Two Topsy Turvy planters were put to use this year - one for Bushy cucumbers and one for Tante Alice cucumbers. As before, I would gently tug downward on the small transplants, thwarting their attempts to grow skyward because I was trying to get them out of the shade of their planters and into the sunlight. While they did relax somewhat as they grew heavier, they still managed to extend horizontally more than downward, and this may have been the downfall of one of them.
In the photo above, the plant on the right looks a bit limp. This is why. It was hanging by a thread. The wind blows here, by times. A linear vine reaching toward the ground might sway in the wind, but a vine maintaining a constant elevation is subject to twisting on its stem. Too much stress, especially on top of the already bizarre orientation in which I tried to make it grow. Minutes after this picture was taken, Tante Alice was on the ground. This is not surprising. We have a third planter hanging from the clothesline support, left there from last year, with the stub of a broken tomato stem poking out of it.
Topsy Turvy planters are watered from the top and a good soaking should result in some seepage out the bottom. This particular planter hangs directly over the entrance to an ant metropolis. Seeing an ant crawling down the side of the planter last week, I surmised she may be an engineer looking to rectify the problem of water intrusion. Keeping an open mind, since I did not witness the cucumber stem breaking in response to wind-induced torsion, I will allow that ant mandible activity could conceivably have been the cause of breakage. If so, did the team foresee that the entire mass would end up on their entrance plaza? I have left it in place to see how they deal with it.
The sole greenhouse cucumber, meanwhile, enjoys the freedom to grow directly away from the ground, as long as it receives some assistance in not keeling over. I placed a second tier tomato cage on top of the first one after seeing the cucumber almost strangle itself trying to get a grip.
In the photo above, the plant on the right looks a bit limp. This is why. It was hanging by a thread. The wind blows here, by times. A linear vine reaching toward the ground might sway in the wind, but a vine maintaining a constant elevation is subject to twisting on its stem. Too much stress, especially on top of the already bizarre orientation in which I tried to make it grow. Minutes after this picture was taken, Tante Alice was on the ground. This is not surprising. We have a third planter hanging from the clothesline support, left there from last year, with the stub of a broken tomato stem poking out of it.
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