Hanging Basket Problems and How to Fix Them

I judged hanging-basket classes at our local show for twenty-odd years, and the same half-dozen problems came round every summer. Almost none of them were the plants' fault, and almost all of them were fixable in an afternoon.

This is the diagnostic version: find the symptom, read what it means, then go to the page that deals with it. If you want the watering mechanics from first principles instead, the care and watering guide is the one to read.

Start by lifting it

Before anything else, take the basket down and feel the weight. It tells you more than looking at the leaves does.

Light, and the compost has shrunk from the sides. It is dry, and probably dry right through. Water running off the top is not reaching the roots.

Heavy, and the surface is wet. It is waterlogged. The drainage has failed or the liner has no holes.

Right in the middle and still struggling. Then it is feed, root room or position, and the rest of this page is for you.

Wilting every afternoon

The commonest complaint, and it is usually size rather than carelessness.

A basket under about 30cm simply cannot hold enough water for a hot July day, however diligent you are. Wind makes it worse than heat does — an exposed basket on a breezy day loses water faster than the same basket in still sun.

Move it out of the wind first, because that costs nothing. Then size up next time: the large baskets guide explains what the extra volume buys you, and the moisture tips rank every other change by how much difference it actually makes.

If daily watering is not realistic, that is what self-watering baskets and watering systems are for.

Plenty of leaf, no flowers

This one frustrates people most, and it is nearly always feed.

Multipurpose compost and a general-purpose feed are both nitrogen-rich, and nitrogen grows leaf. Flowering wants potash. Switch to a high-potash feed from about midsummer and you will usually see buds within a fortnight.

The other cause is not deadheading. A plant that has set seed has done its job and stops making new buds, so taking the spent flowers off is not tidying — it is what keeps it going. Compost and feed covers the detail.

Yellow leaves

Where the yellowing starts tells you which problem it is.

• From the bottom up, leaves soft: waterlogging. Check the drainage holes.
• From the bottom up, compost shrunken: exhausted compost. Feed, and replant next season.
• All over, veins still green: a feed deficiency rather than water.
• Edges brown and crisp: it dried out at some point, even if it looks fine now.
• Odd leaves only, rest healthy: normal. Older leaves go as new ones come.

Bare in the middle, growth only round the edge

The centre plants were never pinched out. Left alone, most basket plants run up on a single stem and then flop, which leaves a ring of growth and a hole in the middle.

Pinching the growing tips out in the first few weeks makes them branch instead. If it has already happened, cut the leggy stems back hard and feed — in summer it usually fills in within three weeks.

Planting density matters too. How many plants per basket has the numbers, and the step-by-step covers the pinching.

One side good, the other bare

It has not been turned. A basket against a wall gets light on one face only, and the shaded side thins out.

Give it a quarter turn whenever you water. That is the entire fix, and it takes two seconds.

It dried out completely and looks dead

Often saveable, and the trick is not to water it from the top.

Dry compost repels water, so it runs down the inside of the liner and out of the base while the rootball stays bone dry. Take the basket down and stand it in a bucket of water for an hour so it rewets all the way through. Then cut off anything crisp, feed it, and give it three weeks before you decide.

Something is digging in it, or pulling the liner apart

That is wildlife rather than a growing problem, and the damage pattern tells you which animal. Birds, squirrels and pests covers all of it — scattered compost, pulled fibre, broken stems and the silvery trails.

It swings, spins, or has come down

Almost always the drop rather than the bracket. A long chain on a single hook lets a basket spin, which shreds trailing growth and works the fixing loose.

Stopping a basket spinning and adjusting the height cover the swivel and chain side. If it actually fell, the fixing was underrated for the watered weight — see choosing brackets and the hooks guide, or the full fixings guide.

It looked lovely in June and tired by August

This is the normal life of a basket rather than a fault, and it is mostly feed running out.

Slow-release granules mixed in at planting last roughly six weeks. After that it needs liquid feeding weekly, and the baskets that still look good in September are the ones that got it. Long-flowering low-maintenance picks covers the varieties that hold on longest, and the best flowering plants is the wider list.

A quick diagnostic run-through

• Lift it. Weight tells you wet or dry before you look at anything.
• Check the drainage holes are actually open.
• Look at where the yellowing starts, not just that it is yellow.
• Ask when you last fed it. Six weeks after planting is when granules stop.
• Ask whether you have turned it. One bare side is almost always this.
• Check the drop and the fixing if it moves in wind.

When the honest answer is a different basket

Some positions defeat a live display whatever you do. A north-facing wall, a wind tunnel between houses, a spot you can only reach with a ladder, or a summer you are away for.

I spent thirty years growing bedding and I still say this: if a position has beaten you three years running, it is the position, not you. A good artificial display solves it permanently, and the honest ones look convincing now in a way they did not a decade ago. The artificial guide covers how to tell a good one.

And a basket that needs less of everything is usually a bigger basket in a better place. That is most of this page in one sentence.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my hanging basket wilt every afternoon? Because it is losing water faster than it can take it up, and that is usually size rather than neglect. A basket under about 30cm, in wind or full sun, cannot hold enough water for a July day. Move it out of the wind first, since wind dries a basket harder than heat does, and size up next season.

Why has my hanging basket got lots of leaves but no flowers? Too much nitrogen and not enough potash. Ordinary multipurpose compost and a general feed push leaf growth; flowering needs a high-potash feed from midsummer. The other common cause is never deadheading, because a plant that has set seed stops producing new buds.

Why are the leaves going yellow? Yellowing from the bottom up is usually waterlogging or exhausted compost. Yellowing all over with green veins is more often a feed problem. Check the drainage first by lifting the basket: if it is heavy and the surface is wet, the problem is too much water rather than too little.

Why is my basket bare in the middle with all the growth round the edge? The centre plants were never pinched out, so they ran up and flopped over instead of bushing. Pinching the growing tips out early makes plants branch. Once it has happened the fix is to cut the leggy stems back hard and feed, which usually recovers it within three weeks in summer.

Can a completely dried-out hanging basket be saved? Often, if the roots are not dead. Take it down and stand it in a bucket of water for an hour so the whole rootball rewets, because watering from the top runs straight off dry compost. Then cut back anything crisp and feed. Give it three weeks before deciding.

Why does my basket swing and spin in the wind? Usually a long drop on a single hook. Shortening the chain and using a swivel stops most of it, and a shorter drop is a steadier basket. Spinning also shreds trailing growth, so it is worth fixing for the display as much as for the fixing.

About the author Marjorie Ellwood — Planting and plants Marjorie ran a bedding-plant nursery outside Harrogate for over thirty years before handing it to her daughter. She has judged hanging-basket classes at the local horticultural show since 1998 and once kept a fuchsia alive through three house moves. These days she writes from a greenhouse that smells permanently of tomato leaves. Writing for The Hanging Basket Co.