When do i plant hanging baskets

There is no need for special equipment or heating pads to start flower or vegetable seeds. If starting directly in baskets, you can hang them right underneath the lights. There is simply not enough light, and plants will grow leggy and weak. As for heat, seeds will grow and germinate indoors as long as the temperatures are above 60 to 65 degrees in the room.

As the plants grow larger and daytime temps start to warm, set baskets out in increasing intervals so they can adjust to outdoor life. Taking plants out during warm stretches will also help the grow and fill out at a much faster pace. When it comes to growing and raising your own hanging baskets, a few additional tips will go a long way to keeping plants healthy and blooming. The most important of which is to always use a high quality potting mix. A great potting soil needs to be lightweight, loose, and filled with nutrients as plants grow.

There are many great choices now on the market, but you can also make your own incredibly fertile and healthy mix with a few simple ingredients.

No matter how great your potting soil is, hanging baskets need to be fertilized to stay strong and beautiful all year long. After all, the nutrients in any soil will only last so long. If you provide too much fertilizer at one time, plants use the energy to grow too much foliage and roots. Then choose trailing plants for the sides and bottom of the container, and more upright varieties for the middle of the container.

Lastly, decide on type and variety. Do you want a single color and type to make a mass statement? Or do you want different varieties with different textures, colors and bloom shapes for more close up interest? Bolder colors will draw the eye more from the street, while more subdued choices allow the basket to add to the gardenscape, instead of becoming a focal point. All these choices should be made before you buy the very first plant!

Some good hanging basket plant choices are below. These hanging flowers are blue lobelia, red ivy geranium and annuals. Hanging flower baskets that are just one plant choice can make a statement. Our last little trick from the pros is pretty important… You have to pack the plants in to these containers to get the full and lush look you want.

Hanging baskets have a short amount of time to get to their full intended size, so you may need more plants than you usually would use. This is also why these baskets need more water and fertilizer — there is a lot of root competition in there! Start them as early in spring as you can, weather permitting, for the best result by mid summer.

Your choices for hanging planters and other supplies for making your flower baskets might be limited where you live. We found a few picks that might help you plant exactly the kind of hanging basket that you are dreaming about! This Brigman Steel hanging Planter is all ready for your plants, and perfect for showing off your beautiful flowers and plants. This planter will make the perfect hanging flower basket and comes with the coco liner and hanging chain.

Lots of great reviews on Wayfair. Not only does it come in three modern colors and two sizes, it has a water reservoir that keeps the soil in the planter moist. Looking for something a little more unique? Perfect for all kinds of plants. So now you have the secrets to planting those ah-mazing hanging flower baskets for your home and garden. At a fraction of the cost! And growing from seed is so easy. Just as with growing vegetable plants from seed, very little in the way of special equipment or lights is required.

In fact, all you need are a few grow trays, a couple of fluorescent or LED shop lights, a good seed starting mix, and seeds! We like to start our flower seeds in regular seed trays with the exact same method we use when planting our vegetable seedlings. Although you could start your seeds right in your hanging baskets, we prefer starting our annuals into seed trays first.

This allows you to concentrate your lights and growing efforts in a much smaller area until they reach transplantable 4 to 6 weeks size.

There is simply not enough light, and plants will grow leggy and weak. Use fluorescent or LED shop lights — they are simple, and they work! Once plants reach 4 to 6 weeks in age, they can be transplanted into sturdy hanging basket containers to continue their growth. Doing this early on helps the plants establish in their permanent soil much faster. The key to growing big, beautiful baskets is to use enough plants that it will fill the space — but not so many that it will crowd out the soil too early in the growing season.

There are a lot of formulas for proper spacing, but for full season growth, here is what we have found to work really well:. When transplanting, use high quality commercial or homemade grade potting soil to fill your hanging baskets.

They truly are our secret weapon! Once you have transplanted into baskets, you can start to take advantage of warm days by placing them outside.

Unlike bedded flowering annuals and vegetable garden plants, hanging baskets are easy to bring indoors when frost threatens. So take them out and let them grow as much as possible on those early spring warm days. In between, the fluorescent or LED shop lights can be hung over top of them to keep them growing. Just as with vegetable plants, keep the lights close, within and inch or two of the top of plants. The warmer the room you locate them your baskets and plants in, the stronger and faster they will grow.