Tomato – Planting Upside-Down
Q: A lot of my gardening friends think I’m crazy but I have planted a tomato so that it hangs from the bottom of a five gallon bucket of dirt. My plant is doing fine and already turning up toward the sky. What can I expect?
A: I won’t comment on your mental state but you shouldn’t expect lots of tomatoes. The hormones that control bloom and fruit formation rely on gravity to move them from branch tips downward. By hanging the plant upside down, you interfere with hormone transportation. That’s partially why the tips are already turning upwards. They’re looking for sunlight and trying to position themselves so gravity can do its work.
If you want tomatoes from your contraption, support the vines as they turn up, allowing them to climb toward the sky.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to plant them in the ground or right-side-up in a hanging bucket?
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