the bucket with soil. Add a couple of drops of dishwasher detergent and a bit more slow-release fertiliser, soak the soil well with water, and you're done. Hang the buckets on shepherds crooks or sturdy garden hanger - the hook must be able to hold a full bucket of water in weight. Some notes: - Make sure the penny holes in the styrofoam are big enough they do not squeeze the plant stalks being accommodated. - Water once a day, but give a good soaking once a week (especially tomatoes) - If adding soil at the top afterwards, use the hose jet to really stir it up because fresh soil may hold dry pockets. - Decide what your budget is and stick to it. Be forewarned that soil can get expensive - but the better it is the more spectacular the results. - If you have a back-yard fence, check your local nursery for a P-shaped bent metal rod device that allows you to hang plants off the vertical boards... small and effective. - If hanging on shepherds-crooks, mount them back-to-back and join at the top and middle with nylon ties so the weight of each counters the other (singly, the vertical shafts bend and the shepherds-crook wants to keel over with the weight, especially after watering). I'm growing upside down tomatoes and strawberries (those will move into the ground soon for wintering), and they are doing well. I am also growing herbs in the tops of the tomato buckets, with great success, those do help shade the soil from drying out. If I can find time to move my pictures from my camera to my computer I'll make a web page to show you my upside-down bucket plants!! ** The "do it yourself" bucket method does work much better. people have been growing upside down for years before they started marketing the topsy turvey hunk of junk We were intrigued by the Topsy Turvy and went all-out--we placed a 12', 4X4" post in the ground in concrete, then hung heavy-duty hooks to hold four planters. It has not been good. We live in Kansas, and the plants keep breaking off where the stem enters the dirt--it's just too windy here. The plants are about 5' off the ground, and they really take a beating. We hoped that once they got big enough, they would withstand the wind. Today we lost our biggest plant--probably close to 2' if it had been upright. We're very disappointed in the results.

Answer 2

I have been looking for one myself. I saw that Wal-mart carries them. Check in their Seen-on-TV section, I believe I saw the price tag as 9.99