Patrick Blanc's vertical plant walls make one realize that plants do not have to grow straight out of a pot, and that there are more possibilities to integrate plants into our urban environment and space-strapped apartments.
I recently came across the Topsy Turvy in my winter avalanche of product catalogs. It is described as 'perfect for apartments and condominiums', challenging plants to grow upside-down and making them easier to care for.
Check out "down-under pots". http://www.olivebarn.com/down-under-pots.html I've been considering buying some & would love to know if anyone has used them.
How the heck does it work? Plants don't want to grow down....
Joanne
the plants grow up until the weight of the tomato weighs it down.
I have friends who've used 2-liter soda bottles to do this.
Oh...and if you've ever been to Disney in Orlando...the ride "The Land" is all about growing food this way...they have big-huge-enormous watermelons and pumpkins that they grow this way. When the fruit gets too big/heavy they put a cradle/hammock of sorts under it.
I had one of these on my patio this past summer. It was very easy to use and although not the prettiest thing, it wasn't terribly obtrusive either (click my name for a pic). John is right, the plant does in fact grow upward but its weight pulls it down. By the end of the summer I had tied it up twice it had gotten so large. The benefits are, because it hangs, you have few if any pests, and no fungus because nothing touches the ground. I had tomatoes well into October, thanks to a long Boston summer. Thumbs up on this one.
I also had the same question - and was suprised by the answers on the website. As for why this is better than a hanging basket, it may not always be better. But in the case of tomatos it is because of how they grow.
I loved the links in the above posts and can only imagine there will be more variety based on this simple concept. The MassMOCA installation is amazing! Upside-down pushes the extreme, but plants do grow from many directions in nature, whether it is from the side of a mountain or the underside of a tree branch.
I had a tomato plant in a pot and it did really well until a storm came when I was out of town and it fell over. :D
Is that dirt or water on the ground underneath?
Either way, it wouldn't be bad on a balcony, but how would you keep plant detritus from dropping all over the floor?
This is similar to Natalie Jeremijenko's installation at MassMOCA, entitled Tree Logic:
http://www.clarkart.edu/make_a_visit/content.cfm?ID=28&nav=2
Anyway, this idea seems so wrong and anti-nature, and yet the benefits are definitely intriguing. I hope to try it in my apartment this year.
Hammacher Schlemmer has the Upside-Down Tomato Garden:
http://www.hammacher.com/publish/67403.asp?promo=homepage
I don't understand this - why is it in any way better than having either a pot on the floor or a regular hanging basket?????
Go to the topsy turvy website to get a better understanding of the benefits.