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house plants

What pots should I use in a plant hanger?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 9 months ago

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Question:
What kind of pots could I or should I use in a plant hanger?

Details:
I have a tall skinny window at work that gets a lot of afternoon sun. I thought of some kind of rack/shelf, but then came across a triple plant hanger that is just the right size. All the indoor plants I'm familiar with have drain trays on the pots. Can I use drain trays in a plant hanger? I was thinking of terracotta pots? What kind of pots do you use when hanging plants?

If it is relevant, I'm planning on growing some mint and maybe oregano or something like that, rather than a "traditional" house plant. I've done plenty of outside gardening, but I'm a newbie for indoor plants and would appreciate the advice. And lastly, here is the triple plant hanger I found on amazon.

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Tereza Okava

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posted 9 months ago

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A big limiting factor will be how much weight your drilled hole can hold. three terracotta pots plus wet dirt will be heavy, and a rack would be better.
for a hanging thing, i would imagine you'd want small, light plants that don't need too much water (or attention!). And you'd probably want pots inside pots so you have drainage but not drip all over your floor.

Matt McSpadden

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posted 9 months ago

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Hmmm, that is a good point I was not thinking of. The hanger says it can handle almost 20lb. I wouldn't have any problem making the hook strong enough.

It's amazing what you can find just by searching online. A 6" terracotta pot from Lowes is only 1.3lb. With a volume of 2.8 quarts which would weigh 5.8lb if it was filled with pure water. It would be close. I'd have to add some weight for the drain tray, but remove some weight with the assumption that water logged soil is lighter than straight water... and if I keep it a bit below the rim, I might be able to do it.

***Edit - I'm not opposed to a rack of some sort, I have just not been able to find anything the right size. And unfortunately I don't have any time to build something.

Matt McSpadden

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posted 8 months ago

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Well, despite some hesitancy about the weight, I went with terracotta pots. Top is some kind of unlabeled fern. An app on my phone thinks it might be squirrel's-foot fern. The bottom is some basil. And I planted some peppermint seeds in the middle pot, because I couldn't find any plants. I think it came out nice. And it hasn't fallen down so far :)

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Timothy Norton

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posted 8 months ago

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I really like the look! I'm a terracotta lover myself and am lucky enough to have different shades/colors available locally.

I just want to give a shoutout to a potter I found on Etsy. They try to make low-impact pottery and sometimes the wait times are long because they make sure to use as much kiln capacity as possible but the end product is so nice. They are based in Canada. I got it as a gift for my fiancé and she loved it. I was worried about the weight but a proper anchor in the ceiling or drop ceiling hook holds it equally well.