Hanging Basket Tomatoes

Last year we grew eight tomato plants in the polytunnel and realised that you just can't ever have enough of them. This year we've made space for eighteen plants on the ground and having got the lust for home grown toms I decided to milk every possible available bit of space... including the air!  I'm experimenting with 'tumbling toms', a variety that's perfect for hanging baskets. There are two baskets in the polytunnel, each with three tumbling tom plants. I also have two hanging baskets beside the back door of the farmhouse and they contain sweet pea (for heady aroma), busy lizzy (because they were cheap at Lidl!), pot marigold (petals for salads), nasturium (again, salad leaves & flowers) and of course each basket also contains one 'tumbling tom'. It'll be interesting to see if the ones in the polytunnel do much better than those outdoors.

Last year we also grew several varieties but this year we only have two on the ground; Ailsa Craig and Gardeners Delight both grown from seed. There's a very good reason why these are the favourites of gardeners world wide and that reason is that the flavour is absolutely superb. So even if you live in an urban environment you can grow tomatoes in hanging baskets. They would be especially well on a south facing wall.

Comments

[Victoria]

I grow a wide variety of toms., some for eating, some for saucing, some for drying...

This is my first year growing 'red currant' toms. a very old variety that is supposed to be perfect in baskets. It is only currant sized so I plan to try drying them for tomato 'raisins' for winter salads.

I hate supermarket toms. We only eat home grown ones -- they are delicious.

Tory

[Lizz]

I'm just really very excited about tomatoes! My mouth is watering!!

[Rebecca Hillman]

Wow the redcurrant toms sound fascinating. Is the plant very large? I'd love to try one.

[tory]

The red currant plant is pretty small so far and I haven't had any currant toms. but since it is supposed to be appropriate for a hanging basket (not a grow bag, but a regular flower type basket) I can't imagine it will grow very large.

Time will tell. I found them hard to buy but oddly, this year my local nursery had some so I bought them immediately. I would have paid a lot more for them too since I have been dying to try them.

I'll try to keep you posted.

Tory

[Eloise]

I have seen strawberries grown this way too. Which stops little slugs getting them and pretty when they hang over the side.

[Bullseye]

Hi. I came across your site while looking for info regarding hanging tomatoes. I just received a hanging kit for Christmas from a relative and I figure it probably cost them about $30.00. Well, after I put it up I got to thinkin’ that I could make one a lot cheaper. I went and purchased two reusable grocery sacks (the material is identical to the store bought kit) for a $1.00 apiece. Then I bought a 55 quart bag of Lamberts potting soil for $10.00. Throw in two Home Depot five gallon bucket lids at $1.00 each and two Celebrity tomato plant starters at $1.25 each. Toss in a couple of scoops of Osmocote that I had layin’ around and that’s it. Total cost for the two, $16.50. Below is a link to a video of my garden and the hanging tomatoes. I live in sunny south Florida so I start my garden around November when the threat of hurricanes has passed. I was gonna make a video of me making the homemade kits but I probably would have gotten the camera all dirty, haha. Hope you enjoy.

Bullseye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qja6TZTl1SY