Burlap Tomato Planter

If you're a gardener, chances are you have heard of the Topsy Turvy tomato planter. The same company also offers their tomato tree. I've been curious about them for a few years but have never owned one. To be honest, the hanging Turvy didn't seem to be quite sturdy enough for those heavy tomato plants. Maybe this tree planter they put out is a bit sturdier. I thought the original hanger they offered would be great at growing strawberries or perhaps cherry tomatoes. If you have a Topsy Turvy product, please leave your comment to let me know how well they've done for you. Anyway, last week I got it in my head that I was going to try making a hanging tomato planter out of burlap. I went to wally-world and bought burlap for $2.14 a yard along with some heavy duty poly cord. I found some florist's wet foam I had left over from a project and got a white kitchen trash bag. These pictures are in sequence and hopefully not that hard to follow:

I folded over my burlap and cut out a large rectangle. This gave me 2 pieces that would be easy to sew. I then took the cord and laid it at the top of one side of the burlap. folded the very top of the burlap over the cord and pinned it , leaving myself around half an inch of sewing room under the pinned burlap. I then flipped over to the other side and continued pinning. I pinned this all the way around the top. I then sewed all the way around the burlap underneath the pins. Next I sewed the 2 sides. I then removed the pins and turned the sack outside in. this gave me a knapsack with a drawstring.
Inserted the trash bag into the sack. Next, I cut a circle out of a 4x4 piece of wet florist foam and set it in the bottom of the trash bag. I then started filling the bag with potting soil
checking as I went along to make sure the foam was in place and flat. After I had filled the sack a little more than half full with potting soil, I pulled the drawstring pretty tight and laid the sack on it's side. With my finger it was really easy to find the circle in the foam that I had cut. I then cut a hole through the burlap sack into the wet foam hole. then I inserted the tomato plant *this is a jet star*. Then I suspended the planter from a hook on my front deck. this is view of the bottom. Then I cut small pieces of the foam and stuck around the whole and the base of the plant. This will keep water away from the leaves and stem and from running down the plant and rotting it. This is the final product. Now I made drain holes making sure I put none close to where the plant hangs down. I cut another hole in the side of the sack for another plant. I water from the top. I will report on how well this works for me. It isn't really pleasing to the eye but if it grows maters I don't care :) I have heard that one of the key things to remember is to water often. This may prove to be a complete flop but if so, I will let you know soon enough. Here are some links I had book marked on homemade hanging planters:
Growing Tomatoes in Black Plastic Bags
Upside Down Tomatoes
Upside Down Tomato Planter
Do upside down tomato planters work?

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