Product Review: Topsy Turvy Grower

I really like to try anything that simplifies my life - My husband will accuse me of being a gadget-guru! And even though I love gardening, who can say "no" to a product that says it will simplify your gardening... So a few years ago I bought the Topsy Turvy Tomato grower on eBay.

It promised high yield, disease free tomato crop and alleviated the back-breaking work of getting on your knees to harvest the fruit, plus my best friend Lynn raved about growing tomato's upside down. I thought what the heck...

In my two summers of experience though, I can't say anything I was promised came true. The planters, while in theory, should grow better were difficult to keep moist and I certainly didn't get a LOT of tomatoes growing. That first summer they hung alongside the southern side of the house and every time we had a strong wind blowing, we'd hear "thump, thump, thump" and thought a small plane was crashing into the house. Last year they were along the deck since I THOUGHT I could keep a better eye on them for watering. I even added the moisture crystals to the soil to help with the moisture levels, with no luck!

I did see a new and improved version at the Gardeners Supply Company that fixed the issue of keeping the plants moist - I won't be trying the new and improved product anytime soon, but thought to throw out my ten cents on the Topsy Turvy grower. Who knows maybe the third time's the charm, and possibly I can adapt mine further to keep the planters from drying out.

I did purchased mine VERY inexpensively on ebay, and they were a fun experiment. My rating on a scale of ten though, is a 4 1/2 to maybe 5! If anyone has had better successes with them, please let me know I'd be happy for better advise!