Upside-down tomatoes—the new right side up?

Posted Oct 22, 2009 by Loren Omoto

Updated Oct 22, 2009 at 04:53 PM

I admit, the more yellowing leaves I clip off my struggling yellow pear tomato plant, the more I’m tempted to try one of those Topsy Turvy planters.

Even after reading the mixed reviews in the October/November issue of Florida Gardening magazine (one of my favorites.)

The advantages are many, No. 1 being no earth-borne pests. There’s also no staking, no sloppy sprawl, no weeding, and no big space issues for those with big space issues.

But as Florida Gardening readers pointed out, in response to editor Kathy Nelson’s request for feedback, they have some problems, too.

“They don’t work in Florida. I bought two and both promptly disintegrated,” wrote Jack Hoskins of Melbourne.

“The same fungus that attacks tomatoes in the ground made it up the pole” on which her planter was hanging, wrote Sue Connelly of Ocala. “The worst part was my battle with the wind; the thing became very top heavy.”

Two readers gave positive reviews, though they warned that the planters require