Hanging pot tomatoes

As I had planted a few extra tomatoes to use in the the hanging pot experiment, I thought rather than throw all my eggs in one basket and just trial the upside down version I would use one for another idea I had. This is simply a hanging pot with longer hangers. The idea being that the tomato would grow the right way up and the longer hanger could act as a staking system or cage for the growing plant. Still useful if you are short of space or don't have any actual dirt to grow them in or if you just like hanging plants. So here's what I did.

I cut a couple of lengths of 6mm poly rope (4mm would be fine) at about 4 metres, found the center and tied a loop knot in them. Next I found a pot with a good strong rim and drilled four holes in it. The pot I used is about 250mm and is about the smallest I felt would give the plant enough root space to grow. A bigger pot would work just as well but it's a trade-off between growing space and weight. The ropes are simply passed thought the holes and tied off under the pot. You could if you are keen on craft and wanted to get fancy, make these holders using Macrame, (all the rage in the 70s).

Now plant the tomato and watch it grow. Too easy. I think this method has a few advantages over the upside down pots and would just be a better way to go. The pots hung like this would not be such a problem in the wind as the weight acts as a dampener, the whole thing swings rather than just the plant getting flogged around. The plant is happier growing the right way up and the long ropes make a perfect staking system.

I added a piece of ply near the top that acts as a spreader so the ropes don't crush the pot sides. And with the pot at a manageable height watering and feeding should be a breeze.

Over the next few weeks I will do some updates on how the two systems are progressing, in fact it could become a bit of a Hot Topic.