Grow Your Own – Hang ‘Em High, Bury ‘Em Deep
by John Weckerle
As we restlessly await the beginning of growing season, we’ve decided to reinvestigate the prospect of upside-down tomatoes. Previous experiments were of mixed success. Most resulted in very tasty, but very small, fruit. We learned in the meantime that it is important NOT to use standard house plant food or potting soil fortified with house plant food. Our prior efforts involved both. This time, we’re trying an unfortified potting mix, which wasn’t that easy to find (after checking Lowes and Home Depot, we finally found one by Hyponex, an old favorite from many years ago, at the Edgewood Walmart). Houseplant formulations contain too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorous, which results in small fruit. We want big ones this time; last time, our cherry tomatoes were about twice the size of peas, and the beefsteaks were about twice the size of regular cherry tomatoes.
We make our hanging tomato containers out of used milk jugs (reduce, reuse, recycle!) or sometimes old plastic coffee containers. For the milk jugs, just cut out the bottom, punch or drill a hole on each of the four sides, push the tomatoe plant through the neck from the inside, and fill the jug with soil. Add some mulch to the top to keep things moist between waterings. As an alternative, you can put a few herb seeds (basil works well, as do some others) in the top, cover lightly with soil, and then add the mulch. Then hang it in a reasonably sunny place.
Whether you’re hanging, potting, or planting in-ground: If you are growing your tomatoes outdoor, consider planting some dill close by. Hornworms, one of the banes of tomatoes, find dill even more attractive than tomatoes, and the airy, feathery nature of dill foliage makes them easy to spot, pluck off the plant, and toss out into the surrounding woods.
Another word on tomatoes: When repotting or planting, try burying your tomatoes to just below the lowest leaves (you can try trimming lower leaves off, and burying higher if need be). Several sources indicate that the buried section of stem will develop roots, helping your tomatoes develop a root system and get established more quickly.