Easy Grow from seed Hanging basket flowers ?

BADGER.BRAD

BADGER.BRAD

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Hello all,

I arrived in my new home a little late in the season last year but my street really goes to town with a bit of brightness provided by flowers. So I'm after some ideas on easy grow trailing hanging basket flowers and any tips you have. I'm determied to be ready this time !

Thanks all.
 
Hanging baskets tend to dry out easily, so we always put water absorbing granules in with the compost.

To be honest although we do grow things from seed, we usually just buy bedding plants to put in baskets…. petunias or surfinias, geraniums, lobelias all work well. We did nonstop begonias last year too but although they looked good eventually they didn’t come through till really late in the summer. Maybe we put the corms in too late?
 
About five years ago, I grew dahlias from seed and ended up with over fifty healthy plants, had to give a load away. The same with herbs, tomatoes and courgettes. If I was planting the little stuff - lobelia, surfinia etc - then I would put them in those trays with around twenty sections, put them on a window sill with a transparent cover over, making sure they don't dry out. Once they get to around two inches high, they need pricking out and put in individual pots. Only put them out side after the last frosts in March/April.
As above, I always mix compost with pea shingle and granules so that baskets don't dry out.
 
Have a word with your neighbours and see if they're expecting to have any spares. You could always blag it a bit by saying that you want your colour scheme to blend perfectly with theirs so using the same cultivars makes sense!

Lobelia, alyssum, impatiens, petunias would be my choices but I'd be buying small plants rather than messing around with seeds etc..

I usually put a plant pot saucer in the bottom of a basket to act as a reservoir. Most baskets will need watering a couple of times a day.
 
Thanks everyone, I will look out for young plants or as pointed out see if I can scrounge some, there is a set of alotments on the other side of the road which seem mainly to be kept by people in our street so I stand a chance if I have a word with them asking for thier advise ! Is it advisable to buy good composte , use fertilizer or a bit of both ?
 
I tend to use a (peat free) compost formulated for hanging baskets and other containers and feed once a week using GroMore or similar after the period the compost says it'll feed for.
 
We do decent compost, then when the flowers start coming through, a weekly feed with plant food.
 
Last summer we were admiring the hanging baskets on the front of a house when out on one of our local walks and the lady of the house happen to come out and my wife chatted to her about them. Her secret ? A few chicken poo pellets. Not, too many,she said.

www.rhs.org.uk

Chicken manure | RHS Advice

Use chicken manure as an organic fertiliser to enrich soil and boost plant growth naturally and sustainably.
www.rhs.org.uk www.rhs.org.uk
 
plug plants are sold mid fed to end of march. They can work out cheaper if you dont need to by pots and compost to pot them on and keep them in a warm enviroment
plants will be available from End March but need to be protected from cold weather and frost until mid Mayish. More expensive but less hassle to just by in may.

grow more and chicken pellets are slow release fertilisers and promote foliage growth, a liquid feed like tomorite or miracle grow will be of much more benefit and promote flower development over foliage.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
plug plants are sold mid fed to end of march. They can work out cheaper if you dont need to by pots and compost to pot them on and keep them in a warm enviroment
plants will be available from End March but need to be protected from cold weather and frost until mid Mayish. More expensive but less hassle to just by in may.

grow more and chicken pellets are slow release fertilisers and promote foliage growth, a liquid feed like tomorite or miracle grow will be of much more benefit and promote flower development over foliage.
Click to expand...

James...Having read your post which mentioned Miracle Gro I then recalled reading an article about chemical fertilisers last summer and Miracle Gro was mentioned in it. I had a bottle of it in the garden shed and I recall telling my wife that we'd better not use it anymore.

You obviously have more knowledge about plant fertilisers than most and I'd appreciate your comments re this article. I haven't actually disposed of the Miracle Gro after reading about it as I don't want to tip a toxin down the drain...Thanks.

www.heirloomsoul.com

Yes, Miracle Gro is Bad and This Is Why — Heirloom Soul Florals

Is Miracle Gro bad? What are the reasons why Miracle Grow is bad for the garden? Learn why Miracle Gro is toxic for gardening. Is Miracle Gro Toxic? Does Miracle Grow work? Does Miracle Gro make plants grow bigger? Is Miracle Gro bad to use on vegetable garden? What to use instead of Miracle Gro? Ho
www.heirloomsoul.com www.heirloomsoul.com
 
That article is american. US regulations are completely different to uk/EU,

Miracle gro is not any more or less harmfull then Tomorite, Phostrogen, vitax, westland or any other plant food. You say bottle so I assume you have a liquid version rather then the granualted. Thats far less toxic than pouring bleach down the toilet, or urine for that matter. washing up liquid contains salt.

All fertilizers have an NPK ratio.
Nitrogen - promotes leaf growth.
Phosphorous - promotes root growth
Potassium - promotes flower and fruit development

Tomorite will have a higher amount of Potassium
Miracle Gro has a higher amount of Nitrogen and elevated Potassium
Summer lawn food has more nitrogen
Winter lawn food has more Phosphorous

The Article is scaremongering and reads as if they have thier own agenda and I find it strange they singled out 1 particular plant food. The leaching of nitrates from the soil is well known from agricultural use of fertiliser. You would need to be adding buckets of Miracle gro to your garden to come close to causing leaching. In fact people and dog p***ing behind a tree are putting a far more concentrated Nitrogen into the ground than correctly dosed plant food, the majority of which is used in planted pots and baskets anyway. If people do use the hose attachement dispensor they use far too little to have any actual effect on thier plants that water alone would do just as well.
I have 2 14m mixed planted borders. Most people - my neighbour included will wave a hose around for 10minutes a couple of times a week and the water barely wets the surface. They would need to spend several hours everyday filling watering cans to cause the kind of issues mentioned in the article.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
That article is american. US regulations are completely different to uk/EU,

Miracle gro is not any more or less harmfull then Tomorite, Phostrogen, vitax, westland or any other plant food. You say bottle so I assume you have a liquid version rather then the granualted. Thats far less toxic than pouring bleach down the toilet, or urine for that matter. washing up liquid contains salt.

All fertilizers have an NPK ratio.
Nitrogen - promotes leaf growth.
Phosphorous - promotes root growth
Potassium - promotes flower and fruit development

Tomorite will have a higher amount of Potassium
Miracle Gro has a higher amount of Nitrogen and elevated Potassium
Summer lawn food has more nitrogen
Winter lawn food has more Phosphorous

The Article is scaremongering and reads as if they have thier own agenda and I find it strange they singled out 1 particular plant food. The leaching of nitrates from the soil is well known from agricultural use of fertiliser. You would need to be adding buckets of Miracle gro to your garden to come close to causing leaching. In fact people and dog p***ing behind a tree are putting a far more concentrated Nitrogen into the ground than correctly dosed plant food, the majority of which is used in planted pots and baskets anyway. If people do use the hose attachement dispensor they use far too little to have any actual effect on thier plants that water alone would do just as well.
I have 2 14m mixed planted borders. Most people - my neighbour included will wave a hose around for 10minutes a couple of times a week and the water barely wets the surface. They would need to spend several hours everyday filling watering cans to cause the kind of issues mentioned in the article.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for a comprehensive reply. You say scaremongering..the term that crossed my mind was 'alarmist' and I did wonder if there was an agenda.I got mixed up with what it is we have. It's the blue granules to be added to water. The scoop is in the box. I have phostrogen and tomorite,too.
 
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