The Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter Test

Is the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter really better?  I decided to find out for myself.  I started with two 7" tall tomato plants that looked as identical as possible (Bonnie Sweet 100 Hybrid Cherry Tomato), and both were purchased at Lowes from the same lot on 4/13/2010.  I planted one in a traditional planter, and the other in the Topsy Turvy Planter "as seen on TV".  I put them out on my balcony, which faces east, so they are both getting the same amount of sunlight.  The photos above were taken today.  So far, the Topsy-Turvy tomato plant is larger, but the proof will be in which plant bears more fruit.

Update on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 10:02PM by Karin

FIRST TOMATOES!  Score:  Topsy Turvy 4, Traditional 1!

Update on Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 09:15PM by Karin

So far, the Topsy Turvy plant produced more tomatoes than the plant in  the conventional planter, and the fruit had a nice taste.  But at a total cost of $30 for both planters and plants, I would have done better to simply shop at Costco.

Update on Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 12:09AM by Karin

Final-Final:  The Topsy Turvy definitely produced more tomatoes.  The crop ended up being double that of the conventional planter.  In both cases, the fruit was extremely tasty and now that we are in prime harvest season, it is fun to pick a handful of off-the-vine tomatoes.  I will say that they are mostly smaller than the average cherry tomato and I don't think I got a good return on my $30 investment, but it was good experience.

Comments

[Green Thumbs]

Thanks for posting these pictures. I will check back to see the results.

[Colleen]

Very cool :) I will be following along to see your results!

[Number Plumber]

If you get m tomatoes from Topsy Turvy and n tomatoes from the classical plant, and you score each tomato on a quality scale of (0,1) with 0 being horrible and 1 being super fantastic, we can do a t-test to see if the diffference in the average quality socre is different for the two types of plants.

[Travel News]

hello.
the tomatoes from the neoclassic place, and you scotch apiece tomato on a attribute touchstone of (0,1) with 1state horrible and 1 beingness caretaker grotesque, we can do a t-test to see if the diffference in the come character socre is distinct for the two types of plants.
lucy

[Kelly from Concord, CA]

Love the info. I bought one but could not figure out how to hang it up - so heavy. good luck, hope you have lots of great tomatoes!

[Ana]

Good solution.

[Marina J]

Thanks - I kept meaning to buy one of these. I did not think about the weight. But it looks like you had a good experiance with the Topsy Turvy.

[Mary at My New 30]

Thanks for stopping by my My New 30 Blog to comment about your Turvy results. As you may have read, last year, with my Turvy under the eave, wasn't very successful - either not enough sun or too much water pouring off of the roof. This year after moving it out into the middle of the yard on a stand, the Turvy produced way more blooms and tomatoes BUT unfortunately the extreme heat and humidity levels this summer in the deep south caused massive blossom drop on all of my tomato plants, including those in containers and those in my raised bed garden as well as the Turvy. Overall, I got equal amounts of tomatoes in all of them, but had it not been for this extreme summer, feel they would've all produced well. In other words, I don't think that one is any better than the other, just different! With the lack of production overall, my garden wasn't very cost effective either, but some years it'll be like that, so it's part of the experience I guess.