This would be lovely for ornamentals. I would worry about BPH from the plastic for food.

I think they're making a point of having all the materials be food-grade. Looks like they're using 100% recycled plastic, too, not sure if that was stated as a goal or reality yet, My impression is of a well thought out, well engineered product. Glad you got your hands on one, Dave!

dyzzypyxxy said:if you water from the top, (using the yummy worm-casting enriched water) do all the pockets get moist, all the way down? Or will you give it a shower with the hose once in a while? Or have to water the lower tier directly sometimes?

I've been using a little watering can to hit each pocket with some water. A shower with a hose would work equally well.

dyzzypyxxy said:One more - how much potting soil did it take to fill it up?

I didn't measure since we have bulk potting soil, so I just shoveled it in from my big wheeled trash can that I store my potting soil in. It was quite a bit, though. The thing is about 4 feet tall and maybe 18 inches wide.

I think their site says 6 cubit feet. I think that once the plants are rooted in, watering well from the top should work. You could put in a couple lengths of perforated PVC pipe when you fill the container and fill them from the top when watering- that tip for strawberry pots really works! If you have to water individual pockets or get a hose out, that could be a deal-breaker for balcony gardening.

I look forward to your review after our Texas-summer trial Dave!🤓

My DH bought me one of these last Mothers day 2015 so if must be tower garden one. I have not used it guess i better get it going this year. Not sure what to plant in this thing. I can see it getting really over grown. I had no idea he spent that kind of money on this thing!!!! Have to use it!!!!

A tower of petunias would be stunning.

This is such a well thought out product! I am impressed with all the features. I can't wait to see how it performs in the long run.

Dave, I would be interested in how it holds up to wind when plants have filled out. I know you have it on the patio slab which is solid and stable. I did notice there are places at the bottom for anchoring it I assume if you were setting it on the ground somewhere?

On the Mid-Atlantic forum, wer were chatting about the tower, and somebody posted a related idea for vertical vermicomposting in a regular garden bed... not sure where they found the image, but picture a length of 6" pvc pipe with holes drilled into the bottom half for aeration and something to cap off the top... pipe gets pounded a few inches into the ground, and you dump kitchen waste and coffee ground into it... the worms access from the bottom, eat the goodies, and enrich your garden. Easier than trench composting!

The image posted had a pipe that looked to be 3-4 feet tall, and we were discussing how to disguise it when greenthumb99 pointed out that you could use several shorter pipes instead, capped off with an overturned pot.

Wider diameter pipe would probably be easier to fill from a countertop or under-sink compost bucket... I'm even envisioning using the pipe as a stand for a gazing ball or other decorative thing (not a heavy one, but hopefully having it nestle into the top of the pipe would keep it from rolling off).

Hah! I went looking for instructions or a photo of the above and came across an art(2010) from... ta dah! The National Gardening Association! http://garden.org/regional/rep...

Great sleuthing Jill!

flaflwrgrl said:I did notice there are places at the bottom for anchoring it I assume if you were setting it on the ground somewhere?

Good eye! Yes, the feet have holes and you could use those holes to bolt the thing to a wood deck or other structure.

I like these vertical towers but one thing that I found as a potential issue is that in the place I put it, the sun didn't hit all the plants evenly. So one side would grow a lot more than the other. Of course, you could overcome this by turning the planter.

However, I imagine most people will set it out and not think about moving it until end of growing season.

I also grew smaller types of plants such as herbs or flowers. It's not necessarily something to grow large vegetable plants in.

If someone wants to try something like this without the bigger cost, you might find similar stacking designs at other local stores. They may not have the worm bin but they will utilize a similar idea of watering from the top, and the excess water goes down to the others, as well as the stacking modular design.