How many plants do I need in a hanging basket or container?
It's often difficult to judge how many plants to use per hanging basket or container, so we’ve put together a table of our most popular bedding plants such as geraniums, petunias, begonias and fuchsias, showing the quantities you’ll need for the best display!
Plant spacing
When looking at how many plants to put in a hanging basket or how many plants to put in a pot you don’t need to follow the usual rules of plant spacing. The spacing normally quoted is designed to give plants the maximum amount of space to reach their full potential. However for a seasonal container display designed to flower for 4-6 months it isn’t necessary to follow these rules and you can use many more plug plants per hanging basket to create a billowing cascade of colour.
- • A general rule of thumb when planting a hanging basket is to use one plant per inch of basket diameter - so 12 plants per 30cm (12") hanging basket.
- • The only exception to this is when you use strong-growing plants such as Fuchsias and Geraniums (Pelargoniums). In this case it is best to only use 5 plants per 30cm (12") hanging basket.
- • A 30cm (12") patio container will comfortably accommodate about 6-8 plants, slightly less for strong-growing plants.
Take a look at our table below to discover how many plants you will need for each of your containers.
| Plant | Flower pouch | Eezee Hanging Basket | 22cm (9") basket | 30cm (12") basket | 30cm (12") patio container | Flower Ball | 3-tier Planter | Eezee Patio Bag | Flower Tower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aubrieta | 10 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 16 |
| Begonia (fibrous, e.g. Organdy) | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Begonia (tuberous, e.g. Apricot Shades) | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 15 | 10 | 21 |
| Bellis | 10 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Bidens | 10 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Busy Lizzies | 10 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Sunpatiens | n/a | 8 | n/a | n/a | 5 | n/a | 10 | 10 | 32 |
| Carnation (trailing) | 10 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 8 | n/a | 20 | 10 | 21 |
| Fuchsia (upright) | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 15 | 10 | 16 |
| Fuchsia (trailing and semi-trailing) | 5 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 16 |
| Geranium (bedding Pelargoniums) | 10 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 15 | 10 | 32 |
| Geranium (trailing Pelargoniums) | 10 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 16 |
| Lobelia | 10 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Pansy and Viola | 10 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Petunia (trailing) | 8 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 16 |
| Primrose and Polyanthus | 10 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Sweet Pea (trailing) | 10 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
| Verbena (trailing, e.g. Peaches and Cream | 10 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 20 | 10 | 32 |
For more information, read our article 'How to plant up hanging baskets' or head over to our hanging basket hub page to find all of our best hanging basket advice and planting tips.
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