Hanging or ‘air’ plants add a unique and awe-inspiring design element to any room or porch, drawing everyone’s eyes up and showcasing the plant’s beauty. Essentially, growing hanging plants is the same as one in a grounded pot — it just needs more attention, care, and effort.
Before planning an ambitious project of growing and caring for hanging plants, make sure you hire experts in horticulture, so you can have someone take care of your plants when you’re away for a business trip or vacation. Plus, consider the following tips for growing gorgeous hanging plants at home.
Hang them Properly
A hanging basket filled with wet soil and plant materials can be heavy, and it can be dangerous when not hung correctly. So, before hanging anything on your walls or ceilings, ensure the structure can hold the weight. Never sink hooks straight into plasters or drywalls — and ensure they’re anchored firmly in wall studs or ceiling joists.
Water More — and Frequently
Watering is the most challenging part of caring for hanging plants as they’re harder to reach and may break the baskets’ support system when done incorrectly. If you have massive and heavy baskets, you can attach them to a pulley system to allow you to lower them down when it’s time to water them.
However, using step ladders or a long-neck watering can also suffice. It’s also best to water your hanging plants outdoors to avoid water spilling from your indoor carpets or floors. Remember that hanging plants require watering than potted plants thanks to their high placement, exposing them to warmer and drier air.
Use the Right Potting Mix
Like its unique setting, hanging plants require specific potting soils. The potting mix you need to use in general should be thicker in feel and more absorbent. You’ll also need to fertilize your hanging plants more often, reconstituting the soil and keeping your plants healthy and growing.
Routinely Dead-Head Flowers
Removing ‘dead-heading’ flowers is a task every avid gardener spends time doing over the summer months. That’s because snipping off these dead parts is essential as it encourages new growth and adds fresh crops of flowers, making your plant more vibrant and gorgeous than ever. If you don’t dead-head your plants, they will place their energy into creating seeds, leaving you with a withering basket.
Feed Them Frequently
While adding compost to your hanging plants’ soil gives them plenty of nutrients to sustain them for a while, since they require frequent watering, the water leaches the compost from the soil. So, like with watering, you need to feed your hanging plants often. Replace the crucial nutrients from the lost compost with fertilizer. You can either use liquid fertilizer or a dry mix, depending on the state of your plant.
Quickly Replace Dead Plants
It’s common for some plants grown in hanging baskets to die or fail to bloom before summer ends. Fortunately, you don’t have to end up with half-dead hanging plants spoiling the view of your patio since you can replace dead or drying plants with ease. All you need to do is take the basket down and carefully remove the offending plant and replace it with a new plug or add extra compost to allow the surrounding plants to fill the gaps.
Properly-planted and well-cared for hanging plants can brighten up any home significantly. Although these types of plants are tricky to grow and take care of, the tips mentioned make it easy to plant and maintain gorgeous blooming hanging baskets all year long.
