Tomatoes are one of my favourite fruits – I love cooking with them, and I love some varieties in my salads. But growing them upside down? Come on you have to be joking…what could I possibly gain by this? Well doing a quick search around the net their seems to be a considerable amount of interest in this method of growing tomatoes. A lot of the content is from internet marketeers (the content is often poor and repeated). However, their are also a lot of quite informative web pages on this subject, not to mention the thriving industry in “hanging planters”, “the upside down tomato garden”, “topsy turvy bags”…etc etc.

So what’s it all about? Well, the people making the planters, tomato gardens etc will tell you in their marketing blurb that your tomato crop will flourish in these contraptions because of the advantages that not being grown on the ground gives ie. lack of soil-born pests, greater air circulation, and better use of floor space. Well there is perhaps a good argument for saving floorspace. I know that I sometimes feel a bit resentful that my tomato grow-bags take up room on my patio at all. This seems a potential solution.

What about the crops themselves however? Plants are not meant to be grown inverted – indeed, I have read on quite a few message boards and blogs in this community that some people have plants that grow awkwardly since they try and bend around to counteract the affect of gravity. Also, a tomato plant’s drinking roots are its deepest roots  - but no so when the plant is inverted – hence why it seems so many people complain that they have trouble with drying out. One good tip I did read for the latter is to mix a lot of vermiculite, or other water absorbing/holding, material in with your potting compost, especially at the top of the planter or ‘garden’ (top of the container when its inverted). This means that when you water your planter from above, a lot of the water won’t soak quickly downwards and out of the bottom of the planter because the vermiculite will ‘hold’ onto it (depending on how much you mix in of course). Therefore, some moisture will be kept in the vicinity of the tomato plant’s drinking roots which are meant to be deeper but are generally at the top of the container when the plant is upside down.

Im going to carry out an experiment with my neighbour who is also intrigued by this approach to growing tomatoes – we are going to try 3 different species of tomato in 3 different upside down containers – a self-made bucket type of hanging planter, a topsy turvy bag, and a tomato garden. We are going to companion plant with Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis) in the upside down garden, which is generally helpful in repelling tomato worm, whitefly and asparagus beetle. We haven’t fully decided exactly which varieties yet but it will probably include ‘Legend’ since we have had blight problems in the past 2 seasons and this is a hardy type, Burpees Delicious cause it my favourite and maybe Italian Gold. I will report back our finding sin this article after the season.

source articles – http://www.practicalhomeandgarden.com:

- Growing Upside Down Tomatoes
- Excellant article about the ups and downs of growing tomatoes

The photograph of this palm on the beach captures the typical beauty we come to associate with tropical plants and trees. For most of us living in cooler climates the palm tree conjures up a taste of tropical paradise and naturally some of us want to grow them in our homes or gardens. So, if you live in a cool temperate climate such northern Europe you may be interested in a few tips for helping your palms grow.

In general, most palm species are not naturally suited to cooler climates, instead preferring warmer dryer climates and sandy soils. There are approximately 2,600 different species, differing mainly in height between a few feet – for example the Silver Palmetto – to over 60 feet tall for some species like the Queen Palm. Some species will only grow in hot arid climates and some will be too tall for indoor growing.

The main problems with growing palms in cooler climates are mainly related to the cold spells in winter. Most particularly it has been found that many palm species are not as affected as much by sudden periods of frost but more by prolonged spells of cold weather. The length of time and depth of a hard freeze, wind speed, and ambient humidity can also influence how destructive a cold spell might be to a cold hardy Palm tree. That is why some cold hardy palms can sustain temperatures with little or no damage at one time, but die at the very same temperature at another (Smith 1958, 1964).

Hardy Species

The Lady palm is a good choice for inside the home since it generally does not grow more than 8 feet height and fairs well generally in colder temperatures so it can be moved outside if it gets too big. The Kentia palm and Bamboo palm are also good choices for cooler climates but grow slightly taller than the Lady palm.

The windmill palm, as its commonly known is a common choice for gardens in cooler climates since they don’t need any protection from winter frost like some of the more tropical varieties.

Lady Palm (Rhapis Excelsa)

A good list of Palms and what conditions they like can be found here – http://www.blackgoldpalms.co.nz/index.php/pi_pageid/14