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Easy fill hanging basket

DogbowlDogbowl Posts: 88
in Problem solving
Ok I was recommended to use "Easy fill " hanging baskets several years ago.

 The plastic ones with little square grilled windows that pop in and out for ease of planting. 

The trouble I have had EVERY TIME I have used them is the plants towards the bottom of the basket ALWAYS die off within a few weeks of planting

I water them from the top and the water runs out the sides and bottom as one would expect. So where am I going wrong ??

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    I’ve got those as wall baskets,  cut a compost bag or other strong plastic bag and line them, just cut a small slot for the plant to go through where the round hole is, not the grid I don’t make holes in the bottom.  A compost bag cut on the diagonal is about right.

    They need to be watered often, if you don’t, the water will just run through and the bottom plants die. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DogbowlDogbowl Posts: 88
    So you think the Bottom plants are Not getting enough water ??

    I was wondering whether they were getting to much water  
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    The ones I use have a reservoir at the base to hold water but it's almost impossible to get water to stay in the baskets long enough for it to ever fill up. I think they work best with some kind of drip watering system but I've also found that fitting a length of porous pipe into the middle makes watering them a bit easier. Also when you fill the baskets make sure that the soil at the edges is higher than the middle so it naturally pools in there rather than runs out the sides.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    For for the last two summers I have been using self-watering hanging baskets. The water stays in and is slowly absorbed through some kind of a capillary inlay. Really happy with them, save me a lot of watering and keep the plants alive. Not sure if I can post here the brand name I use and which I really like but there are many different ones out there. 
    Surrey
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Dogbowl said:
    So you think the Bottom plants are Not getting enough water ??

    I was wondering whether they were getting to much water  
    That’s right, if you line them the water won’t run out of the grids.  They won’t get too much water, our garden centre has fantastic baskets, when I asked what they fed them on she said no feed just water on a drip. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    Whenever we have made hanging baskets they were lined with plastic cut from plastic bags, up a couple of inches this seemed to do the trick baskets never dried out.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Couple of inches is ok for a normal basket but the ones the OP has have those big holes in them, I line them right to the top.
    Like this, the water runs through the grids and the holes so a small slot cut in the plastic liner keeps the water in. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

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