Bloom Master Frequently Asked Questions
1. How big should my starter plugs be?
We find the best plug sizes are 36 mm and 42 mm. They fit securely in the holes. The root ball should be inserted from outside the basket onto the moistened potting mix.
2. What kind of soil should I use?
Potting mix should be used in Bloom Master baskets. This is a more coarse mix that will not fall out of the holes. If your soil is too fine, mix it with compost and you should be fine.
3. What kind of fertilizer should I use and how often?
In most cases, a daily half dose of 20-20-20 is just right. This should be supplemented with a biostimulant twice a year. However, you might consider having your water tested before fertilizing to ensure that you are using the right type of fertilizer. We carry several kinds of fertilizers, depending on what your current soil and seedlings require. FERTILIZE once a week with a good liquid fertilizer that meets the needs of the variety of plants you are using.
4. Will my plants and soil fall through the holes?
No; if you are using the right soil and planting your seedings firmly they should thrive. Also, it is NOT necessary to plant every opening! The hanging baskets need to have flowers and plants placed in the top and first row of holes to create the cascading effect. After this, the other holes are optional-use. In fact, with certain varieties of plants you shouldn’t plant more than every other hole
5. How much and how often should I water?
Always leave 1½” in the top of the container for a water reservoir and water deeply until water drips from drain holes in the bottom of the container—this will also help to leach out mineral build-up. Be sure each basket has drainage. The more soil volume in the basket the less often it needs to be watered. Of course, this varies slightly depending on what plants you decide to grow. So, be sure to do adequate research on the plants you decide to grow.
6. How much weight will the brackets hold?
With as much soil volume as the Bloom Masters have these baskets can get pretty heavy. Then of course they get heavier when they are fully watered. To compensate for all this, the brackets are engineered to withstand high weights.
7. Can I use a one-arm bracket instead of two?
Yes. The single arm and the double arm both use the same collar so you can add two arms or only one arm to a lamppost or pole depending on your need..
8. Can I leave the brackets up all year?
Sure. One nice part about the design is that the arms can be removed and added without changing the collar at all. So some cities like to take off the arms and leave the collar up through the winter so it’s all ready for next year's plantings.
9. Should I be concerned about the lamppost holding the weight?
We’ve never had any problems; municipal lampposts are typically between 6 – 9 inches in diameter and will have no difficulty carrying the load of hanging baskets.
10. How high should I mount the bracket?
We like the bottom of the basket to sit 7 to 8 feet high. If you use a 6-gallon Bloom Master basket you need to mount the collar about 1 foot above that, roughly 8 to 9 feet high. A simple way to visualize this is your basket will hang roughly at the same height as the collar.
11. Should I mount the arms parallel to the street or perpendicular?
The arms can be directed anyway you like, but there are a couple items to be careful of when choosing a location of the baskets. The most important consideration is the clear path of vehicles. If the baskets are in the street, changing the height likely won’t fix the problem considering the heights of buses and trucks. So, keep your baskets out of the vehicular driving path. The other consideration of basket location is placing them in the walking path.
12.What if my lamppost is fluted?
The round collar design mounts to fluted, round, and even octagonal posts.
13.What if my lamppost is square?
We design custom collars to fit any lamppost.