Tried planting cherry tomatoes in a hanging shoe organizer on my balcony last spring

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was genius. I got a 24 pocket shoe organizer from the dollar store and filled each pocket with potting soil and a tomato seedling. The whole thing was maybe $12 in supplies. The first two weeks were great, the plants looked happy and started growing. Then the organizer got really heavy when I watered it and the plastic hooks started bending. One windy afternoon the whole thing ripped off the railing and dumped dirt, tomatoes, and broken pots all over my neighbor's patio. I spent 45 minutes cleaning tomato plants off their grill. Now I just use regular pots with a sturdy metal shelf. Has anyone else tried a vertical setup that actually worked and didnt end in disaster?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettymurphy1mo ago

Oh honey, that story made my stomach drop. I had a similar disaster with a strawberry tower I built from PVC pipes, the thing toppled over in a storm and strawberries were rolling down the driveway for days. You put so much work into it and then it just goes sideways, it's so frustrating. At least you got a good story out of it, the neighbor's grill cleanup sounds like a scene from a comedy show. I've learned the hard way that anything hanging needs serious hardware, like bolted into the wall hardware.

wright.drew1mo ago

Oh boy, "bolted into the wall hardware" is exactly what I should've done with my hanging herb garden last spring. Built this whole wooden frame thing and hung it from the eaves with those little screw hooks, woke up one morning to find it on the ground with basil and mint scattered everywhere. It was like a plant massacre, and I spent the whole afternoon picking leaves out of the grass.