Upside Down Plants – Turn Your Garden on Its Head to Maximize Small Spaces and Boost Harvests
Growing plants upside down can be a great way to diversify your garden. Inverted gardening offers benefits for both vegetable and ornamental plantings.
Traditional gardening involves placing plants in the ground or in containers. A newer idea is to flip those containers upside down. Upside down gardening isn’t very new—it’s been around at least since the 1990s—and seems like it has staying power.
New ideas in gardening advance the craft and inspire different approaches that improve efficiency, plant health, harvest yield, and more. Upside down gardening is a unique take on traditional container gardening which is also great at utilizing smalls spaces to gain big results.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re thinking of starting an upside down garden.
Why Grow Plants Upside Down?
Growing a plant upside down might seem counterintuitive, but there are some important benefits over traditional container or in-ground gardening:
- Space. Growing upside down plants is a type of vertical gardening. It allows you to grow more in a smaller space, including indoors.
- Pests. Crawling pests won’t be able to get to your upside down hanging baskets, so they are less of an issue.
- Disease. A hanging plant has better air flow between leaves and stems and is not in contact with the ground. This helps prevent fungal diseases and rot.
- Light. The hanging plant has more overall exposure to light than when trailing on the ground.
- Weeds. Again, the plant is not in contact with the ground, so even when grown outside, hanging, upside down plants don’t generally get a lot of weeds.
Which Plants Grow Best Upside Down?
There are some obvious limitations to growing a plant upside down. Stay away from any plant that will get too big or heavy to be supported upside down or fit in your given space. Smaller plants are better, and many vegetables and herbs make great choices.
Tomatoes are the classic example of inverted gardening. Choose smaller varieties, like cherry tomatoes, and avoid the need to stake plants when growing them upside down. Similarly, smaller pepper varieties and eggplants work well. A commercial upside down tomato planter can be found at Amazon or you can make a DIY inverted planter using a food-grade bucket from Lowe's.
Trailing or climbing vegetables can also be grown this way as long as the produce isn’t too big or heavy. For instance, try sugar snap peas or cucumbers, but not melons or squash. Herbs can also be grown upside down. Also, try strawberries.
How to Garden Upside Down
Growing plants upside down is easier than you think. You can buy a kit for an inverted garden, or make your own. The most important starting point is to find the right location for your garden. You need a sturdy spot on a ceiling, beam, balcony, porch, or even a fence outside, where you can install a hook that will hold a potted plant with soil.
For your container, you’ll need a bucket or pot with a hole in the bottom. Push the plant through the hole, fill the container with soil, and hang it so that the plant emerges from the hole underneath the container.
If using a plastic bucket for growing food, ensure it is a food-safe material like this food-grade bucket from Lowe's. You can also use a bag, like a burlap sack, with a hole in the bottom.
Care Needs for Upside Down Planting
Once you have upside down planters in place, they’ll need the same care as other plants. Use a good quality potting soil or mix, water regularly, and ensure the plant gets the appropriate amount of sunlight. Use fertilizer as needed for the types of plants you’re growing.
Like any container plant, your hanging plants will dry out more quickly than those in the ground. The roots are also at greater risk of exposure and drying than standard containers. Check the soil frequently and be sure you set them up in a way that makes it easy to water often.
Pruning plants that are hanging is less important because they have more space to spread and grow. You can still pinch off stems to encourage more growth, though.
Problems and Risks of Upside Down Growing
While growing plants upside down has some benefits, it’s important to recognize that it isn’t the natural way for plants to grow. Stems and leaves naturally grow up and roots down, so your hanging plant could develop some awkward growth as it tries to adjust. If you’re growing them outside, strong winds can move and even break stems and leaves.
Weight is a potentially bigger issue. If a plant is too heavy or grows heavier than you anticipated, it could fall down or even cause structural damage. It’s not a good idea to grow plants that are too big or that have heavy fruits.
Leaves and stems often get more sunlight when hanging upside down, but the fruits can become shaded. This can impede ripening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Plants Grow Slower Upside Down?
As long as the plant has all its needs met—light, water, nutrients—it will grow at the same rate upside down or right side up.
Do Plant Roots Ever Grow Upwards?
Plant roots generally grow down because they sense gravity. However, they can adjust and grow in various directions to meet their needs in the soil.
