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froggedd

seed starting for hanging baskets

frogged
14 years ago

Need advice regarding hanging baskets. I stink at getting nice full healthy baskets. I have tried planting my own seedlings, and store bought plants, mixing different varieties but never get the results I want. So HOW should I be doing this, I want to grow my own from seed. I have trailing lobia, cascade sanpdragon and petunia, Im thinking I will stick with one type per basket this year, any sugestions thanks! ( baskets range in size 10 - 18 inch)

Comments (4)

  • keriann_lakegeneva
    14 years ago

    In my opinion....

    Hanging baskets allow they roots to get really really warm in the summer and my plants seem to fade because they can't handle it Not a watering problem...just that the sun beats on the pot and it is not in ground so the roots are not protected with mulch or shade from other plants.

    SO I try to use heat tolerant plants and I have had success with tidal wave petunias, verbena and african daiseys. If we get a heat wave, I do bring mine into morning sun and afternoon shade otherwise the leaves start to burn and turn brown from the soil line up and I believe this is from their warm roots not the direct sun on them. My baskets are always happier in part sun, they get fuller and last longer. I also am very faithfull about watering, sometimes twice a day and fertilizing once a week.

    The baskets I start are huge (36"), small 10-18 inch pots will be harder to maintain but you can do it.

    I hope that helps!

    Keriann~

  • frogged
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hi thanks for your suggestions, I will keep an eye on how hot these pots get. Where I hang mine is sun in the morning part sun afternoon, they hang under a large sofat. I would like to know more about how many seedlings I should use plus anything else that I should do to get or do get them to be full and lush. thanks

  • keriann_lakegeneva
    14 years ago

    This is a big guess but I would plant 5 in a 10-18" pot.
    One in the center and the rest spaced around the edges evenly. But this is just a guess. It will not pay off to crowd small seedlings because thay are small and you want it to look full. They will get full as soon as the sun hits their faces.

    Does that help?

    Keriann~

  • Started_with_bean
    14 years ago

    I've been experimenting the last several years to get full window boxes, but my porch gets shadier every year due to a large maple next door that just grows too fast!

    Last year, my lobelias did great BUT I stuffed the 24" boxes with 12 plants which I started from seed, and they only got afternoon sun. I think your snapdragons and petunias would do great, but the lobelia would not like the strong sun so much. Snapdragons and petunia like full sun, so try to pair them with something else that likes full sun, or since they are both trailers, plant something in the middle that's more upright and also likes full sun.

    I wish I had more sun to plant, but I'm limited by part sun to mostly shade flowers for me :-(