Caring for Your Petunia and Calibrachoa Hanging Baskets: How to keep them looking nice all season. - Tuttle Orchards (2024)

Hanging Baskets Care

Here are Mike’s tips on how to keep them looking nice all summer:

Water your baskets once a day and on especially hot days twice a day. If they start to wilt or look droopy, they probably need water. The exception to this would be shade loving baskets like double impatiens. They may only need water every other day. They may also appear droopy due to the heat, but do not require water. After the day cools off they will regain there normal shape.

Fertilize them every two weeks with a water soluble fertilizer. You want to use a compound with a low middle number (like 15-7-15 or 12-2-12) so that it promotes flowering and not more leaves. (The exception to this is Geraniums and New Guinea Impatiens…these do NOT want any fertilizer.)

As the plants grow longer (especially for petunias) you can “give them a haircut.” Cut back some of the longer parts to allow light to reach the leaves in the center of the basket and keep it healthy.

If your basket contains verbena, you can cut off the dead flowers to keep it looking nice. Any Million Bells or Petunias will NOT need to be deadheaded. We use only self-cleaning petunias in our baskets.