This is what I call "thinking outside the box" - the planter box in this case. One of the items we picked up at the Home and Garden show we attended a couple of months ago was a pair of baskets designed to grown plants upside down. Instead of planting these tomatoes in the raised planting beds you see in the background, we have inserted them upside down in the bottom of this planter. There is a split foam disk which holds the tomato plant tight enough not to fall out but not so tight as to harm it in any way.
Following the directions that came with the kit, we filled the bag about one-third with planter mix and two-thirds with peat moss. There are a couple of foam baffles at the 1/3 and 2/3 level to help the water diffuse through the soil rather than going straight out the bottom. There are drains around the edge of the bottom as well as the slit where the tomato plant comes through.
And finally, we installed a sturdy hook in the roofing support at the corner of the house to try to catch the sun from at least two directions. Carolyn is watering this basket and trying to get the water to stay in better by plugging up the drain holes. That's silly, of course, as it will just drain out as soon as she removes her fingers. Supposedly this is the ideal way to grow tomatoes as you don't need to build cages to support the heavy fruit. It just hangs down naturally.
We'll keep you posted about how well this works.
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