An ultimate guideline about drainage for hanging plants | update 2023

Here you will find all things that you must know about drainage for hanging plants to provide good drainage, plant in hanging pots without holes and the best plants for hanging planters with no drainage. Keep reading.

Hanging plants will help you to bring a tropical, colourful view to your small living space. But the most concern of indoor gardeners is “indoor hanging plant drainage”.

Hence, in the present article, I provide you with a complete guideline for hanging plant drainage. In the following:

First, I will discuss whether “all hanging plants need drainage or not?” you will find out pro tips about the importance of drainage in the growing of houseplants.

In the second part, I will talk with you about the role of holes in building good drainage and I will answer one of the frequent questions “Do all indoor hanging plants need drainage holes?”

In the third part, you will find out How to provide drainage for hanging plants with or without holes and especially we will discuss drainage in hanging baskets.

In the fourth part, I will provide you with a list of the best plants for hanging planters with no drainage.

In the fifth part, I will show you how to plant in a hanging planter with no drainage with best practices.

In the sixth part, after you plant, it is important to ensure good drainage in an indoor hanging plant. Here you will find pro tips for checking it.

And finally, in the seventh part, I will show you the best idea for indoor hanging plant pots with drainage including self-watering hanging pots.

Do your indoor hanging plants leak?  If your answer is YES, for solving this problem, there are two solutions: Using a hanging pot without drainage holes. We will discuss it in this article. Watering indoor hanging plants without dripping. Read “How to water indoor hanging plants?” to give you all things you should know.

If you are ready, let’s dive into it.

First part: Do hanging plants need drainage?

People often ask “Do all hanging plants need drainage?” for answering it, let’s first speak about the role of drainage and its importance.

What do you mean by drainage? Drainage is a natural or artificial system that removes a liquid from the surface or sub-surface of an area. In this article, the soil of a hanging planter is the area that must water remove from it by drainage.

But why we must remove water from the soil? One of my friends always says “My plants need water, don’t be stingy, let them drink a lot of water.” If you think like him, keep reading to find out the cons of overwatering and the importance of drainage.

Should hanging plants have drainage?

Never let roots drown in water.

The roots need oxygen to breathe, if you turn the pot into a pool by overwatering, the roots will drown in water and suffocate! In this situation, the drainage like Superman comes to help you and drain extra water around the roots. Hence, hanging plants should have drainage.

Take the salts away from the roots.

During watering with tap water and fertilizing, you add a lot of salts to the pot that accumulates in the soil. they can be poisonous to your plant. The drainage will remove these salts from the potting soil. So, hanging plants need drainage.

Avoid conditions that cause root rot.

If the roots of a plant cannot exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide easily in holes of soil and get poisonous with salts, the plant loses its vigour and will be weak. The fungi and bacteria prefer to attack weak plants. The result of it will be root rot and die of your plant. Lastly, hanging plants with drainage holes will be healthier.

Second part: Do indoor hanging plants need drainage holes? 

In the previous part, we discussed the necessity of drainage in the hanging plants indoors what about drainage holes? Keep reading to tell you about drainage holes in hanging plants.

Never mistake drainage for drainage holes. The holes in the bottom of a planter are one of the ways for creating drainage in a pot. There are also other ways that you can perform to have drainage without holes. Although, drainage holes have higher efficiency in comparison to other ways.

However, these small holes cause some problems with hanging plants such as leaking and draining water from the bottom of the hanging pot. Hence, some indoor gardeners prefer to experience other ways to create drainage in soil and like to use hanging planters without holes.

In the next part, I will show you to build drainage for hanging pots. So, keep reading.

Third part: How to provide drainage for hanging plants?

In this part, I will show you how to improve the drainage of your hanging plant by practical methods. There are two common types of hanging baskets: Hanging pots and Wire baskets. In the following, we will discuss drainage holes in every hanging basket type separately.

Drainage for hanging pots 

• These are usually made from plastic hence they also call plastic hanging baskets.
• These usually are along with a detachable saucer to avoid water dripping.
• Some plastic hanging baskets have a self-watering system

Best drainage for plastic hanging baskets with an attached drainage tray

Plastic hanging pots usually have drainage holes that were drilled in the bottom of them. if you cannot see those, you can drill holes yourself. I often recommend adding gravel or broken pottery in the bottom of the pot. it will prevent closing holes with compost, etc.

Should you put drainage holes in hanging baskets? In the below, you can see practices for improving the drainage in plastic hanging planters with or without holes.

1- Use drainage rocks

Put small rocks on the floor of the hanging pot. the extra water will accumulate there. Read “What to put in the bottom of the planter without drainage holes?” to give you more details.

2- Fill the pot with good drainage soil

Every indoor plant needs its specific soil, however, adding the following materials to the soil makes it airier with good drainage.

• TwigsSand
• Compost
• Coco Peat
• Vermiculite
• Pumice
• Perlite
• Peat Moss

Search for the best soil mixture for your hanging plant and try to make it DIV. you can also buy it.

3- Take note of watering.

Watering is one of the challenges in hanging plants. For having good drainage, you must avoid overwatering. I suggest you read “How to water indoor hanging plants” to find more details.

Drainage for wire baskets

They must be lined with a liner before planting. There are several types of liners for them:

• Cocoa liners: they are thick pre-moulded structures.

• Hessian: they are environmentally friendly, low price and flexible popular liners.

• Supamoss: although it has a lot of drainage holes, it has a thick plastic coating too which makes it useful for retaining enough water.

• Sphagnum moss: it can retain a lot of water.

How to create drainage in wire-hanging baskets

Do you need drainage in hanging baskets? You must check your hanging wire basket for drainage. hanging basket not draining means that the water will accumulate in the soil and you lose your beautiful hanging basket because of root rot.

Wicker hanging baskets usually have a plastic pre-lined. You should punch small holes in the bottom of the plastic liner to allow water to drain out.

If you are worried about running water through your hanging planters, keep reading to tell you a practical way. Select a plastic bowl. Pouch small holes in its bottom. Put the plastic bowl inside the liner. Fill it with appropriate soil. Plant your hanging flowers.

Fourth part: best plants for hanging planters with no drainage 

Some hanging houseplants do not need drainage and can thrive healthy in pots without holes. In the flowing you can find a list of them:

• Air plants
• Chinese Evergreen
• Devil’s Ivy
• Hoyas
• Philodendron
• Ponytail palm
• Pothole
• Silver Satin Pothos
• Spider plant

Small plant for hanging glass containers with no drainage 

Int eh below you can find 7 small plants that can thrive in a hanging glass container with no drainage.

Mint (Mentha spp.)

Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale 

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)

Four-leaf water clover (Marsilea quadrifolia)

Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata)

Fifth part: How to plant in a hanging planter without drainage?

Some people prefer to plant in hanging containers without holes. If you are one of them, keep reading to show you how to plant in a hanging planter with no drainage.

In the below, you can find two practical ways to use a hanging container with no holes. Firstly, you will plant indirectly in a hanging cachepot and in the second way you learn how to plant directly in a hanging plant without holes.

1- Pot into the pot

Here is a very easy way to follow: you must plant your hanging plant in a pot with drainage holes and then put it into a hanging cachepot. That’s all there is to it!! After watering any extra water will drain into the covering pot. If you fill the floor of the cachepot with small rocks you increase the space for storing extra water by increasing the distance between pots. Avoid over-watering due to a lot of water that accumulated in the cachepot will come back to the soil and cause a soggy condition.

2-direct planting in a hanging planter without drainage holes.

 

This way can be useful for both hanging pots with or without drainage holes. Follow the below instruction:

• First, fill ¼ of a pot with small rocks. it is the warehouse of your pot that any extra water will store here.
• The second layer will be a thin layer of active charcoal. It can absorb the moisture and have antibacterial activity.
• Lastly, fill the pot with good drainage soil.

Sixth part: How to ensure good drainage in indoor hanging plants?

After performing all of the above tips for improving the drainage in hanging plants, you need a checklist to ensure good drainage. Below, you can see a checklist of pieces of advice about hanging plant drainage.

• Plant in hanging pots with drainage holes

You should plant in hanging planters with drainage holes because their efficiency of them is more than other ways to improve drainage. If you must use a hanging pot without holes, try to use the “pot within the pot” technique.

• Ensure using a Well-Draining Soil

Avoid potting with compact soils in hanging pots and baskets. These soils don’t have good drainage and water transfer through them hardly. They retain water for a long time. adding soil-improving materials such as perlite, compost, etc.

• Plant specific indoor plants for hanging planters with no drainage

Some plants can tolerate the wet soil and are more proper for planting in hanging pots without drainage. In the previous parts, we provided you with a list of them. check to make your list among them.

 

Part eighth: Hanging plant pot with drainage 

In this part, I will show you images of various indoor hanging plant pot types with drainage. After that, I will tell you about the tips that you must consider in a hanging pot. Then, I will tell you how to hang a potted plant without drainage.

First, scroll through images and make your inspiration.

Hanging planter with attached saucer

 

Hanging planter with coco liner

Hanging planter with grow light

Hanging planter with leather strap

Hanging planter with light

Hanging planter with light

Hanging planter with rope

Hanging planter with trellis

Hanging pots with drainage tray

Hanging pots with saucerss

Hanging planter with attached saucer

Self-watering hanging planters

Self-watering hanging planters

Important factors in a hanging planter

Here, I will discuss tips that you must consider in a hanging container before buying it.

• Think about the size of the plants: You should choose a hanging container that is 1-2 inches larger than the previous pot.
• Consider its drainage holes: if your hanging planter has a drainage hole you must think about a saucer to avoid draining water. If your hanging pot is without drainage holes, you can use the technique of “pot within the pot”.
• Avoid heavy pots. Think about the weight of your hanging planter and try to create a lighter pot.
• Select the right place for hanging. Before buying a hanging pot, determine where you want to hang it: wall or ceiling. Then create facilities for its watering and drainage.

How to hang a potted plant without drainage 

The best way for hanging a planter without drainage from the wall or ceiling is you plant your flowers in a pot with drainage holes (nursery pot) and then put it into a hanging planter without drainage.

In this way, you can hang it easily from any wall or ceiling without any worry about its water draining and drainage.

Conclusion

I know hanging plants are very popular and I am happy that you now have a complete guideline about drainage for hanging plants, a subject that most indoor gardeners are usually concerned about it.

In this article, you learned pro tips for planting in hanging planters with or without holes and pro tips for creating good drainage into them.

In addition, I showed you various hanging pots with or without drainage and tried to help you choose a container correctly.

Do you prefer to repot your plant in a hanging planter with or without holes? Do you think using drainage rocks can work as well as drainage holes? Which one is better: hanging planter with an attached saucer or “pot within the pot” way? please share your idea and experience below this page.