So, after having planted the starts in my Topsy Turvys, I have new concerns, observations, impressions and such. Already? Well, yeah. They really are a whole new planting experience.
So, I started with the strawberry planter, and that’s where I’ll begin this post. The strawberry plants I bought had pretty decent roots, so they weren’t too difficult to shove in the planter. The planter is basically a bag with holes along the sides to push your plants in. But my concern here is that the holes are covered by some fairly firm plastic. It’s a circle, with a hole in the middle, and slits radiating to the outer edges. I’m actually kinda nervous about the stems poking through these, as they seem like they could potentially cause damage. So you fill the pot to the first round of holes, shove in your plants, and cover with more dirt… repeat until full. I’m a little concerned with the final weight on the roots of the bottom plants. It seems like for such “delicate” roots, that’s a lot of pressure crushing down on them. Regardless, the one for experiment is up and running. I did buy shepherds hooks that did not at all handle the weight necessary, anywhere around 75lbs each, so I’m gonna have to work that issue. There are three different varieties of strawberries in there. If this gadget works, the secondary experiment will be what kind of strawberries I’ll like best. Speaking of, Strawberries are not a temporary plant. They look like they die, but they are actually dormant and return the next year. I wonder how that will work with the Topsy Turvy…
Okay, then I filled the pepper planter. This one is actually very much like the strawberry one, just smaller. The stem vs. plastic holes concern is still there. I’ve planted two varieties of hot peppers and one of sweet bells. Each hole has two plants, because the directions say I can. Pretty much, the concerns I have for the pepper one match the ones for the strawberry planter. The weight isn’t as great, so I guess I’m not really worried about that part though.
Then we get to the tomato one. This one has me stumped. I have the tomato and herbs planter. This one has the hole in the bottom for tomatoes, and 9 holes along the side for herbs. I only bought 7, because I apparently misread the directions, so I’m gonna have to go get more.
Okay, so I’ll start with the planting of the tomatoes. I had to hang the planter first, because setting it down after the plants were in was not an option, obviously. I actually broke the first plant I placed, which was very frustrating. Thing is, with tomatoes you strip the bottom several leaves and plant a large chunk of the stem in the dirt. The stem grows extra roots this way. The directions of the Topsy Turvy even tell you this. There is a foam sponge that you place (snuggly) around the stems to hold them in place. After trying to NOT break off the leaves while putting the plants in place, you fight to get this sponge in place. But that root ball, that’s now sitting unsupported on a single fragile stem, is at high risk for breakage. Once that stem breaks, you’re done. So I placed dirt around and under the root ball as carefully as I could, but I really have no idea if I was successful in getting the air space out from underneath, or if I just piled a lot of weight on top, snapping them internally. Guess we’ll find out eventually.
I’m a little nervous about the foam sponge too. I don’t know about having something that can trap water like that right at the stem. Looks like a big invitation to rot. But, that’s why it’s called an experiment. And then there is the bit about root space. I generally plant my tomatoes in much larger planters, and still fight the whole root binding issue. (Yeah, I’m not an expert on this by any means.) This being much smaller, I have difficulty seeing how you could produce a lot of tomatoes with a lot of flavor. You could water the crap out of it, but you could also wind up with watery tasting tomatoes. Hmmm…
A concern I had with all three models came about when I watered them. The water drains down all over the plant, taking soil with it. Many plants, tomatoes included, do not do well with water on the leaves. It invites disease, both soil and air borne.
Okay, then I worked up to the herbs. With the ease of the other planters, I thought the side planters here wouldn’t be so difficult. Wrong. Thing with herbs, their roots are far more delicate. I think that by the time they went through, I wound up with about ½ the original roots of each plant laying on the deck below. Now, I have seen things with root damage make it back, so this will be interesting. I have always had a hard time growing basil, so I, of course, had to try a bunch of that in there. I’ve also planted oregano, pineapple sage, coriander, and I forget what all else. One of my favorites, though, was a purple basil. However, when I went to shift the planter around, after realizing the hook I bought wasn’t holding up the weight, the planter brushed up against my shoulder and snapped off the purple basil plant. Guess I’ll have to try to see if you can shove plants in there after the effect…
So, while I’m not saying there is huge flaws in design, I am observing where the potential may be, and as part of this experiment, these are points I’ll be keeping an eye on.
A huge bonus to all of them are the fact that I can actually take advantage of the sun by hanging them in places that were previously unusable because I couldn’t dig the dirt in these areas. But with them hanging, they have a very small foot print. So all three are now located in places where they’ll get sun all day long. And it’s less disheveled looking than the multiple flower pots that litter my drive way…
No comments:
Post a Comment