How To Make Your Own Homemade Topsy Turvy Garden Planter

Topsy Turvy garden planters have taken the world by storm in the last year. With more people looking for ways to save money and grow their own food, the Topsy Turvy gardening planters allow even the worst green thumbs to be able to grow their own vegetables and fruits with a pretty foolproof method. Surprisingly, upside down (or vertical) gardening has been around for awhile - and some people have already been doing their own versions of upside down gardening before the Topsy Turvy came along. Some enterprising gardeners have even come up with more inventive ways to grow their tomatoes, strawberries and herbs in even more unconventional containers such as 2 liter bottles!

Although I have a Topsy Turvy planter hanging in my own yard, I honestly haven't bought any more simply because cost was an issue for me. At $10.00 or more per container, I decided that it would get too costly for me to hang more than just a couple planters, even though the idea of vertical planting was very attractive to me.

Thanks to an awesome video I ran across today by a very craftsy lady, I found a way to make my own upside hanging planters at a mere fraction of the cost. All I need are some 2 liter bottles,some heavy duty twine, a coffee filter, a plant and I'm all set to grow more vertical plants along the eaves of my house!

Perhaps you may want to try this too!

Along with the instructional video here I have also included some of my own pictures of my own Topsy Turvy planter, which I have Early Girl tomatoes growing in. Although this is only my first attempt at growing vertically, I have no doubt my efforts will be successful as I have been diligent about watering. My tomato plants already have blossoms on them so I'm pretty sure I will have a bountiful crop of luscious tomatoes in a couple of months. I'm also looking forward to making some home-made upside down planters and using them to grow some strawberries and chili peppers in. Although I'm not too sure if the the 2 liter bottle will provide enough room for tomatoes, I am still going to try planting some cherry tomatoes in one and see what happens.

These homemade upside down planters would be great painted also (if you don't like the label showing) - adding a decorative touch. They could be hung from your balcony, eave or any sunny spot that will take a hook. Vertical planting also allows you to hang the plants off your porch or from a potted plant holder from a light post or off your house.

More suggestions:

1. Try marigold flowers on top of the plant

2. Other good herbs on top of your planter would be oregano, basil and thyme to complement flavor. These would also add to the edible gardening factor.

3. Nasturtiums are also fully edible flowers. They are colorful and would grow nicely too.

4. Try planting upside down using some plastic milk cartons. 5 gallon buckets work well too - there are some great pictures below of wonderful tomato plants doing exceptionally well in 5 gallon buckets.

Benefits to your own upside down container planters:

1. This is a great way to add acreage. You don't have to weed and it's actually a kinda 'green' thing cause you're not wasting water. You are also recycling the bottles too!

2. This is great for you apartment dwellers or ladies who don't have men to rototill but still want those fresh veggies for your salads. Just go pop off a few tomatoes or peppers out of your deck garden.

3. This is great way to garden if you who have critter problems like rabbits and deer.

4. Fresh veggies are healthy for you and organic!

Below you will find the YouTube video by our craftsy lady showing you how to make your own upside down planters using the 2 liter bottle approach. Enjoy and have fun!

For more of my tips on gardening please check out some of my other hubs: Gardening Tips and How to Start your own Victory Garden. I hope you have enjoyed this article on how to make your own upside down planting container and please let me know how it goes if you decide to make one ( or several!) I have decided that this is such a neat idea that I am going to have a craft day for my friends at church and guess what we are going to make!

( Dorsi Diaz is an avid gardener and a writer/publisher here on the Internet. If you have enjoyed this article a thumbs up would be appreciated and please feel free to join her reader/fan club. She also has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to to get notifications about her future hubs and articles)