For the last 2 years we have gotten hanging baskets of Calibrachoa and Verbena planted together in the same pots and have not been able to keep them alive for some reason. We have made sure to keep up with watering and fertilizing 1x/week with a balanced fertilizer as we were instructed by the garden centers but still they all eventually shriveled up and died. We have them hanging on our front porch which is a wraparound style, one side faces southeast and the other is due south so they should be getting plenty of sun with just a little shade cover by trees in the morning and we also rotate them once per week so both sides of the pots get the sun. There have been no signs of pests (aphids or any other). We feel really dumb since hanging baskets seem to be pretty foolproof as long as you keep them watered and occasionally fed so we're wondering if its operator error at this point. Any catch-all suggestions for proper care of hanging baskets, like the real do's and don'ts? Particularly interested in proper watering techniques as we've been following the advice to water until it drains out of the bottom and only when the top of the soil is dry to the touch, maybe that actually isn't the best practice?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Hanging Basket Troubles - Suggestions?
- andy10917
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Re: Hanging Basket Troubles - Suggestions?
Have you tried using something like "SoilMoist"? It's quite similar to the moisture-absorbing material that's in diapers. It's slightly-larger granules of the same stuff we use/recommend at seed-down time. It absorbs up to 200X its own size/weight of water, and then releases it as the soil dries. I sprinkle it on the top of the soil, and then try to poke it under the soil surface with a pencil. Oh, it works! Just try not to get any on the wrap-around porch, or the next time it rains a little you'll have jello-like blobs that can be slippery (don't ask me how I know that!). Lots of garden centers have it - you won't need much per pot.
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Re: Hanging Basket Troubles - Suggestions?
Ive heard of it for sure but haven't tried it, maybe now is as good of a time as any. Thanks for the tip!
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