Directions for the homemade upside-down tomato planter

What you'll need:

One tomato plant for each planter. Think smaller varieties or cherry tomatoes that don't produce long stems. I picked Burpee's Fourth of July hybrid. Its tomatoes average 4 ounces and start ripening around July 4.

A 5-gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid. Do NOT use any bucket that has previously stored paint or any other toxic substance. Make sure it's got a very sturdy handle.

Coffee filters.

A power drill and a circular bit used to bore holes for doorknobs.

About 1 cubic foot of a light-weight soilless potting mix and a small bag of worm compost or other organic fertilizer.

A sturdy hook screwed into a porch eave, deck or other overhang. If you don't have a place like that, try a shepherd's hook/deck railing combination.

Step one: Start with your bucket. Turn it over and use the round bit to drill a hole in the middle of the base, where your plant will hang through. Flip the bucket right-side up, then place two coffee filters upside down on the inside of the bucket and flatten them out.

Step two: Pour your soil/compost mixture into the bucket, stopping every 5 or 6 inches up the bucket to pat the soil and remove air pockets. When the soil hits the top, seal the lid. Then drill 12 to 15 holes in the lid with a ˆ¨-inch bit to allow water and organic fertilizer in the hanging bucket later.

Step three: Turn the bucket upside down and cut an X in the exposed coffee filter. Use a teaspoon to remove some dirt. Lift the tomato from its container, gently remove most of the soil, tease apart the roots and ease them into the bucket. Press the removed soil back through the hole and pack around the roots. Water thoroughly. Leave your tomato plant on the ground until it grows about a foot tall, indicating it's time to hang it.

Step four: Before you hang the plant, select a spot and a good hook. It's best to use a heavy-duty hook that you can screw into an overhang, the edge of a deck or an overhead arbor where your tomato will get sun. I was a little short on such areas so I gave a shepherd's hook a try. My advice is this: If you're going the shepherd's hook route, put it up against the deck railing. Stick with one that's tall enough so that your tomato plant hangs free of the railing on a windy day, but not so tall it bends and breaks under the bucket's weight. I bought a package of heavy-duty zip ties and laced the hook up and down the railing.

Step five: When your plant is about 1 foot tall, you can turn the bucket upside down and hang it from your hook.