Beginner Gardening: First time topsy turvy planter, 1 by xerynx

xerynx wrote:
I have never used an actual 'topsy turvy', but I have been growing vegetables upside down in my own homemade planters for ages. Tomatoes, beans (shown in picture is my current bluelake pole bean planter), peas, peppers, strawberries... most things that are climbers work really well. The planters I make are mainly coffee cans with holes cut in the lid, or regular plastic pots, the seedlings stuck through the drainage holes. I place a layer of pebbles at the bottom, and fill with jiffy mix / potting soil, half and half. to avoid the soils, plant food, pebbles, etc coming through the holes, I put coffee filters around the bottom, with holes punched for the seedlings to come through. I put the seedlings in the planters from jiffy pellets when they are about 3 or 4 inches tall, but not bushing out yet, so it's easier to thread them through the holes. I have no actual ground space at my apartment, so everything I grow is grown vertically, upside down, vines trained on my balcony rails, indoors, in large pots, etc.
I have succesfully grown lots of things in jury-rigged containers, many of which were designed to grow vegetables upside down. In my experience, life will find a way.
So I'm not too sure why these topsy-turvy things DON'T seem to work for people. I've found it's pretty difficult to devise a planter that won't grow things, plants LOVE to grow upside down.
They must have some pretty serious flaws, and from what people are saying, the guys who designed them had never even seen a tomato plant!