You may have seen upside down tomato gardens and planters advertised, or you may have thought of building an upside down planter of your own. But what are the advantages of these upside down planters, and what are the options for buying or making one?

Upside Down Tomato Planter - Make or Buy

There are a couple of commercially available planters. Some are for just a single plant, while others handle several plants.

They are advertised heavily to be used for tomatoes, but they can also be used to grow smaller bush plants like peppers and maybe even eggplants. Many herbs will grow well in these planters.

There is a smaller type of planter (for example the Topsy Turvy planter) that your can find for under $20. It will usually hold one plant (you can sometimes put a second one on the top), and will need someplace to hang.

Another type is the larger self supporting units like the Upside Down Tomato Garden. This garden unit stands about 5 feet tall and is designed to hold several tomato plants, and herbs or flowers on the top. An best fit for an apartment balcony or patio, it will also serve well as a nice little garden space you can put close to your kitchen on a deck.

You should be aware that fully loaded with soil they can weigh quite a bit, so consider ahead of time just where you want to put it. The larger upside down tomato garden can hold 80 pounds of dirt, so you don't want to be moving it after it's loaded.

You can build an upside down planter yourself. A simple plastic bucket could be used for the planter with a hole in the bottom of a few inches in diameter. You can hang it from a hook on the house, or build a simple sawhorse bracket.

Pros of Using an Upside Down Tomato Planter

With the tomatoes hanging in the air they can ripen without rot. You have fewer problems with pests like snails and ants. Make certain to keep the planter soil moist, as all container grown plants tend to dry out fairly quickly in hot weather.

An upside down tomato garden is ideal for your apartment on a balcony or a patio, or put one on a patio or deck for those just looking to move part of the garden closer to the kitchen.