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Watering Hanging Baskets and Containers
Garden Tips Newsletter - August 20, 2001

Hanging baskets and container gardens are beautiful additions to any garden, however, they are more susceptible to the heat and drying out than our in-ground gardens. Hanging baskets and container gardens dry out faster during hot months. Porous containers such as clay and wood dry out faster than plastic or glazed pots. Metal containers often retain the day's heat and thus dry out fast. Smaller containers/baskets will dry out faster than large container and containers/baskets with large plants will dry out faster than containers/baskets with small plants.

The ideal container/basket should have 1-3 inches of space between the top of the container and the top of the soil. This space holds the water while it drains into the soil. Containers/baskets without this space are likely to overflow when watering. Water plants thoroughly allowing water to run out the drain holes.

Symptoms that plants are in need of watering: wilting (although many herbaceous plants wilt during the hottest part of the day - this keeps the plant from loosing water - if they stay wilted after the hottest part of the day, they need water), brown leaf tips/margins, loss of color between the veins of the leaves, and poor growth. Always check plants to make sure they need watering - overwatering plants is a common cause of death.

These archived newsletters were written by Dr. Lelia Scott Kelly. Kelly is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.