How to Grow Hanging Baskets from Seeds
Hanging baskets filled with colorful flowers and trailing foliage make a striking statement when hung on decks and patios or simply beside the entrance to your home. Unfortunately, fully grown hanging baskets are expensive. Saving the container and growing your own plants for hanging baskets from seeds puts you in control of the cost of creating floral displays to welcome guests to your home.
Decide what kind of flowers you would like to grow in the hanging basket. Consider where you will hang the basket and determine the amount of light it will receive. The types of flowers you are able to grow in your basket depend on the amount of light they will receive.
Remove any hangers or chains attached to the hanging basket and clean the pot. If you are recycling the old pot, empty the soil and wash the pot down in soapy water. Rinse to remove soap residue and dip the pot in a solution of quarter cup bleach to a gallon of water. This will kill any disease-causing organism existing on the pot.
- Hanging baskets filled with colorful flowers and trailing foliage make a striking statement when hung on decks and patios or simply beside the entrance to your home.
- Saving the container and growing your own plants for hanging baskets from seeds puts you in control of the cost of creating floral displays to welcome guests to your home.
Fill the pot to within an inch of the rim with all-purpose potting soil. Plant five seeds in a 10- to 12-inch pot for a single planting. Plant one in the center and four evenly spaced around the perimeter of the basket. For mixed plantings, plant three or four upright plants in the center with four to six trailing plants around the perimeter of the pot. Always follow the planting depth of you particular seeds. You can find this information on the back of the seed packet.
Place in sunny location and keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings emerge. Germination time varies. Refer to the seed packet for the expected germination time.
- Fill the pot to within an inch of the rim with all-purpose potting soil.
- Plant five seeds in a 10- to 12-inch pot for a single planting.
Pinch out the center leaves of seedlings once they reach a height of 4 inches to encourage lush compact plants.
Fertilize plants weekly with water-soluble fertilizer mixed to quarter strength. Increase fertilizer to the recommended strength when plants are 4 weeks old.
Assemble the basket and hang it in the desired location once the danger of frost has passed and temperatures remain above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Writer Bio
Nannette Richford is an avid gardener, teacher and nature enthusiast with more than four years' experience in online writing. Richford holds a Bachelor of Science in secondary education from the University of Maine Orono and certifications in teaching 7-12 English, K-8 General Elementary and Birth to age 5.
