Here are some types of tomatoes you should try to grow if you live in the southern United States:

Indeterminate: Monte Carlo, Better Boy
Determinate: Mountain Pride, Celebrity, Big Set
Paste: Roma

I have a cherry tomato plant in the garden that is dropping a lot of its flowers and not producing as many tomatoes. After some reading, I see that this could be caused by too much nitrogen in the soil or too many flowers on the tomato plant. I'll need to test the soil to see if it's the nitrogen, but the plant is covered in flowers so I think it may be an abundance of flowers. The tomato plant has produced several nice tomatoes, but it's just difficult to see so many nice looking flowers fall off.

Are flowers dropping off your Topsy Turvy Tomato plants? Typically this is caused by weather conditions. Nighttime temperatures dropping below 50 F or daytime temperatures above 95 F can cause this condition. The solution is to bring your tomatoes indoors during these types of weather conditions.

Tomatoes need good soil drainage. Be especially careful if you're planting your tomatoes in pots. Make sure the pot has plenty of drain holes in the bottom and will not retain water for too long. If you water your tomato and come back in a couple of hours and still see water in the pot, you do not have good drainage. If you're planting your tomatoes in the ground, be sure to plant them in an area that does not remain wet long after a rain. But of course, if you have a Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter, you don't have to worry about the drainage. Get your Topsy Turvy here:

I'm a little shocked and amazed at one of my cherry tomato plants. It has survived 2 freezes (one of which was around 26 F) and golf ball size hail. I obviously covered the little tomato plant on those cold nights, but it wasn't looking so good for a few days after. The hail stripped some of the branches off the poor guy, but he didn't get too many direct hits luckily. Earlier this week, I've noticed a lot of new growth and some flowers starting! I'm amazed!

What is the perfect time to pick a tomato? This depends on your likes. If you're going to fry some green tomatoes, then pick them while they're still green. If you'll be using the tomato in a few days, you can pick it while it's green or yellow and let it ripen in the house. Or you can pick it after it has ripened on the vine. Experiment and see what works out best for you. Just don't put your tomatoes in the refrigerator as they'll lose all their taste.

This obviously does not apply if you're using a Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter, but if you're using traditional garden or pot techniques, simply pinch off the lower branches and plant the tomato deep. Then, as the tomato grows, pinch off the little axils that grow between the branches. Each axil will grow into a new vine if allowed. If you have space constraints and need to grow your tomatoes vertically, it's important to let the main vine grow as tall as possible. Just keep the axils pinched out.

Here's a great book for tips on growing vertically due to space constraints:

Heirloom tomatoes seem to be all the rage these days. It's very difficult to choose an heirloom tomato when there are so many on the market these days. There are some very unusual ones out there - and not all are that great from my experience. Here's a great book from Amazon that will help you choose:

To store tomatoes in the freezer, just wash, dry, then put whole tomatoes in freezer bags - then just put in the freezer.

Just about any tomato can be dried. Just make sure the tomato stays very dry and warm to prevent mold. One method it to turn your oven on the lowest heat setting (usually 150 F), put the tomatoes in, then turn the oven off and let them sit in there for the day. Then just pack them in good olive oil or put them in the refrigerator.

"Love Apple" is a term used to describe tomatoes.

Read more about Love Apples:

Most supermarket tomatoes have a certain blandness to them that you don't find with tomatoes from your garden or a farmer's market. This is typically because they have been refrigerated along the way. After picking the tomatoes from your Topsy Turvy tomato planter, be sure to not refrigerate them and they'll taste so much better.

Here's a cute story about a picky eater and tomatoes:

If you're not buying a Topsy Turvy Tomato planter and planting tomatoes in the ground, it's important to pinch off the lower leaves and plant it about 2/3 deep, leaving only the top of the tomato plant exposed. This will help the plant establish a better and deeper root system, giving you a more productive plant.

Check out this great book:

It's not a good idea to plant tomatoes outdoors before the last frost date in your area. Tomato plants are very sensitive to the cold temperatures and will be greatly set back if they encounter cold temperatures. The great thing about a topsy turvy tomato plant is that you can easily bring it indoors if there is a frost. Buy one today!

Check out these freeze maps courtesy of weather.com

Watch the Upside Down tomato planter instructions/how to:

Watch the Topsy Turvy Tomato Review here:

Topsy Turvy Upside Down Tomato Planter

Just plant it and hang it up on a patio, balcony, terrace, tree or anywhere else!
No digging!
No stakes or cages!
No need to tie up tomatoes or get down on your knees to pull weeds!



Get your Topsy Turvy Today!