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Felknor Ventures TT041112 Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter | 
| Brand: Felknor Ventures
Category: Lawn & Patio
List Price: $15.99
Buy New: $9.37
as of 7/29/2010 22:59 CDT details
New (12) Used (1) from $7.49
Seller: Geroy's
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 2,871
Color: Red/Green
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 9.5 x 23
MPN: TT091112
Model: TT041112
UPC: 740275000984
EAN: 0740275000984
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Grow delicious, juicy strawberries all season long in just 3 simple steps | | • | Upside-down planter forces water and nutrients to flow directly down from root to fruit | | • | No pesticides, digging, weekend, or backbreaking work required | | • | Grow parsley, basil, oregano, rosemary, mint, and other tasty herbs too | | • | Simple to set up and maintain |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Grow delicious fresh strawberries right outside your door patio, deck or balcony. Simply place any strawberry or herb plant in the Topsy Turvy® Strawberry Planter, add potting soil, hang it up and then water. Sun warms the plant like a greenhouse and the root system thrives inside the planter. Hanging in the air eliminates any ground fungus, harmful bacteria, cutworm damage. There's no need for pesticides, digging, or weeding. If you enjoy fresh herbs, parsley, basil oregano or rosemary the Topsy Turvy is ideal.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
Working great so far. July 19, 2010
Z. Law (Michigan)
I think its most important to note that these do not come with any plants or soil. its just like buying a pot. (The plants and soil for two of these cost me 60 dollars).
That said, the plants seem to be growing great, and its very nice to know its impossible to over-water them. Looking forward to the delicious products.
 Works well so far July 3, 2010
Schnups
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bought that June 2nd offline together with the plants and some potter soil that already has fertilizer in it. Be careful that thing is - once full with soil and water - really heavy! The strawberries really need a lot of light to get going. And you need to water in chunks until it starts dripping out through the holes on the bottom (!) - and not on the sides. If you do it carefully that seems to work well. Takes around 10 minutes for me when I add it in smaller sips until it has gone through and starts running out of it.
The plants so far (this is now 4 weeks) have gone nuts in growing but we had little strawberries so far. A few flowers wilted early on as that watering is really important and you can't forget about it a single day!
The greenish plastic things covering the openings seem to tear very easily so I doubt that will last more than a year and replanting should be impossible.
It is a bit annoying that the water tends to come out on the sides quite easily instead of going through until the bottom. So make sure you water in sips and in the middle. As that might explain why some people experience that strong wilting. Since I've done strawberry growing on the ground too I knew already how much water strawberries need and that they the leaves and fruits should preferentially not touch soil to avoid ants and such eating them. Which makes me believe the general idea is good but the design can be improved.
But so far we like it. But you really need to get into the watering, maybe automatic watering would be a good idea.
Not a no-brainer setup, but good results once you address the risks. June 28, 2010
Steven A. Godun (North Brunswick, NJ)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
First, what's in the box. You get the planter itself (which includes a three-wire hanging system with a swiveling hook attachment at the junction), a plastic cap that covers the top of the planter, a small sheet of instructions, and a reasonably heavy duty screw-in hook that you're to screw into the awning of your house. And....that's it. To this, you need to add potting soil, fertilizer and plants.
The advertising and general presentation of this item makes it seem so simple: Fill it with potting soil, add plants, hang, water, wait for berries to appear and enjoy. Like countless others I fell for that. I bought this item as a treat for my three year old daughter, so she could gain the experience of watching plants grow and strawberries appear.
I followed the instructions verbatim, using Miracle Grow potting soil and plant food, measured to the correct proportions. I bought 30 strawberry plants from a local greenhouse. I inserted two plants per hole, filling it up with soil as I went. When it was complete I covered it and hung it from the included hook just outside my back door. I watered it every day, just as the instructions said.
And then I ran into problems.
The first thing I noticed is that the lower plants started to wilt. My mother, who knows far more about gardening than I do, decreed that there wasn't enough water getting down to them. I recalled that when I added water to the planter it tended to overfill very quickly. So I took the planter down and very carefully hollowed out a space in the middle of the planter going all the way down. I inserted a cardboard paper tower tube (into which I had poked a number of holes), hung it back up, and then watered it. This time the water went all the way to the bottom, going through the holes in the tube (and the tube itself) to water all the plants. Problem solved, or so I thought.
Over the next few weeks I watched all of the bottom row plants and most of the middle row plants wither and die. The topmost plants flourished. To date, I don't understand why. My only guess - and this is PURELY a guess - is that I was a little too rough on the root systems for the lower plants (which were inserted first) and, as I got used to the process, got progressively more gentle, which saved the upper plants.
I watched the remaining plants grow and flower and small berries began to appear. Success! Then I discovered/realized the second problem that the instructions don't warn you about. Although strawberries are very tasty to us humans, there are a LARGE number of wild creatures who will happily gorge themselves on them as well. For weeks I watched numerous small berries appear, and then just begin to ripen, and then the next day saw huge chunks - or entire berries - disappear from the plant.
That's when I had enough. I had the planter for two months and hadn't gotten a single berry from it. I moved the planter into my house, hung it on a hook in our sun room, and every few days checked for new flowers. I pollinated using a small watercolor brush from my daughter's paint set. Eventually new berries began to appear and ripen and we were able to enjoy them. They are, in fact, quite tasty.
So there you have it. This is NOT a "set it and forget it" deal. It requires some time and effort in order to achieve results. For today's fast food-oriented society this could be a deal breaker, but I leave it up to you to decide.
Two other things..... First, after about a month I discovered, by lifting the plastic top off the planter, that new plants had started growing inside the planter (rather than through the holes in the side). I was able to redirect these new plants through the side openings but be aware that this may happen. Second - and this IS mentioned in the manual, but IMO not strenuously enough - the filled and watered planter is HEAVY, easily 20 lbs, so it's wise to make sure you screw the hook into a place that can support that kind of weight.
One nice touch: The hook assembly has a swivel in it which makes it very easy to rotate the planter on the hook, so as to best take advantage of available light. It's a good idea to rotate the planter every day or two so as to allow all plants an equal opportunity to get some light.
I would have very much liked to have gotten a little more information in the instruction manual. For those who have a "green thumb" what I describe above is probably obvious, and in retrospect it's obvious to me too - NOW. A couple of months ago, not so much. Given that this is targeted towards people without a lot of gardening experience some additional information, tips, instructions, etc would have been very helpful. For lacking that information I take away one star.
 Hard to Water June 26, 2010
DC to Albuquerque (Albuquerque, NM)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Be prepared to loose half your plants. The water does not reach the plants in the bottom before pouring out the sides, so only the strawberries planted near the top survive. My mother had the same problem with hers. To get enough water to the bottom plants, you have to water for an hour a day, little by little, letting it all soak in before adding more. This is more trouble than it is worth. Just plant your strawberries in the ground.
Working for me! Never grown strawberries before! June 4, 2010
~* RoXaNnE *~ (On Amazon!)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There are so many reviews on this item complaining how its only a bag...
Well DUH people! Read the description!!
" Just place your strawberry or herb plant in the Topsy Turvy, add your favorite potting soil, hang it, and add water. "
Anyway,
I bought this and I have never grown strawberries-
I didnt know how this would work for me.
I went to a nursery and bought what looked just like a bag of roots- I have never seen these before, I had to ask someone at the nursery if they were actually the strawberry plant- there was no leaves nothing just what looked to be roots- I bought Earliglow.
I live in Minnesota and the weather has been kind of weird this year, was warm then we actually had a freeze.. I thought my strawberries would never grow....
Its been about a month and a half- I have several strawberries growing!! I am hanging my strawberry topsy turvey and my tomato topsy turvey (which is doing awesome too) from my clothes line in the back yard. About 6 of the holes where I have strawberries planted- are a little behind the others, they are not developed nearly as well- but that is because the sun wasnt hitting it like the other sides- so today I rotated it and I hope thats all it needs.
About 2 weeks ago, I noticed white flowers on the plant, and I really did not do any research about how to grow strawberries, and I would notice about a day after the flowers appeared.. they died... then within a couple days I would see the strawberries starting to grow.
They are green right now, I have taken pictures and added them to show how mine is doing and I will update my review and add more pictures once the strawberries turn red, and I will also update how the other ones are doing now that they are getting sun!
But really, I am very happy with my purchase and I cant wait for the strawberries to turn red so we can enjoy them!!
UPDATE:
My original review was on June 4, 2010,
and today is June 25, 2010...
I have had about 8 red strawberries so far off this.
The one side that wasnt getting light and not growing.. still hasnt shown any improvement- and it has been facing the sun--
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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