Planting Annuals in Pots

Select containers that fit your plant choices. Hanging baskets, for instance, are ideal to keep the stems of trailing annuals off the ground. Barrels are large enough to accommodate several plants. For species with a history of root rot, choose unglazed clay pots. The material is porous, making the soil dry quickly. Get planters with drainage holes.

Buy aerated potting soil for fast drainage or make your own. Blend equal parts soil, sphagnum peat moss and perlite. Do not use garden soil to avoid transferring pathogens into the planter. Get a bag of commercial sterile soil.

Add enough potting mix to the planters to set the seedlings at the same depth as they have been growing in nursery flats. Once you get the plants positioned correctly, finish filling the container with soil. Firm the potting mix with your hands to remove air pockets. Plant multiple annuals in one pot spaced twice as close as they would be outdoors. Ageratum needs 12 inches in a flowerbed. Grow potted ageratum within 6 inches of another plant with a similar requirement.

Irrigate annuals at planting until excess water flows out of the pot's drainage holes. Hydrate the plants whenever the soil surface feels dry, even if it means watering them more than once a day.

Feed potted annuals a water-soluble general fertilizer when they begin to grow in their new containers. Select a product and follow the label instructions for application rates and feeding interval.

Provide the plants the light exposure they require. Most flowering annuals need at least six hours in the sun. Others require some shade or they wilt. Find out from your nursery or cooperative extension office what each plant needs. Seedlings usually come with stakes inserted into the soil that list the plants' basic needs.