The ‘Upside Down Patio Garden’ is an exciting and revolutionary new product which will allow anyone to grow their own fruit and veg in a straightforward and easy way. Many people do not have the time, space or experience to grow their own food.

It is ideal for patios, balconies and decking etc and has two unique features.

The top section can be used for planting flowers, giving a more aesthetic look to the planter and the surrounding location. It is more eye-catching, as the flowers will be in people’s eye line. It can also be used to grow herbs, radishes or lettuces, which compliment the hanging vegetables.

The main feature of the ‘Upside Down Patio Garden’ is the bottom area where the plants grow upside down, from holes in the top section. As well as tomatoes, people can grow cucumbers, courgettes, aubergines and peppers. Therefore this product appeals to two markets- patio flower/herb growing and patio vegetable growing.

The benefits of growing vegetables upside down include:

• No Staking - As the tomatoes are hanging from the planter, you have no need to stake them, or bother with any other types of support other than the planter hanger. For some indeterminate types of tomatoes, you may find you need to trim them to keep them off the ground, but no stakes.
• Soil Borne Pests – Given that the tomato plants don't rest on the ground, you don't have nearly the problems with slugs and other soil borne pests.
• Soil Borne Disease - Since you are likely to replenish the soil annually with a planter, problems with diseases lurking in the potting soil are significantly lower.
• Improved Air Circulation – Due to the tomato plants being suspended in the air, you get a lot better air circulation. This results in improved pollination and higher yields, and fewer problems with rot
• Weeds - Since the planter has very little exposed soil, there are almost no problems with weeds and no need for weeding.
• Location - The beauty of container gardening is that you can do it almost everywhere. You can stand one of these planters on your balcony, or patio so you don't have to travel to the garden to get fresh tomatoes for your salad.

Compared to grow bags, the Upside Down Patio Garden has further benefits:
• Ours is durable and can last multiple seasons without concerns for wear or mould.
• The size of our product allows the user to grow more than one tomato vine in it along with herbs and small amounts of others vegetables.
• Our product stands alone and does not require any other apparatus or structure to support it.
• More sustainable, as can replant over the year with different plants
• Grow flowers in an attractive hanging feature

The best vegetables to grow are tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
The most suitable types of tomatoes to grow would be the bush (determinate) varieties such as:

• Tumbling Tom (red and yellow)
• Yellow Pigmy
• Garden Pearl
• Red Alert
• Tiny Tim
• Early Girl
• Super Sweet 100 F1

In summary, the benefits of the ‘Upside Down Patio Garden’ are:
• Its free standing, so unlike other upside down planters, you don’t have to hang it from your house or a pole
• Ideal for people with a small garden who want to grow their own food
• Tomatoes are very easy to grow
• It can appeal to children, first time growers, elderly people, people with disabilities, anyone who suffers from a bad back, and people with busy lifestyles due to the fact it is easy to maintain
• Simple product, easy to market- what you see is what you get
• Different ideas for the top and bottom
• Encourages healthy eating, more likely to eat what you’ve grown-1 of your 5-a-day
• Home grown produce is tastier and has more vitamins and minerals
• Extremely rewarding and therapeutic
• Tomatoes which grow in this way, product a better yield per plant
• Because the bed is raised, it provides a barrier to slugs and snails, preventing the plants from being eaten and producing better quality produce