So, my trusty sidekick neighbor and I and the girls planted one with cherry tomatoes and one with yellow crookneck squash (my girls and I could eat our weight in this stuff!) We sprinkled chives seeds in the top of the tomatoes and dill weed seeds in the top of the squash and hung both pails on an old laundry line that I have in my backyard. It's an eyesore and I keep meaning to plant some ivy at the base to let it at least be covered. I need to do that soon. But, still, it served its purpose well in this. This picture was taken through the screen on my breakfast room window, that's why it's a little fuzzy :
The tomato was a little damaged in the planting process (note to self..... letting a 2 yr old, 4 yr old, and 10 yr old do the actual PLANTING of the delicate tomato plant upside down? Probably not the best move). I had my doubts, but pressed on. The squash looked gorgeous! One week later, the tomato? No bueno. :( The stem had become all yellow and soggy and limp. Sad, sad, sad. I mourned the loss of potential perfect red juicy tomatoes that I was going to halve and skewer with mozzarella chunks and basil leaves and red onion and grill (IF they made it to the grill before I started snacking). A moment of silence, if you will..........
OK, pity party over. We still have our beloved squash! Right? Right! Right?!?!?!??! A week or so ago, we had some torrential downpours in the middle of the night. I was up at 2:00 AM, checking the Weather Channel and Fox News for reports of an ark being built and people sprouting webbed feet, but nothing yet. Anyway, about two days later, I noticed that my squash plant was starting to look soggy. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP!!!! What the heck is going on!?!?! I can't figure it out. I keep reading online about how people are having all sorts of success with these upside down plants, what am I doing wrong?!?!?!? My squash is dead, no hopes of revival! :*( Thankfully, the growing season is so long here that I'm going to grab a plant or two and put them in some large pots I have. We'll still get some squash, by golly. There is no chance of replanting in the upside down pots, either, b/c the chives and dill are growing like crazy, lol!! Oh well, maybe next year? For this year, we'll have to stick with downside-up, I guess.
On a brighter note, my grape tomato plant has two little green tomatoes and LOTS of blooms! Yippee! Now if I could only see some blooms on my strawberry plant!
1 comment:
I know how frustrating it is when plants don't succeed. Sorry to hear about that. I've never done the upside down thing, and I don't know much about growing veggies, so I can't help you there. But I do have this suggestion: DON'T put ivy at the base of your laundry pole. It grows so fast that it will spread all over your yard in a matter of months. Seriously. There are lots of other lovely climbing things that will not also spread out on the ground). Depending on where you live, you could try morning glories, or sweet peas (the flower, not the vegetable, though actual pea plants would work too and might be fun). Wisteria gets extremely large, and lives a very long time, so it wouldn't do without an arbor or something to climb. But as someone who has spent literally years pulling out the ivy that is growing all around my house, I can attest to the fact that it is much more of a pain in the neck than it is worth. Just my two cents...
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