Want to hang a plant from your ceiling but unsure how to get started? Here’s your step-by-step guide. If you’re looking for a houseplant to hang in a darker area, Rebecca Bullene, the founder of biophilic design shop Greenery Unlimited, loves ZZ plants, pothos, and Devil’s Ivy. For bright-light varieties, she’s partial to the Philodendron Birkin and Snake Plant. Whatever plant you choose, make sure it’s one you really enjoy looking at. “When plants are sitting low on the floor, you kind of have to look down to see them. When you hang up a houseplant, all of the sudden it’s in your field of vision all the time,” Bullene says. Reserve small decorative pots for plants that are slower to grow and don’t require much water, like air plants, jade plants, and other succulents. “The smaller the vessel, the smaller the soil mass, so the less water it can hold onto,” Bullene explains. “Any cascading plant that can go one to two weeks without water would also be okay.” On the other hand, if you’re going for a large and lush vibe, you’ll want to look for a larger pot that can store more water and accommodate root growth. “If I’m displaying a pothos or monstera, for example, I’ll use a vessel that’s at least 8 inches,” she says. Check out a list of our favorite hanging planters here. “When that sunset light is coming in and you get those leaf patterns on the walls, it really makes a space feel homey, comfortable, and lush,” Bullene says. And if you’re trying to make a big visual impact in a smaller space, hanging plants in staggered couples or trios is also a nice approach. For some context, she says an 8-inch hanging basket generally weighs about 8 pounds when you first hang it up, but when it’s fully saturated and starts to grow, it can get heavier. If you’re wary of putting a hole in your ceiling, you can also hang houseplants from fixtures like ceiling rods. Just make sure they’re strong enough to support the extra weight. Before you do, make sure your hanging pot has strong enough string. Bullene has seen ones that are too thin degrade and break after all that exposure to water and sunlight. If you’re using a hanger with metal fixtures, make sure they’re galvanized or coated in vinyl. “They should be watertight,” she says. “If you see something starting to rust, that’s probably a cheap manufacturer not thinking it through.” You can also make your own hanger out of thick macrame—an approach that gets Bullene’s stamp of approval: “I think macrame hangers are a great choice because you can put any planter into them too.” Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
