Customer Reviews

Felknor Ventures TT021112 Topsy Turvy Tomato and Herb Planter

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Unlike similar products that have only 1 plant port at the bottom, this version has 10 ports. One at the bottom, and 9 on the sides, so you can grow 10 plants total.

The side ports hold smaller plants like herbs, and the bottom port can hold a heavier plant like tomato.

Just double-check and confirm how many ports the planter has before you buy. Multiple ports are better than just one.

I was looking for the newer topsy turvy bag, the one with the holes in the sides. It appears from the picture like that is what is being sold but it is not, it is the one with the hole in the bottom, misleading picture and poor description led to my return!

We started our in-ground garden about 6 weeks ago. About 4 weeks ago I bought a topsy turvy herb planter (w/ 9 ports) as an experiment just to see if it would work. The results have been fantastic! Plants that are 2 weeks younger than my in-ground plants are now over 4 times their counterparts in size. You MUST FERTILIZE your topsy turvy once a week- I am using Miracle Grow for tomatoes. Per the instructions, as it gets closer to flowering you should fertilize every 2-3 days. I have read so many hateful reviews of this product and I am only left to guess that it is because people are not properly watering and FERTILIZING their plants and somehow think that the planter is going to do all the work for them -WRONG! Like any other garden, you must maintain it and make sure it is getting proper SUNLIGHT and FERTILIZER. I am so thrilled with the results that next year I am going to have 2 or 3 of these going in addition to my in-ground garden. Some plants, such as sugar-snap peas, parsley, sweet basil and tomatoes, in future, will be grown exclusively in topsy turvys.

I would suggest that if you are not willing to do the DAILY work necessary to maintaining a garden that you refrain from reviewing this product. To all others, go get this thing... All I can say is WOW! You wont be disappointed.

The only caveat I will make to this review is that I live in Southern California will lots of warm, sunny days, which goes a long way in growing a garden.

Hung this planter off the front porch and planted several kinds of herbs in it including parsley, basil, thyme,
peppermint, sage etc. Kept it watered and they grew and thrived all Summer into the Fall. Have a dehydrator; so
then dried some of the herbs for later use.

I found this to be very difficult to plant. Since there are ports on all sides that need to be planted, and the tomato plant has to go in the bottom, the only way to plant it would be to hang it first, which I could not do since the hanger is placed higher off our deck. I put two wooden boards across the top of a deep bucket and planted it that way, but I still broke two tomato plants in the process, trying to keep the rootball high in the bag so it would grow a sufficient root system. Also, pests WILL be able to find your plants. Even aphids, who are hatched with a set of very useful wings every few generations. The lack of air circulation to the soil bothers me as well. It's very hot here in the south, and having a plastic bag full of wet soil hanging in the sun produces great cooking temperatures. Most hangers are also not strong enough for this product, due to the weight of it when full of wet soil. As another reviewer pointed out as well, plants know which way is up, and they naturally grow UP against gravity. Even after a few days I can see this already happening. It's a good idea, but I am designing and crafting my own to maybe "fix" a few of these issues. If you really want hassle free growing, might I suggest the EarthBox. I have had great success, MUCH easier with these, and they won't fall apart after the first season. You can even reuse the soil for 4-5 years with wonderful results.

Felknor Ventures TT021112 Topsy Turvy Tomato and Herb Planter
-- I bought the same item Giambra obtained. I was thinking it was the same as what I received per a TV ad last year of the Deluxe tree package, but it was not. The Deluxe Tomato (3 slots) and Herb (3 slots) is what I have been trying to find. I do not see it on the web and is not in the 3 local stores by me, they only have the bag for 1 tomato plant at bottom. I was going to order a new bag, because the one I had gotten last year was deteriorating by the plastic was ripping from the weight from the intent of new use; I believe the bag should be made stronger. It is getting late so I cannot plant now. ** I cannot even find out how to return the one I received and get refund. **

commercials and hype are bogus. I dont know what they do to make it look like they have grown nice produce in the ones they use, but i have tried for two years for tomatoes out of mine and have come up empty. These are not worth the money.

This product does EXACTLY what it says IF people READ THE DIRECTIONS COMPLETELY AND FOLLOW THEM. Anyone who actually takes the time to read and understand what plants thrive where and ACTUALLY FEED THEM CORRECTLY (as per label) will not have problems with this product. The vast majority of the negative reviews seem to be because people do not understand plants. The reviewer with the pests obviously did not start with "clean" soil (sterile as in store bought, sealed. BEST ONE MIRACLE GRO MOISTURE CONTROL) If you overwater and place it in the wrong area the plant needs of course it's going to fail. If you don't feed or fertilize the course the plants will die. This is not the Topsy Turvy products fault.
BEFORE you buy this product read the specifications carefully and understand that soil, plants and water in a bag ARE HEAVY and will require a strong enough wall/beam to support this weight. Ergo, the more plants the heavier it will be. Do not buy this if you have 3 plants, this is for the experienced gardener who wants to grow 9 plants.
The biggest problem the reviewers are reporting are all misunderstandings because they do not understand how to water or plant the seedlings correctly (it specifically states that it's is NOT designed to grow plants from seed) so in order to prevent people from becoming discouraged about this product visit the link provided and LEARN how to water this properly, visit the other articles as well and LEARN which tomato varieties are designed to work with this and LEARN what they need to be fed in order to grow and you WONT be disappointed. [...]
If you are a lazy gardener, try a cactus instead. Less hassle, low maintenance.

Pros:
-I live in the city and grow herbs on the fire escape. This is just what I needed!
-The herbs grow SO much bigger than they would if I were growing them in pots. They're growing like weeds! It's awesome!

Cons:
-It's really difficult to get a plant that's large enough to fit through the slots into the tube.
-It damages the plant slightly (they recovered fine, though).
-Some plans are too big to fit through the holes.
-If you dont fill all of the slots, dirt and water just drain out of it. To solve this, I used lunch baggies and tapes them to the inside of the slots that I didnt fill. That worked perfectly!
-I cant bring them inside during the winter to allow them to continue growing on the window sill.

I know it looks like there are more cons, but the pros outweigh them to me; that's why I gave it a 4/5. All in all, though, I'd recommend getting the regular topsy turvy thing without the herb slots, unless you're in a similar situation to me.

I prefer the original Topsy Turvy bag over this one.
For one thing it is quite hard to get the herbs in the side holes without damaging them.
I chose some random herbs to put in with the tomatoes- chives, lemon grass, and marjoram. The chives attracted some weird bugs so i had to pull them out, the marjoram died for some reason, probably because i am lazy and didn't water them, and the lemon grass is doing well and smells very lovely. but I don't actually have anything to do with lemongrass so its just sitting there looking pretty. Since some of the holes don't have plants in them, water drips out when i put water in the bag and often gets all over me. Which isn't so bad because its been pretty hot here.
I have cherry tomato plants in both of my Topsy Turvy bags. The plant I have in the tomato and herb bag grew much larger than the other bag, very leafy and it looks like its trying to make its way over to the fence or something its just all over the place. I can't open my front door all the way because it's so huge. It didn't have as much fruit as the other bag until a couple days ago and now there is fruit all over the place. But overall I would rather have two of the original bags, they are easier to take set up and take care of and still have loads of fruit. more fruit than i will be able to eat.