Many plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers, mints, and thymes can grow upside down! With upside-down planters, everyone gets access to a home garden regardless of the space available. There's no need for cages or stakes as the water goes effectively to the root system! Upside-down planting provides your green friends with better air circulation and proper sun exposure. Not to mention, upside-down planters will leave you with fewer pests, fungal diseases, and weed issues.  

Sounds too good to be true? Give it a try and find out for yourself! Here are five DIY upside-down planter ideas for your inverted garden! 

Plastic Pots 

 

Plastic is lightweight and easy to hang, so it's the perfect choice for creating an upside-down planter. To DIY this lovely display, take a 16-inch plastic pot and cut a 2- to 3-inch hole at the bottom with the help of a hole saw. If you're growing smaller or much more established plants, research how much room they will need to grow -- you want to provide adequate room for the root system. Cut a small piece of filter and lay it at the bottom of the planter so no dirt escapes. 

Drill two holes opposite to each other, at both sides of the container about 3/4 inches down from the top of the pot. Then you can thread a rope through the holes and voila! You have a hanger. 

Now, gently push the roots of a herb into the hole you created at the bottom of the plastic planter. From the top of the planter, add your soil and hang your plant upside down on your balcony, patio, and even indoors if you'd like! 

Grow herbs like basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, and mint in a plastic upside-down planter, and maximize your indoor planting space.

5-Gallon Bucket 

Want to grow vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers upside down? Grab an old plastic bucket, preferably with a handle. Since you will be growing vegetables in this planter, choose a bucket big enough for their roots. A 5-gallon bucket seems perfect as it will hang upside down easily.

To create your upside-down vegetable planter, take your bucket and drill a 3-inch hole at the center of its bottom. Along the sides of this hole, drill some small 1/2-inch drainage holes. If your bucket does not have a handle, drill two holes on the opposite sides of the bucket to insert a rope and hang the bucket later. 

Now, take a landscape cloth, cut it to the size of the bottom of the bucket, and place the cloth inside the bucket. This will prevent the soil from falling out of the bucket. 

Cut an X in the cloth, so you can push the young plant through it, and then hang the upside-down planter in your home garden. 

2-Liter Plastic Bottle

If you don't have the space to hang 5-gallon buckets upside-down, here’s an alternative. Use a 2-liter plastic bottle instead! It is a great way to reuse your old plastic bottles and create a beautiful, compact, and inverted garden at your home. 

To create this upside-down planter, cut off the bottom of the bottle, preferably at the ridge. You can either throw away the removed top or flip it over -- you can drill some tiny holes in it and insert it into the bottom of the bottle until it fits securely, creating a reservoir for your plant. This reservoir will allow the water to flow slowly through the planter. 

Then, drill two holes of around ¼ inch on the opposite sides of the planter, at about ¼ inch from the bottom. We will use these holes later to hang your planter.

Now, turn your bottle upside down and insert your plant carefully from the bottom (previously the top of the bottle). Once the roots of the plant are in the bottle, add soil from the top. 

It is now time to hang your plastic bottle planter upside down. To do that, insert a chopstick in the two 1/4-inch holes that you drilled on the sides of the bottle to give your planter the required support. Then, attach a rope on both ends of the chopstick and use it to hang your upside-down plastic planter.

Grow small plants, vegetables, or herbs, and create your own upside-down home garden in minimal space! 

Wire Hanging Basket 

Wire baskets are also a great option to create lightweight and beautiful upside-down planters. This DIY upside-down planter will cost you significantly less than your average pot. If you don't already have a tiny plant to fit into the hanging baskets, opt for flowers like Fuchsias, Petunias, Verbena, Bacopa, or Calibrachoa. 

To create this aesthetic wire basket upside-down planter, take two wired hanging baskets with chains and hooks and add fiber hanging basket liners or coco fiber to them.

Then, fill both baskets with soil. Sprinkle water over the soil, so that it does not spill when you put both baskets together. The idea is to build a sphere by sandwiching both wire baskets together! 

Place the baskets together other and create a sphere. To secure the structure, use zip ties around the edges. Hang the spherical, wired planter with the help of the chains of the baskets.

Now, it is time to add your tiny plants to the planter. To do so, cut a hole in-between the wire mesh, big enough so that the plant gets inside the planter smoothly. Cut similar small holes in the planter to insert different plants through them and complete your beautiful wire basket upside-down planter!

Pro tip: You can also create a hemispherical upside-down planter using one wired hanging basket. 

Wooden Barrel 

Want to try upside-down gardening in your backyard? Wooden barrel tubs are perfect for upside-down planters in backyards! This DIY would require some effort, but the results are breathtaking. 

To begin with, take a wooden barrel and cut it into two equal parts from the bottom using a grinder or a jigsaw. Then, attach a piece of wood to the back of one part of the barrel to create a closed container. Do the same with the other part, and create two separate planters for your backyard. 

Now, cut a 3-inch hole at the bottom of the barrel to insert the plant inside the barrel. Then, attach the barrel to a wall in your backyard.

Grow small-yield crops like tomatoes, eggplants, strawberries, cucumbers, beans, and herbs in the DIY barrel upside-down planter. 

Let the Upside-Down Gardening Begin!

To create upside-down planters, you need lightweight containers such as plastic bottles, wire baskets, and plastic buckets. Wooden containers such as barrels can also be used to hang plants upside down, but you will need to support them by attaching them to a wall.  

Have you ever tried upside-down gardening? Share your experience with us in the comments below.