OK....bets on wether this will work!

[shiney]

I am trying the upside down growing thing. After seeing a thread on here, somewhere, I thought it may be a good idea.

Yes, my tomatoes are small and late but they are in a greenhouse.

The link on the forum, to make the upside down tomato growers showed pop bottles. I don't drink it, nor do my kids. So...milk cartons to the rescue. I can only try this. I'll keep you updated. I may get one tomato if I am lucky!

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/GnatHall/BOX+1825.jpg

And before you all tell me...yeah I have overwatered it a bit!!![/img]

[Andy Hamilton]

Seems pretty interesting. please do keep us up todate with any produce you get. I wonder if there is enough room for all the roots in that bottle?

[hedgewitch]

Oooh an experiment!
Lovely!
There should be enough room for the Roots - I've grown Tomato plants in containers the same size before.
Good luck shiny - and please keep us informed as to how it's going.

[shiney]

I only hope that I get something from them. I have so many plants and just have to save my milk containers this week to put them in.

Experiments are good!

[Muddypause]

I'm trying this too. TBH, I didn't bother with the upside down bottle thing. I grew the seedling through the hole of a large terracotta flowerpot, and when it was large enough, turned the whole thing upside down (or do I mean right way up), and suspended it with some cord.

At the moment. the plant is struggling to correct it's upside-down-ness, so I don't know what the end result will be.

[shiney]

Stew, your plant looks so much more sophisticated! A POSH upside down plant!

Lookin' good tho'.

[Shirley]

wow - this all looks very interesting!! Perhaps another use for one of my 5 litre water bottles

[Andy Hamilton]

Hmm I missed the thread with all the upsideness going on. I have a few little tomato plants that need a home. I think they might be finding it upside down. I take it they don't need that much room then?

[Muddypause]

Hmm I missed the thread with all the upsideness going on.

This is the thread.

[Wombat]

I'm trying this too. TBH,

I used to work with a bloke whose nickname was TBH - Toilet Brush Head

Nev

[The Chili Monster]

umm...
Is there a biologist on board?
At school, I remember the most ineffectual science teacher ever (at the time) explaining auxisms to us. Auxisms are to plants what growth hormones are to animals, and they come in various guises, for example:
Geotropism Seeds germinate in such a way as to ensure that the roots grow downwards into the soil
... at this point I got bored, however there are other tropisms that govern that the seed will germinate as to the seed leaves growing towards the sun, ie upwards.
I seem to remember that this was somehow proven to us by taking a freshly sprouted broad bean seedling and sticking it on a a device called a Clinostat, in which a seedling was attached and as the device slowly moved clockwise, one could observe the effect on growth of the plant (at both ends, depending on the experiment). I wish I could report more fully, but I was probably comatose by the end.
BTW, Clinostat is apparently a corruption from the German for small pace (Klein=small, Statt= pace.
My guess is that the tomato plants will grow towards the sun, which means they will curve upwards across the sides of the vessel that they are planted in; I don't think it will affect growth, however. Rather just the direction of it.
Keep it up Shiney & Muddy, it would be interesting to see what happens.

[hedgewizard]

Very interesting! I may have overdone things a bit with the tomato plants this year so if I have any spare I might try one or two of those terracotta pot-type ones.

[SweetPea]

That's really interesting! I'm curious to see how they get on too. Like The Chili Monster, I would have thought that the plants would angle themselves and grow up the sides of the vessel toward the light, but the plant in the image on the Sutton Seeds link is definitely bushing out underneath the container. How curious! 8) I'll have to try this next year.

[The Chili Monster]

It could be that if the plant and its pot are suspended high enough, it will get sufficient light anyway.

[The Chili Monster]

If you're a lazy so and so, you might be pleased to learn that you can buy an upside-down container for this very purpose
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... Track=true
It doesn't appear to come complete with Muddy's professional knot-tying skills, unfortunately.