Upside Down Tomatoes

Each year I grow tomatoes from seeds. I grow 4 varieties, typically: plum tomato (or equivalent), beefsteaks, yellow cherries/grapes, and red cherries/grapes. Each year I give away many seedlings as I don't have nearly enough space for all of them.

This year I thought that I would outsmart the space issue; I enlarged my hot, South garden to accomodate 3 dozen or so tomato plants. I fertiziled, mulched, and planted my Margerita plum seedlings and a new variety of hardy, determinate (ie, doesn't need to be staked) "regular" tomatoes.

I brought some of my cherry seedlings to the beach, planted others in tubs around the garden, and decided to build (...have built...) a pergola from which to hang cherry tomatoes upside down. I planted Cobea vines around the base of the pergola which were intended to grow large yellow flowers.

My first disappointment was that the upside-down containers I have are the cheapy variety. They have openings at the bottom, and can hold only 1 plant, not the 4-6 that I was expecting. While the tomatoes have grown well, they care down around the ground, and are no heartier than those I have planted in Home Depot paint buckets. My vines cannot attach to the pergola posts; I haven't gotten around to running string from the top to which they can attach.

Sigh. It's a beautiful Pergola (thanks to Ernie, my wonderful carpenter), but the tomatoe experiment was a bust. Next year I think I'll get different containers. As for the South garden, with the 3 dozen plants, well --- you've read about the deer already.