How to successfully grow tomatoes in upside-down bottles? - tutorial

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Undeniable benefits of this shoot method are :

• It’s a very simple method to carry out and costs almost nothing ;
• Considerable space saving : perfect on a sunny balcony, for example ;
• Reduced water use to essentials : tomatoes will receive just the amount of water they need. Plastic will even form condensation, keeping the plant moist ;
• Natural protection against certain parasitic pests or diseases present in the soil ;
• Recycling plastic bottles ;
• It’s an activity to share with children.

Disadvantages

• Yield is lower than in open ground. This shoot method does not allow harvesting a large quantity of fruit per plant but limits quantity to favour quality.
• This technique works very well with cherry and cocktail tomato varieties but results are more mixed with larger-calibre tomato varieties.

Required equipment

You will need:

– 1 empty bottle per tomato young plant: ideally a sturdy plastic bottle with a narrow neck (to prevent the tomato young plant from falling when upside down), such as a soft-drink bottle
– Potting compost
– 1 coffee filter per bottle or absorbent paper
– 1 pair of scissors, preferably pointed, or a craft knife
– Some thin wire or string
– 1 hole punch or a large screw
– Your small tomato young plants, ready to be transplanted

Growing tomatoes in bottles: step by step

Start by sowing your tomato seeds. To do this, see our dedicated advice sheet: Sowing tomatoes and transplanting.

Before anything else, if you choose a bottle that previously contained anything other than water, remember to rinse it well beforehand.

• Cut off bottom of bottle with a cutter, taking care not to injure your hands.

• Using a screw or hole punch, make two holes on either side of the bottle. Thread wire through the holes to form an arch for hanging (if you don’t have thin wire, use string or garden twine).

• Take your tomato young plant and gently remove it from its pot with its soil. Wrap its rootball in a piece of paper towel or a coffee filter.
• Your young plant, thus wrapped, is ready to be carefully slid into the bottle, taking great care not to damage its delicate young leaves and stems.

• Paper towel or coffee filter holds the rootball in place and prevents it from coming out of the bottle without hindering irrigation.
• While keeping the bottle upright, fill it with potting compost up to 2–3 cm from the holes.

• You can now hang your tomato young plant on a balcony, a hanging hook, or wooden posts fixed at height, …
• Your tomato young plant is now upside down. Water gently and wait until water soaks into the compost (if you water too much, a trickle of water will come out of the bottle neck: this is normal).
• You can reuse the bottom of the bottle you cut off to make a small watering reservoir.
• Pierce it and place it on top of the bottle. With the reservoir, water gently moistens the compost drop by drop.

• Without the reservoir, soil is freely accessible for better controlled watering and for adding small natural treats for the plant:
  – Crushed eggshells: excellent source of calcium for plant growth
  – Coffee grounds: strengthens plant and acts as insect repellent

You will also find a wide range of fertilisers in our online shop.

Result

Tomato plant will climb up the bottle; this is perfectly normal. When it becomes larger and heavier, it may fall back towards the soil. The plant, suspended like this with very little soil, grows according to a method akin to the so-called ‘soilless’ method. It lives and grows with a very limited amount of soil, just enough for its growth. Then harvest is carried out exactly as for tomato plants grown in the traditional way.

This method allowed me to discover an unprecedented concentration of flavours, the true taste of tomatoes from my childhood: mild, sweet and with an incomparable aroma. Finally, it’s a playful activity I enjoy sharing with children to raise awareness of taste, ecology, recycling and the importance of not wasting water.

To learn more

Discover our wide range of tomato seeds in our online shop.