Grow plants upside down in your own house and transform your indoor space, be that your living room, balcony, or patio, into a more whimsical and unique version of what it used to be.
While many plant keepers, especially those just starting in this niche, will have plenty of concerns regarding this, a few of the most critical issues raised would be that carrying out this process would be far from easy and it would be much more expensive than just watering the plants in the usual way.
The third and probably the biggest concern would be that the process of growing the plants upside down needs to be undertaken correctly; otherwise, it will simply look like a mess and unappealing to you and every other visitor.
These are the concerns we will be addressing in the guide below, and after reading it, you will be sure to find a technique that will not only be cheap and easy but also ensure a surreal result for the placement of your plant!
How Can I Grow My Plants Upside Down? 10 Simple and Easy Steps
You can grow your plants upside by finding the right planting pot. After this crucial step, you have to prepare the soil and plant the seedlings. In the end, you can hang them in a hanging basket and add any extra plants if you want.
1. Choosing the Right Pot
To grow your plants upside down, you must be careful when choosing the right pot. At most times, when working with tomato plants, the pot is not entirely necessary; however, for this, the plant pot is the most vital part. Now, during this process, there is no use of any tools. To plant the plant upside down, you need to use the drainage hole that will be built in the pot.
Remember that the drainage hole must be big enough to hold one of the seedlings. The pot that you pick should be prominent so that it can hold onto the roots of the plant and the other plants that will be on the upper layer of soil. You must be careful because even the most miniature plants can’t grow well in small pots.
Lastly, you have to make sure that the pot is light-weighted because if it is made with heavy materials, it is not suitable for any plant. You can also pick a pot made of fabric or choose a plastic jar with any design you think you like.
2. Preparing the Soil
The soil is the next most important thing when growing tomatoes upside down. You have to make sure that you pick the correct type of soil. When working with container soil or the soil that hangs in baskets, you need to know that they have to be light-weighted to avoid weighing down the pot. They should hold as much water that will keep them wet.
Once you put the plant into the drainage hole, it will cover up some space. You must make sure to use well-draining soil, which is highly vital to prevent stagnation and water leaking. The soil must also be rich in nutrients to feed the tomato plant during its first growth. To begin with, you have to take a good-quality pot for mixing amended with compost.
After that, you must add a few handfuls of coconut coir to the pot. The coconut coir will help the soil to preserve the water. Next, you have to add two to three handfuls of perlite. The perlite will help drainage and ventilation in the soil and make sure that oxygen reaches the lower roots of the plant as well.
Now, you must add one handful of slow-release fertilizer to the mixture. Adding this is optional, but if you do so, it will boost your plant and improve its harvest later on.
3. Preparing the Seedlings
You have to see the size of your pot, and according to that, you can plant how many seedlings will be able to go through. You will likely only be able to grow one plant seedling upside down. However, if you want to plant more than one seedling, it is better if you first measure how many will be able to fit in before you try doing anything.
It is much better to choose smaller varieties, such as cherry or tomato plants, because their weight will not be over-weighted, and on the other hand, their vines will hang in a much better way.
You should not choose the large varieties that have heavy fruits. This is because they will produce a much lesser upside-down in a smaller pot. Now, you have to remove the seedling from the container or tray it was in. When doing this, remove as much soil as you can from around its roots, and be careful not to damage the roots at any cause.
Doing this will make the process of planting a lot easier.
4. Planting the Seedling
To plant the seedling, you carefully have to put the seedling through the hole located at the bottom of the pot. You must put it in until half of the stem sticks out of the hole. You have to be careful not to lay the pot down to avoid cutting the stem off. You can hold it to a good angle to complete the step mentioned.
5. Filling the Pot With Soil
Once you have planted the first seedling, you can start to fill up the pot. To start up, you have to take the prepared soil mixture and start filling it up. As you fill it up, you have to keep patting onto the soil to keep the stem in its place.
6. Adding Additional Plants
As an additional plant, you can also choose basil, which is a great companion to all plants, and it will also only take up a little space in the plant pot. You can choose any plant or a shallow-rooted plant you want to put on the top. Once you have planted the preferred plant, you can start filling the pot with soil. You have to leave a few inches from the top to prevent the soil from spilling when you water it.
7. Creating Your Hanging Basket
To create a DIY upside down planter, you must slightly hold the table’s pot so the stem doesn’t break. While doing so, you can add the materials to the hanging basket. If you have a plastic hanging basket, you don’t have to follow the steps. However, if you are recycling another pot, you can use a strong rope or a metal ring to make your basket.
Some people even use macramé hangers if their baskets are light enough.
8. Hanging the Planter
After you have planted your plant, you can hang your upside-down planter. You have to hang it somewhere at your eye level and at a bright spot where the sunlight comes directly. You must remember not to hang your basket too high because it can be challenging to care for it and water it. On the other hand, you must not hang it too low either, since the vines may come out and then be in danger of reaching the floor and being stepped on.
9. Taking Care of the Planter
To take care of your planter, you must water your pot on time. You must remember that hanging baskets cause them to dry out sooner. You must remember to water the plants more often when the weather gets warm if you wish to be provided with fresh and juicy fruits.
If you ever see your soil sitting on your plant’s leaves, you must clean it with spray water. When you do this, it will stop the soil from passing diseases on the leaves and from destroying the process of photosynthesis.
10. Things To Remember
This was an exciting experiment and fun. However, it is essential to remember that this isn’t the most suitable way of growing plants. Using this technique is not healthy for the plants, and it can cause several problems that have to be dealt with, and if not, they will ruin your plant completely. One of the main issues is watering the plant. If you want to water your plant, you should practice watering plants.
You must focus on watering the soil instead of the leaves and fruits. However, its leaves are continuously covered in water when the plant is planted upside down. Due to this reason, when growing tomatoes upside-down, you must ensure that the sun is shining entirely on them so that the sun should dry them sooner. When the water is not evaporated, there are always issues with mold growth and the powdery mildew that can plague the plants.
It is also important to spray the leaves of the plant to get rid of any soil that has come onto the plant leaves. Even though this step seems relatively unimportant, it helps a lot to prevent the plant from diseases and pests setting on your plant.
Conclusion
Ultimately, when you want to learn about the best methods to grow your plants in a more whimsical upside-down fashion, you can find all the necessary steps that need to be taken by reading our detailed guide above. It is crucial to remember that not all plants will be suitable for hanging, so you will need to assess your preferred tomato plants beforehand, and then you need to prepare them before the process, as you can see in the summarized points below:
- When you want to grow your plants upside down, you need to select the ideal for going through this process.
- Similarly, you also need to find a planting pot that will suit best to grow plants upside down.
- You also must prepare the soil and create an excellent mix to plant your seedlings.
- Finally, you need to get a good hanging basket to hang them, where you can also add any other plants and flowers according to your preference.
It is relatively easy to hang and grow your favorite plants upside down, but it might be tricky for the newbie gardener. In that case, our article should have helped you understand all the directions you need to follow with precision, and now you can enjoy your new aesthetic setup in no time!
