upside down maters

Yay!Gurrr

Yay!Gurrr

Better Faster Stronger
Moderator
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
N. N. Raleigh, NC
chip !!!! heres your detailed destructions on building your very own upside down maters...

get 5 gal bucket
drill ~3" hole in the bottom (i used larger seedlings so I needed a larger hole, smaller seedlings be fine in 2" hole"
cut some landscaping fabric in circle, use bucket as template.
cut X 4" in fabric. (note:I've read newspaper can be substitiuted vs fabric, I happened to have some leftovers, Id think Tyvek or house wrap would work also... its just to keep the dirt in and not chafe the plant.
Now is a good time to figure out where your gonna hang your bucket, i used some 3/8"x 2" lag screws into the deck..
Place bucket on a few bricks to stand it off the ground some.
Carefully insert plant into X hole in fabric, I found it easier to do it this way vs inside the bottom of the bucket.
Lower plant and fabric into bottom of bucket.
Fill 3/4 with your favorite plant potting soil or mix... I had bought 2x2cu ft bags of some stuff at the store, I only needed 1, 2cu bag to do 4 buckets..
I also cut some of the scraps to cover the top of the dirt, i figure it would help prevent rouge weeds/plants from starting,
I'm still working on the lid/water system, for now I have a 1" hole on the top. For now I just pour water in via the hole. Thinking i may hit the lids with the heatgun to make a funnel type effect to help collect rain water etc..
I may make a tube/hose water system eventually...
Hang up bucket on hook.
Repeat..

For some reason my 1 plant is growing very fast the others are coming along nicely... and some flowers are just coming on now..

If you need more info or details, search google, there are many variations on this, some even as simple as punching a hole in a bag of soil and hanging that up...

Idea is that it helps keeps bugs off and the plant can grow easier vs having to beef up to hold up the maters..

I've got my buckets numbered, #1 and 3 are better boy, #2 is a pink somthing, ill have to check my sheet for what #4 was...

tomato01.jpg
 
thats cool, but seems like the plant might outgrow the bucket rather quick... and do you know haveta worry about something for the plant to climb or be supported by? And im guessing the bucket doesnt really prevent much as far as sun, water, and air exposure?

just kinda comparing to the tomato plants we have out in our garden...
 
that's cool as :poop:, so it will be a huge tomato bush in a few months? My deck is just perfect for that, looks like yours, but way more sun. Keep us posted, I'm off to google it :huggy:
 
This all come about when Yagar and I had the conversation about the commercial for "Topsie Turvy" or something like that. They actually sell something like this on TV, but, it's expensive. The Tomatoes hang down, don't grow up and because of the warming of the sun, and gravity taking the water down, it's supposed to yield some great maters!
Thanks Mike for the write up! Debt paid LOL, oh and never heard back from you about the steering box.
 
I've got ~$50 into 4 buckets, soil and plants.. and that only because I didn't really look for any used pails... That was a good chunk of it.. But ill have them for next year..

I have no clue if its enough dirt, (this is my first try at it) but my thinking it that roots are needed to support the plant and provide it with nourishment.. Very little support will be needed while its hanging, infact I see the plants seem to be growing more vine like..

The pic was taken 7am, my deck gets direct sun from 11am on so I hope thats enough for them.. Ill keep you all posted as the year goes on...
 
I hung mine last year under the face board of my deck (it's 10' tall on one end). Anyway, if you hang it by the handle and don't use a lid, cut a 2x2 and put on top of the dirt in line with the handle so it doesn't oval out the top of the bucket.
 
Can you grow hydroponic plants like that as well? ha ha j/k -> Lets see how big em maters get!
 
Update: Pic from last week, showing how big they are getting. Got some pea sized maters on the one plant already..

DSCF0206.JPG

and...
Crazy backyard critter, I just missed him dangling from his back feet as he lowered himself to the feeder.. Funny I go to the back door and run out as fast as I can, they about piss them selfs in fear.. But I like watching them run around..

ChitmonkOnFeeder.jpg
 
bamboo is GONE !!!! I got scared end of last year, thinking about bamboo taking over my house and stuff. I went and pulled it up, it was already spreading, one had a 4' runner on it !!! I gave the neighbor kids the stalk to go have a sword fight and I put the root ball in the trash.. Wife wants a garden back there now... I kinda like doing burn outs with the jeep :)
 
VERY interesting! Definately keep us posted Yager! I couldn't grow enough mators for everyone last year so I trippled and have over 100 plants this year. I'll have to take a week off work when harvest time comes around.:shaking:

On side note for any interest, I figured out a simple way to save and start mator seeds. When I canned last year, I took seeds from cutting board and scraped onto a news paper after every round of cutting. I didn't this time but be sure to spread out very evenly. When dried, folded up paper for storage. Of course kept breeds seperate. Then late Fall I ripped news paper into strips and planted entirely into seed bed about 1" deep. Every single seed came up! And they seperated nicely too where the paper kinda just fell apart as I went.
 
Every time I put mine on the deck, they get eaten by squirrels. If I put 'em in the back yard the deer get 'em.

Deer eat Habanero... Who knew?

J
 
quick update

quick update, maters coming along nice...

Forgot to mention last time, I moved the one center bucket further down the deck, they were getting bunched up.. So now they are ~2' spacing..

Found my labels for what in each bucket:
1) Pink Brandywine (Heirloom)
2) Big Boy (Hybrid)
3) Beefmaster (Hybrid)
4) Big Boy (Hybrid)


And some pics...
#3
DSCF0235.JPG

#1
DSCF0236.JPG

#2
DSCF0237.JPG
 
hey yager, when them there maters is ripe, you can invite us folks over for mater sammitches and burnouts in the back yard.
 
Good idea on the buckets Mike! My deck is low, so I don't have space to do that. I had to upgrade my fences from plastic to poultry wire since the rabbits were chewing holes the fence to get in.
 
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