When you take time to grow your own hanging baskets from seed – not only can it help to save big on your gardening budget – it also happens to be one of the best ways to create incredibly unique and stunning planters that can last all season long!
Hanging baskets are by far one of the most expensive purchases gardeners make each and every spring. Smaller flowering baskets can easily range from $25 to $50. And larger ones? As scary as it sounds, they can easily top $75 or more!
What really makes it tough on gardeners is that all too often, the baskets they purchase from stores don’t last the entire season. In fact, many baskets are so over-planted and mature by the time you purchase them in May, they only have a month or two left. But that is where growing your own baskets from seed can save the day!
The Advantages Of Growing Your Own Hanging Baskets From Seed
There are actually all kinds of great reasons to grow your own hanging baskets. As noted above, it can certainly be incredibly beneficial when it comes to the savings. But starting your own baskets from seed also allows you to grow unique varieties that are often hard to find or even unavailable in local stores and greenhouses.
But perhaps best of all – by growing plants from seed and creating your own hanging baskets, you also have the advantage of controlling the soil make-up and size of your basket. And those two factors are extremely important in how well hanging baskets grow. And even more – for how long they can stay growing strong all throughout the growing season.
How To Grow Hanging Baskets From Seed – The Secrets To Success!
Starting your own flowers from seed indoors is easier than you might think. And the process doesn’t require expensive equipment nor a big investment in time. All it really takes is following a few simple and timely steps, the first of which happens to be starting your seeds indoors early. But not too early!
Most commercial greenhouses actually start planting their hanging baskets in December. Why? Because in order to have those big, beautiful baskets for spring buyers, the plants need plenty of time to grow.
Unfortunately, because commercial basket planting takes place so early, they often outgrow their containers by mid-summer. But when you grow your own, you can account for that and create baskets that last all season long.
When To Start Seeds – How To Grow Hanging Baskets From Seed
So how early do you need to start your seeds for hanging baskets? To be sure to have strong, healthy baskets by spring, you will need to start your seeds about 10 to 12 weeks before the last usual frost date in your area.
Unlike bedded flowering annuals and vegetable garden plants, hanging baskets are easy to bring indoors when frost threatens. This means they can be started much earlier in the year indoors to take advantage of the warm and sunny days in between frosts. By allowing them more outdoor time early, they have more ability to fill out.
For best results, aim to start your seeds about 10 to 12 weeks prior to full outdoor life. This will allow them time to grow to the perfect size and begin blooming – but still have plenty of growing life left to last all summer and into fall.
The Best Method For Starting Seeds For Hanging Baskets
The easiest way to start seeds for your hanging baskets are in traditional seed trays. If you have the room, they can certainly be started directly in the baskets. Although this eliminates an extra step, it can be hard to give large baskets enough indoor light early on – so seed trays are usually the better choice.
Remember, these plants have to be started far earlier than other vegetable or flower plants. But the good news is you can start them first, then at the four or six week mark plant them into your baskets. That also gives plenty of time to have the room to plant any additional seedlings for your garden or flowerbeds indoors.
What You’ll Need…
For starters, always select fresh, quality flower seeds. Be sure as well to order your seeds early to have a good selection. Ordering early also ensures you have seeds on hand in plenty of time to start. Affiliate Link: Sow Right Seeds – Dwarf Mixed Petunia Seeds
There is no need for special equipment or heating pads to start flower (or vegetable) seeds indoors. A couple of inexpensive fluorescent or LED 4′ shop bulbs will provide more than enough light for seedlings to grow.
One thing you don’t want to do when growing hanging baskets from seed is to start your plants in a windowsill. There is simply not enough light. Because of that, plants growing in windows become leggy and weak. See our article: The Best Lights To Use For Starting Seeds Indoors – Simple, Easy & Inexpensive!
Transplanting Into Baskets – How To Grow Hanging Baskets From Seed
When seedlings get to about six weeks of age, it’s time to get them into their baskets. By planting at this point, the small transplants have time to root easily in their final soil. As for those baskets, select larger diameter baskets to give plants plenty of room to expand and grow their roots.
Unfortunately, hanging baskets smaller than 14 inches in diameter can rarely last an entire season. Plain and simple, the larger the basket, the longer the plants can survive in them! Affiliate Link: 2 Pack 18 Inch Extra Large Deep Hanging Baskets for Plants
Another big tip for success is to always use a quality potting soil mix for your baskets. A great potting soil needs to be lightweight, loose, and filled with nutrients as plants grow.
Last but not least, resist the temptation to over-plant your baskets with too many transplants. For a 14 to 16 inch basket, 5 transplants is more than enough. For 18 inch baskets and larger, 5 to 8 plants per basket will do the trick. Once they get growing, they will fill in quickly!
As daytime temperatures start to warm, set baskets outside in increasing intervals. This step helps plants adjust to outdoor life slowly. Even more, taking them out during warm stretches also helps baskets fill out at a much faster pace.
Long Term Care – How To Grow Hanging Baskets From Seed
No matter how great your potting soil is, hanging baskets need to be fertilized. The nutrients in even the best of potting soils will only last for so long. But when fertilizing hanging baskets, especially early on, the key is to power them consistently, but low and slow.
If you provide too much fertilizer at one time, plants use the energy to grow too many roots and too much foliage. With too little, they simply don’t have the power to grow and produce blooms. So how much is enough?
Unfortunately, this is the issue with many commercially sold hanging baskets. They are given huge doses of fertilizer early on in an effort to fill them out for sale. The only issue is by the time the consumer gets them, the roots and plants are too big to last an entire season.
Fertilizing regularly with a liquid fertilizer mixed at half strength is the ultimate recipe for success. A light solution applied every two weeks works well to keep plants at their best, but without overpowering them. And you can start fertilizing this way as soon as your plant are four weeks old.
Finally, proper watering of your baskets is another must to keep them healthy and strong from start to finish. Never allow your baskets to dry out for long periods of time between watering. Just as important, be careful not to overwater and suffocate the plant’s roots with moisture.
Here’s to getting your seeds ready – and to growing your own hanging baskets from seed this year!
This Is My Garden
Follow Our Facebook Page For Great Gardening Tips And Advice! This Is My Garden Facebook Page
This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!