I recently bought 2 different tropical hanging cacti: a rhipsalis and E. angulium that I am trying to get hung in my house, and I need some ideas. I just got done tearing 5 branches from the rhipsalis and giving up.
Both of these plants have been grown with the simple 2 wire hangers and no drain dish. Generally I just make a hanger from 2 loops of hemp twine and tie the center as a loop with the 4 ends tied to support the pots, and these plants can't stay in balance or in the hanger.
What do you do to support plants like this to have them be both house and outside plants?
ARRGH! Hanging plants!
mekos
Dec 21, 2009
Do you have a rope hanger to put them in? I sometimes put pots in the rope hangers and that works fine. I receintly learned to make the rope hangers myself and it looks good. Here is a rope hanger with a basket in it in my greenhouse. That was one of the first ones I made so not real good but you get the idea. You can buy them if you don't want to make them and you can make different sizes. I did.
Well, that's like the simplfied version I use. But these plants have pad/leaves hanging down up to 18-24 inches that are in the way. Getting around them is the problem.
Is the pots plastic? Do the have a strong rim? If the answer is yes. Get a large candle and a stiff piece of wire-heat the wire and melt 3 to 4 holes in the rim of the pot. Then you can use a bought 3 or 4 wire hanger/make your own/or thread cord throug the holes if you made them large enough.
Sandy
I strongly endorse using the 3 wire metal pot hangers. You can get about 50 for $20 at greenhouse suppliers on the internet. They are strong, can be reused and can be cut to desired length. I advocate using a drill, instead of a heated wire, to create holes for the hangers.
Wire hangers don't deteriorate in the UV outside, and tend to be less visible and obtrusive than the plastic hangers. I now routinely remove plastic hangers and add metal ones to my hanging pots as time permits.
Also, using a metal hangers, you can convert non-hanging pots into hanging ones.
If the pot does not rest on a table or ground when working with it, you need a second pair of hands to hold the pot while you guide the wires though the holes and bend them, one at a time. Once the wires are through the holes, you can re-bend them to adjust length if needed.
As a rule, I drill 6 holes 1/6th of the way around the pot. While you just need three, I find that sometimes the holes are in the wrong place with regard to the plant, so I just shift all 3 wires over one hole, allowing a better arrangement with the plant.
Lastly, don't throw away those broken pieces of your plants - use them to start new ones for trade in the spring!
Great picture!
I like that idea, but I need saucers for these plants inside, I usually use the biggest I can find, some are 2/3rds of the way up.
Are there plant pots with trustworthy saucers with enough depth? I don't mind repotting either, as the 4" pots they are in are pretty small.
I do not know about the saucers as I do not use them, as I want the plants to drain.
If you have a drill that would be best but as I am klutz and do not have a drill to use and would probable do more damage then not so I use a heated wire.
sandy
You can make your own saucers to fit what you need. Use a drill to drill holes in the (top) sides of suitable containers. Get small "S" hooks to fit through those holes and feed into a small section of chain (need 6 s hooks and 3 pieces of chain). Hook the second set of "S" hooks over the edge of the pot or into appropriately drilled holes.
You can also daisy chain vertically connected pots this way so that you only have to have a saucer under the bottom one. I made several sets (3-4' long) for my hanging rhipsalis over the past few years. Obviously, you need some caution when the pots are large as you do not want to have too much weight on any single container/hanger. From time to time, I need to rearrange them as one plant outgrows another or watering needs are different. Note that the saucers could connect to the chains linking two pots or hang on the pots as you wish. I sometimes leave extra length of chain at the bottom of the stack to add extras that seem to come along. I like being able to drench the upper pots and let the run-through water the ones below. Saves time...
Yes, I promised to get some pics at some point you everybody.
Sorry but I can't visualize this at all. I gotta see some pics, off to the store.
I get it! Clever, krowten. Good tip to watch the weight. And don't forget they can be much heavier when you first water them.
A little OT, but DH made me a hanging rack that can be raised and lowered via pulleys, but now I have so many plants on it, it gets too heavy when they are watered so he has to do the raising for me. LOL Still, it's nice to see them hanging outside the living room window and I can water from a step stool if necessary. This photo was taken when he first made it, now it is full! A couple have dropped either from wind or weight and the plastic breaking, so I'm re-planting and/or changing their hangers little by little. Fortunately, they can stay outside year round here.
