You visit the garden supply store. You spend money on a stunning hanging basket that is full, lush, and very stunning. After a month or two, your basket begins to appear a little dreary. How come they can do it but I can’t, you think to yourself. In actuality, we simply trim back our baskets when they begin to become a little overgrown.
This easy approach will let you to transform a lanky, overgrown basket into one that is full and lovely once more.
Let’s now examine why baskets begin to resemble this and why trimming them back is effective.
Most plants adhere to a principle known as apical dominance. In an effort to outgrow their neighbors for sunlight, plants will continue to extend their stems from their growing tips (whether they even have neighbors or not). Plants accomplish this by producing a chemical at the growing tips, or apical meristem, that prevents the lateral buds beneath them from developing. The plants benefit from this by growing nicely tall but not fat and bushy.
If you’re trying to grow a privacy hedge, this growth habit can be fantastic, but it is problematic for a hanging basket. Not necessarily the longest hanging basket available will do. We aim for the highest.
We need to cut off the plant’s growth tips to allow room for the lateral buds below them to develop so that our plants can emerge lovely and full. Keep in mind that every plant branch you prune produces two new branches, increasing the basket’s capacity by twofold!
Look at all those lateral buds sprouting! The beauty of this basket is almost complete!
Simply clip your basket back a little bit every other week to avoid having to do it completely like in the video. When cutting it back, leave some of the shorter branches with blooms alone while pruning the longer ones. In this manner, you can preserve a lovely basket all through the season.
How is a hanging plant maintained?
Observe these guidelines to maintain the health and beauty of hanging basket plants all summer long:
- Drink lots and plenty of water. Generally speaking, plants grown in containers require more frequent watering than those growing in the ground. Because they are exposed to drying breezes, hanging baskets are a case in point. If the pot seems light when you raise it from the bottom and reach up, it definitely needs water. If the soil is dry after sticking your finger an inch into it, water. Most places require daily, if not twice daily, watering of hanging plants. When you water, water should flow from the drainage holes.
- Cut back flowering plants. Remove dying and fading flowers by pinching them off at the stem’s junction. New blooms are encouraged to grow as a result. If not, the plant might direct its energy toward producing seed.
- As necessary, add more plants to a mixed basket. If a plant in a mixed planting has completed blooming, do not be scared to remove it. Replace it with something else after removing it slowly and being mindful of the surrounding plants. Alternately, cover the hole with additional dirt and let the other plants fill it in.
- Fertilize. The nutrients in the potting mix will soon deplete because you’ll be watering constantly. Use a dry slow-release fertilizer or a liquid fertilizer to feed the plants (not both). Follow the recommendations for quantity and repetition. Never fertilize plants while they are wilting and only when the soil is moist.
- Soak, if necessary. Try soaking the pot for up to an hour in a pail of water if water is streaming from the drainage holes but the soil still appears to be dry. This will rewet the soil completely.
- Retrim lanky plants. Do not be reluctant to prune the plants back if they begin to look straggly. Verbena, petunias, and impatiens, which are the most popular hanging plants, will have denser new growth.
Are hanging plants supposed to be pruned?
And that can only imply one thing: vibrant hanging baskets floating above our heads in a carefree manner.
But keep in mind that maintaining hanging baskets is not quite simple. Water and nutrients are scarce because so many plants are crammed into one container. It takes a lot of both to keep your baskets from dragging themselves off the dance floor, worn and spent, instead of appearing as if they’ve just stepped onto it.
The proprietor of Country Garden Nursery in McMinnville, Melissa McLaughlin, together with her husband Joe, are the best people to instruct us on how to take care of our hanging plants. From Chicago to Los Angeles, Marin County to McMinnville, she and her employees plant hundreds of flowers every year that hang from hangers at town centers, shopping malls, businesses, and houses. The large baskets have lush, full plants with blossoms that are enthusiastically pouring over themselves, even in the sweltering summer days.
The most obvious issues to address are food and water, adds McLaughlin. “We added time-release fertilizer for that reason. That is what makes successful busy people successful. It simplifies everything; once you add it, you’re done.”
Another effective tactic is a drip irrigation system with an automatic timer. Regular water must be consumed. Thirst is the fastest way to ruin a good basket. A stressed-out hanging basket is difficult to recover from. If it does, though, McLaughlin advises either taking down the basket and soaking it in a bucket or pan of water until it is properly hydrated again, or watering it multiple times over the course of an eight-hour period. It’s simple to determine whether a basket needs water: Simply raise the bottom. It needs water if it’s light. You’re fine if it’s heavy and the bottom is wet.
The mid-1990s saw McLaughlin start producing baskets for McMinnville, and she advises using high-quality potting soil. “This is not a place to skimp.”
To help the soil retain more water, she also adds polymers. They are sold under numerous brand names, including Soil Moist. Some potting soils already include the water-holding polymers.
Three sizes of baskets are available from Country Garden: 12, 16, and 24 inches. All are constructed of wire and feature grids that can accommodate plants. To keep the dirt in, a liner is initially placed inside. When planting, it’s typically simpler to insert plants from the bottom up.
Cutting back hanging basket plants when they start to look lanky is something that many people are scared to undertake. However, don’t worry; they enjoy it. Up actuality, the plants will react by producing new growth, and the basket will quickly fill in or the other plants will take over, as is true of most annuals.
You now have the knowledge necessary to make them swing merrily all season long, whether you want to make your own or purchase a basket.
SUN TRAILERS:
Begonia (fancy leaf, fibrous; McLaughlin avoids using tuberous begonias since they can be finicky with water.)
Coleus (Even though the majority can now withstand the sun, McLaughlin prefers to use them in the shade because they can bake in the warm environments where many of her baskets end up.)
Plant Choice: Pick plants for your hanging basket that will provide a lengthy flowering season (see lists). These plants are all frequently offered at nurseries and garden centers.
When planting, incorporate a time-release fertilizer into the potting soil. Typically, this is more than enough for the May to November season. However, you can apply liquid fertilizer if you notice that the baskets’ blooming is waning. We advise using an all-purpose solution for numerous watering sessions at a strength of 1/3.
Maintenance: At your discretion, you may choose to deadhead or remove wasted flowers.
* To avoid the plant laying seed, while trimming petunias, be sure to take off both the petals and the calyx (the tiny green cap).
* You can trim anything like a hedge to maintain balance if it becomes too tall or stands out on one side of the basket.
* Prune out a plant if it becomes brown or ugly. There are numerous substitute plants available.
* Early plant death occurs occasionally, mainly as a result of buried by more robust neighbors. The miserable thing can be cut off; nobody will notice.
* It’s advisable to avoid watering the baskets for approximately three days when your season is through and it’s time to take them down. They will be considerably lighter and easier to handle as a result.
* It is crucial to remove the baskets from the hooks and place them on the floor. Don’t let them fall off the hangers or posts. This renders the basket hardware unusable and damages it. The hardware will last for many years with careful care.
Watering: Depending on the climate and quantity of sun exposure at your site, you may need to water your baskets more frequently or less frequently. The advice in the next section should help you fine-tune your specific schedule. Remember that it’s difficult to overwater, so it’s better to err on the side of too much moisture than too little. Either manual irrigation or an automated irrigation system can be effective. It’s crucial to keep in mind that while the potting mix can retain a lot of water, it won’t absorb it all at once. For optimal results, always water slowly and completely.
* To supply a lot of water with a light spray, a watering can works nicely. It is recommended to water the top of the basket multiple times, then move on to water other baskets or pots. About five minutes later, water the baskets once more.
* Many individuals prefer an automated drip irrigation system that runs on a timer. It is dependable, nearly error-proof, and typically less expensive over time. Use a 360-degree spray head or a soaker ring constructed of 1/4-inch weeping tube in windy areas. The entire basket won’t receive enough water from a dripper like those used on plants or shrubs. There is insufficient coverage even with five drippers.
* The optimal time of day to water is in the early morning so that plants can absorb the water into their tissues before it gets too hot. Additionally, it enables foliage to dry by dusk, preventing fungus and mildew issues.
* An additional watering may be required in hot or windy areas. Feel the bottom of your baskets in the early to mid-afternoon to see if they are sufficiently damp. It should be moist but not drenched.
* Baskets prefer to maintain a constant moisture level; they shouldn’t dry out in between waterings. If they do become dehydrated, it will take many watering sessions spread out over an eight-hour period for them to fully recover. Another way to rehydrate is to remove the basket and soak it in as much water as it can hold for a while in a large pan of water.
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What causes hanging baskets to sag?
In the spring, everyone is mesmerized by the beauty of our hanging baskets and other containers. We take them in picture-perfect condition from the garden center to our home, hang them up or place them prominently on our front porch, and take pleasure in them every day. We regularly water them and enjoy watching them develop and blossom.
What is lacking in this setting? Food! Flowers enjoy being nourished. All enjoy a basic amount of food each week to have the energy to grow bigger and create more blossoms, though some are hungrier than others. It’s simple to overlook giving our plants the nutrients they need until we peek out the window and wonder why they no longer appear as vibrant as they once did.
Why do container plants need to be fed so often?
Plants grown in containers differ from plants grown in the ground in that they rely entirely on the nutrients and water found within the container. A plant’s roots can expand further underground as they search for moisture and draw minerals from the soil that are there naturally. When they are growing in a container, they are not given the same chance.
Another significant distinction when growing plants in containers is that over time, the soil’s nutrients are actually washed out the drainage hole. In the absence of replacements, your plants will start to starve. For this reason, it’s a good idea to incorporate some slow-release continuous release plant food into your potting soil. Additionally, it explains why regular feeding with easily absorbed water soluble plant food is required. Feeding your flowering annuals once a week is what we advise.
Because it takes a lot of work to generate flowers all season long, annual flowers need more nutrients than perennial flowers and bushes do. Petunias are a type of plant that bloom from the time they are planted until the fall, unlike perennials and shrubs that bloom in cycles. Your meal supplies them with a significant portion of the energy plants need to continuously generate blossoms. If you don’t feed your annual plants, would they perish? Most likely not, but they will undoubtedly fall short of their potential. Don’t you want to view those lovely blooms all the time?
When plants are starved of nutrients or are growing in excessive shade, they tend to become lanky, which means their stems grow longer and weaker than normal. By giving your plants regular fertilizer and making sure they receive plenty of sunlight, you can prevent lanky growth.
My plants are already leggy! How do I fix it?
It’s time to trim your plants if they appear strained and have fewer flowers on flimsy stems. Trim all of the plants in a hanging basket if they are there so they spread out evenly when they grow back. Do you still have a bowl haircut from the 1970s? Relive those times now is the time! Trim the bottom quarter of each trailing stem, or all the way to the bottom of the hanging basket, with a good pair of sharp scissors. Trim any scraggly-looking stems that protrude from the top of the basket back by the same amount.
You know how after getting a haircut you feel lighter and better? Your plants will experience it once you give them a trim. Then, give them water soluble plant food and take them out to lunch as a reward. They will quickly fill up again with a ton of blooms thanks to the kickstart to their fresh growth.