How to Plan Your Spring Combos
Combination pots and planters are a wonderful addition to spring sales! They’re eye-catching and unique, so customers love them. They also provide you with an excellent way to use some of your excess or overstocked items.
Combination pots typically require five or more plugs per pot. Because of the number of plants, we typically see combinations in 10-inch pots or larger. The exception would be for terrarium or dish garden combinations.
When selecting varieties for combos, you want to make sure the plants going into the pots have similar needs and growing habits. You don’t want to pair full sun plants with shade plants or pair plants with low water needs with plants that require more water.
Pay attention to the height and habit of the plants. A nice mounded combo can have plants with varying heights. You’ll plant your taller/wider growing items in the center of the pot and plant your trailing items around the outside of the pot. If the height difference in the plants you chose is too extreme, they will not grow well together. For example, a 24-inch Lantana should not be planted with a 6-inch Ajuga. The Lantana will overwhelm the Ajuga.
We recommend carrying a variety of combination pots. Offer some full sun, some partial sun, and some shade planters.
Use our advanced search feature on the website to sort plants based on your combo needs. For example, If you’re building a full sun combo, click our advanced search button under the search bar on the website. Set light tolerance should be set to “Full Sun.” Select multiple heights “6-12 inches,” “12-18 inches,” and “18-24 inches.” Make sure your bloom period lines up with your sale date, and set your availability date if you’re looking to get these at a particular time or add them to an existing order.
When to start growing from plugs:
If it’s late in the season and you want to offer combination pots, you can use larger plants as the base of your combo. Take a lop-sided hanging basket or leftover 1801s and plant in your larger pot. Then add plugs to fill in the gaps. These create a great product with a quick turnaround!
If you want to offer combination pots but aren’t ready to plan which plants should go into each one, take a look at our pre-designed combo trays! These trays contain five varieties coordinated to grow well together.
Try to buy compatible products in your spring order to create nice combos with any excess plants. We hope these tips help you have a more profitable spring!
