Plants growing in hanging baskets tend to dry out much faster than those planted in heavier upright containers and in the ground. This is especially true when they are hanging in windy areas or in full sun all day.

Never let your hanging basket dry out to the point where the plants wilt. That may mean it needs to be watered anywhere from every other day to more than once per day, especially as the summer’s heat sets in, depending on your growing conditions.

To figure out if it is time to water, stick your finger down in the soil up to your first knuckle. If the soil sticks to your finger, it is moist enough to make it through the day without watering. If not, it’s time to water.   

If you don’t have much time to water or if you tend to travel in the summertime, consider investing in a WaterWise® self-watering kit. It saves time and water, is simple to use, and waters up to ten containers at once from a single faucet.

Every third time you water your hanging basket, include a bit of water soluble plant food in the water. Follow the package instructions to know how much to use.

What does every third time mean? If you water every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then you’ll feed your plants every Friday. If you water your plants more than once a day, every third time you get out the watering can, add some water soluble plant food to the water. During the heat of summer when you are watering more often, your plants are growing faster and need more food to keep up. Feeding flowers is like feeding kids—not so much when they are toddlers but they’ll eat you out of house and home when they are teenagers.

Any brand of plant food meant for flowers will work for your hanging baskets. But we recommend Proven Winners water soluble and continuous release plant foods because they are specially formulated with micronutrients to help our varieties grow bigger, stronger, and bear more flowers.