How to Maintain Hanging Plants
Wondering how to keep your hanging plants glamourous and aesthetic all summer long? Hanging baskets can enhance the elegance of your space and give it a welcoming look. Hanging plants can brighten up your porches, give a neat look to patios, and add instant texture and color to every corner of the landscape whether it's indoors or outdoors. However, the reality is that maintaining these hanging baskets and keeping them alive for a whole long season is an actual problem. Sadly, most hanging plants purchased or grown in the spring season will start to shrink away near mid-summer. Soon it will stop growing, and the foliage will fade away. Luckily, we have some useful tips for you to keep your hanging plants in tip-top shape at all times.
Water Frequently
Generally, plants when grown in containers require more frequent watering than ones grown in the ground. This is particularly true for hanging plants as they are more prone to drying winds. You can check your hanging baskets by lifting them from below and if it seems light, water your plant. You can also check it by putting your finger in the soil to about 2 to 3 cm deep and if it's dry to touch, give it some water. There are also certain areas where you must water your hanging plants daily or twice a day. Make sure also that the excess water drains out from the drainage holes.
Remove Blooms from Plants
If you notice the flowers fade away or die, you must remove them by nipping them off the leaf node. It will promote new flower growth. Otherwise, your hanging plants will put all their energy and efforts into creating seeds.
Replace Plants
In a mixed planting, when you notice a plant has completed blooming, you can remove it. You need to carefully ease it out without harming other plants and replace it with something else. Instead, you can fill it by adding more soil to the space and let other plants replace that gap.
Fertilise
As hanging plants need watering more often, soil potting mix won't hold nutrients. You can use liquid fertiliser for your plants. Alternatively, feeding them with slow-release fertiliser seems to be another good option, but make sure to never use both. Do follow the instructions about the amount and its frequency. Make sure to provide them fertiliser when the soil is wet and never when your plants start wilting.
Cut Back Lanky Plants
If your plants appear to look a bit messy, don't worry. Just cut the plant back. Many hanging plants, such as impatiens, petunias, and verbena commonly produce much denser and fresh growth.
Consider the Attached Drip Tray
Most hanging baskets come with an attached drip tray when you buy plants from garden centres. A drip tray is attached to the plastic basket and the ropes are joined to the basket itself. These hanging baskets are lighter and inexpensive. The main problem comes with the size of the attached tray. If the trays are too small, you can’t afford to make many mistakes because even a little extra water will make the muddy water drip onto the floor.