Hanging plants are timeless decorations. Not only do they give you all the benefits their potted counterparts give, but they also give your place more depth and dimension. Are there specific plants that need to be hung up?
Hanging plants don’t have to be hung up, but you will get more space and dimension if you do hang them. It can also spread the plant’s natural aroma and make it less susceptible to pests and soil-borne diseases. Hanging some plants can be better for their growth.
In this article, I’ll discuss why you should hang your plants and give tips on how to take care of them.
Why You Should Always Hang Your Hanging Plants
Hanging your plants should be your first choice of plant placement every chance you get. After all, they didn’t remain popular for so long for no reason.
One of the main benefits of putting plants in hanging baskets is that it gives you more floor space and a sense of spatial control. If you think about it, the same number of potted plants would clutter up your space.
It can also make you feel crowded and limited, which most of us don’t want to feel in our homes.
Hanging plants can also give your space more depth and dimension. Generally, rooms tend to feel empty when we see nothing between us and the walls or ceilings, so hanging plants remedy this with their luscious growth and brightly colored flowers and leaves.
Putting your plants in a hanging basket helps spread their natural aroma better. This is because hanging plants tend to be in higher locations, making it easier for sweet-smelling air to go around your room.
Aromatic plants perfect for your hanging basket include eucalyptus, which has a natural minty smell perfect for reducing anxiety, as some studies discovered. Flowering plants, such as sweet asylum, also help your mind relax with their honey-like smell.
Another reason to hang your plants is that they are less susceptible to pests and soil-borne diseases because their locations make it hard for pests and bacteria to transfer. They are also significantly easier to treat when they get a soil-borne disease since you can easily repot and quarantine them.
Compared to their potted counterparts, plants in hanging baskets typically grow better, especially if the plant in question prefers drier soil conditions because air can easily dry their soil through their pots and hanging baskets.
They also work perfectly for sun-loving plants such as succulents since you can easily hang them near a window or on your patio.
How To Take Care of Your Hanging Plants
Hanging plants have similar care needs as those in the ground, but they also have some additional needs. The main difference between ground and hanging plants is that they need to be watered more often.
Let’s look at how you should care for your hanging plants.
Learn Each Plant’s Specific Needs
There’s no one ironclad rule when caring for plants. All plants have different needs, depending on their species and environmental conditions, so it’s important to learn your plants’ preferences before putting them in hanging baskets.
Know their watering preferences, such as:
- Do they like their soil moist or dry?
- Are they native to arid regions that get little rainfall?
- Or do they come from marshy environments with lots of water sources?
You’ll also need to know how they like their soil composition since this can dictate how well or healthy they grow their roots. Generally, succulents, such as string-of-pearls and string-of-beads, prefer sandy and well-draining soil.
On the other hand, plants like the spider plant or African violet prefer loamy and moist soil. Planting plants that prefer well-draining soil in a loamy soil mix might cause them to die from root rot, which happens when moisture gets trapped and unabsorbed by the roots.
Another thing to consider is their lighting needs:
- How much sunlight do they need to grow properly?
- Can they survive indoors or use grow lights alone?
Lastly, you should know if they’re toxic to pets or humans, which is important since it concerns safety for you and those around you. I advise you don’t risk toxic plants, especially if you don’t have time to secure them from potential victims.
Monitor Their Moisture Levels Often
Hanging plants tend to have their soil more exposed to air, making them more susceptible to dryness. To counter this, you should monitor them more often than their potted counterparts and water them when necessary.
Check their moisture level quickly by touching the topsoil, but some plants, such as succulents, tend to be more moisture-sensitive.
For these plants, I suggest you use a moisture meter. It’s easy to use, as you simply poke your plant’s soil with the probe, and then it’ll accurately tell you the soil’s current moisture level. It doesn’t need a battery to operate and has dials to indicate results clearly.
Deadhead Your Blooming Plants
Deadheading removes dead or dying flowers from a blooming plant to prevent them from seeding. It’s an important step in keeping your plants healthy and beautiful during their blossoming period.
This also prevents your plants from losing too much energy as they create seeds and, instead, redirect their energy to making new flowers. The process also makes them healthier to continue blossoming seasonally.
You can watch this YouTube video for in-depth instructions on deadheading:
Fertilize Them Regularly
Hanging plants typically need fertilizers regularly since they’re disconnected from a larger soil area.
To keep plants healthy and blooming well, look for all-in-one fertilizers with an NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) ratio of 12:55:6 or anything with lower nitrogen and high phosphorus content. This is because nitrogen promotes excessive leafy growth instead of flower blossoms, while phosphorus does the opposite.
I also strongly suggest you always read the fertilizer’s label first and carefully follow the application instructions. You’ll want to use fast-release water-soluble fertilizers since they’re the easiest to apply, and you could easily integrate them into your watering routine during the summer.
This Scotts Super Bloom Water Soluble Plant Food from Amazon.com does the trick for me. Its high phosphorus content is perfect for flowering baskets, and its mild composition is virtually burn-free under proper use and formulation.
On the other hand, I recommend you use slow-release granular fertilizers during early spring and another one in mid-season. This Schultz Slow-Release Bloom Fertilizer (available on Amazon.com) is what I use. The 12-24-12 NPK ratio is perfect for your basket plants’ needs.
Its slow-release formula ensures that soil remains fertilized for longer periods, even when it’s not time to water them yet.
Trim Leggy Growth
Hanging plants typically get “leggy” or grow longer yet weaker stems after a while. However, this may also be a symptom of a lack of nutrients or sunlight, so you should first ensure that this isn’t the case by examining, fertilizing, or moving your plant to a brighter area.
This happens due to apical dominance, or the effort plants exert on their stems to outgrow their competition for sunlight and nutrients.
Unfortunately, leggy plant growth is irreversible, and the only way to “repair” it is to trim the affected parts. To do this, use a sharp pair of pruning shears or scissors to cut about 8” (20 cm) below your basket.
You can adjust this length based on what you prefer. However, remember that longer leggy growth also means heavier baskets, which could break their hooks after a while. Trimming your hanging baskets’ leggy growth also gives your plants a cleaner, more defined appearance.
Final Thoughts
Plants look good while hanging in baskets. While they don’t need to be hanged for growing, it definitely adds up to their already eye-catching aesthetics. Ultimately, however, it’s up to you whether you want to hang your plants or not. After all, hung or not, plants that are well-cared for are as beautiful as they can be.
