Does your tomato garden patch let you down? Your tomato plants are straggling, your stakes break away and weeds plague you? Do not despair... you can bring adventure back into your gardening. Just start growing tomatoes upside down.

The invention:
Mr. Bill Felknor, an inventor from Knoxville, Tennessee believes that God intended tomatoes to be grown upside down. Two million Americans think so too as they set about growing plants that will ideally produce 30 pounds of tomatoes per plant. The idea grows on you and suddenly isn't too far-fetched either. Growing tomatoes need not be a back-breaking chore and you don't have to cover yourself in garden soil rooting for weeds and aphids.

Growing upside down tomatoes does not need a lot of garden space. Even a small patio, terrace or balcony will suffice to set up your hanging garden. Plant your tomatoes; root them in a good potting soil and you can sit on the patio and be wonder struck as you can see your plants grow like Jack's beanstalk.

Here is the process and how it works:
All you need to do is to start with some good tomato seedlings, potting soil, a 5 gallon, plastic paint can with handle or an old bucket, a watering can and a good bit of trellis wire. Place the can or bucket upside down and with a utility knife carve out a hole at least 3+ in diameter. Now set the bucket (or can) right side up between two wooden benches and fill them with the soil all around the hole you have just cut. Gently hold the tomato plant by the stem and leaves and thread it through the hole so that the shoots hang down and the root ball is retained inside the bucket. Add more soil around the roots; also use some sorghum moss or coffee filters to keep the seedling from falling out of the hole. You can now pack the soil tightly and up to three inches below the rim of the bucket.

Water the plants carefully, the commercial containers have a sponge that helps to retain the water and this addresses the main problem with container gardens, allowing the water to seep in and fill up the loose spaces within the soil. When water begins to drip out from the shoots, lift the bucket by its handle taking care not to let the plants trail on the ground. Hang the tomato bucket on to a post or patio structure using the trellis wire. Now your tomatoes are ready to grow upside down.

The Topsy Turvy Planter
It's no wonder the Topsy Turvy Planter was featured in TIME magazine last year. There have been variants of course, as tradesmen joyfully pounced on the idea with their own modifications. The Upside Down Tomato Garden has room for more plants on top of the pot. The commercial ones feature a sponge that retains water around the roots. This solves the real problem of keeping the plant adequately watered. This Topsy Turvy sells from around $8 upward to $54 for the high end styles.

America initially was the upside down land of tomato growers, but these days  people from every country seem to be growing tomatoes this way as this has really caught the imagination and fancy of millions of people around the world.