Upside Down Tomato Planters

I've spent the last couple of weeks exploring ideas to maximize food production with a minimum of space.  Upside down hanging planters seem like a good idea, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of their effectiveness.  I'm looking forward to trying them out though.  I'll get my chance pretty soon, because I broke down and ordered the "tree version" of the most popular commercial brand name upside down tomato planter.

I'm sure I could have made one from a two gallon or five gallon plastic bucket, but $49.99 for the commercial version looked pretty good in the A.M. Leonard Gardener's Edge catalog.  The tree is a free standing metal hanger product that allows the hanger and plants to be suspended independently.  This eliminates the need to anchor the hanger onto anything.

After reading some of the mixed reviews at Amazon.com, I developed a slight case of buyer's remorse but I'll be able to test this impulse purchase out pretty soon.  Who knows, maybe it really does work as advertised?  I really hope so. Here's the version I purchased:  Hanging Tomato Tree  I plan to try egg plant instead of tomatoes though.

Amazon.com does have one review from someone who re-used the product for four growing seasons before needing a replacement.  I hope it works that well for me. 

Gardener's Supply Company has a similar product.  The bag portion of the container seems a little more durable than the plastic bag design in the competitor's version.