How to Make a Jellyfish Succulent Hanging Basket

A jellyfish succulent is a hanging basket planted upside down: a rounded dome of compact succulents forms the "bell" of the jellyfish, and long trailing plants spill from underneath as its tentacles. Hung in a sunny spot, it looks as if a sea creature has drifted into your garden or porch. You can build one in an afternoon with a moss basket, a liner, some wire and two kinds of plants, and once it settles in it needs surprisingly little care.

This guide walks through what to buy, which plants work best, how to assemble the basket so it does not shed soil, and how to keep it healthy for years. There is also a video at the end of the build section if you prefer to watch it done.

What you need

Everything on this list is sold at most garden centres, and none of it is expensive:

• A hanging basket, ideally a wire frame with a moss or coconut-coir lining. Moss holds plants well and looks natural on the finished "bell".
• Free-draining potting mix, such as cactus and succulent compost, or ordinary compost mixed with grit or perlite.
• Thin garden wire to hold the liner and plants in place.
• Floral pins or U-shaped staples to pin plants into the moss while their roots take hold.
• A piece of felt or landscape fabric to close the bottom so soil cannot fall out.
• A gentle fertiliser made for succulents or cacti, used sparingly.
• Two types of plants: about six trailing plants for the tentacles and around twenty small succulents for the dome. Use fewer for a smaller basket.

Before buying, sketch the look you want. Decide on a colour scheme for the dome (silver-blue, green and red tips, or a mix) and whether you want the tentacles to be beaded, leafy or chunky.

Choosing plants for the tentacles and the bell

Trailing plants for the tentacles

The tentacles make or break the effect, so choose plants that hang straight down rather than climbing. Popular choices include:

• String of pearls (Curio rowleyanus), a South African succulent with round, bead-like leaves on stems that can trail 60 to 90 cm. It likes a few hours of direct sun and very little water.
• Burro's tail (Sedum morganianum), native to a small area of southern Mexico, with plump blue-green leaves packed along stems of up to about 60 cm. Its leaves drop at the slightest touch, so plant it last and handle it gently.
• String of hearts and string of bananas, which give a finer, lacier curtain of tentacles.

Because all of these are succulents too, they share the same watering needs as the dome. That matters more than anything else in planning the basket.

Compact succulents for the bell

For the dome, pick low, rosette-forming plants that hug the moss. Houseleeks (Sempervivum, also called hens and chicks) are among the most frost-resistant succulents and spread by producing small offsets around the mother rosette. Echeverias, low-growing sedums (stonecrops) and small aeoniums add colour and texture. Jade plants and aloes are succulents as well, but they grow upright and tall, so they suit the centre of a large basket rather than the edges.

One clarification on the plant names you may hear: botanists count cacti as succulents, although many garden centres sell them separately. Spiny cacti are best kept out of a basket that hangs at head height.

Step by step: building the basket

1. Plant the tentacles. Lay the empty basket the right way up. Push the root balls of the trailing plants into the soil-filled base from inside, and feed their stems out through gaps in the moss so they hang below.
2. Close the bottom. Cut felt or landscape fabric to cover the base of the basket around the trailing stems. Wind thin wire around the rim and across the fabric so it sits tight. This stops soil from washing out when you water.
3. Flip and fill. Turn the basket over so the base faces up, supporting the trailing stems so they do not snap. Add potting mix over the roots of the trailers, mounding it slightly to create the dome.
4. Plant the bell. Tuck the small succulents into the moss and soil across the dome. Make sure the base of each plant touches the soil so roots can grow in, and pin or wire any that wobble. Leave a little space between them so they have room to fill out.
5. Secure and hang. Check that everything is firmly fixed, give the basket a light first watering, and hang it from a strong hook in a bright position.

Expect the basket to look a little sparse at first. Within a growing season the rosettes spread, the tentacles lengthen, and the jellyfish shape becomes much more convincing.

In the video above, the YouTube channel Tropical Plant Party builds an upside-down "succulent jellyfish" planter, which shows the flipping and planting steps clearly.

Light, water and everyday care

Light. Most succulents need plenty of light to keep their colour and compact shape. A spot with several hours of bright light, and some shade from harsh afternoon sun in hot climates, suits most combinations. Plants that stretch and look pale need more light.

Water. Overwatering is the most common way succulents die. Let the soil dry out almost completely before watering, then soak the basket thoroughly and let it drain. In warm weather that might mean every week or two; in cool weather, far less. Hanging baskets dry faster than pots, so check by pushing a finger into the soil rather than following a calendar.

Weight. A soaked basket is much heavier than a dry one. Use a sturdy bracket and chain, and check the wire holding the liner each season.

Feeding. A dilute succulent fertiliser once or twice in the growing season is plenty. Too much feed produces soft, leggy growth.

Winter. Houseleeks and many sedums tolerate frost, but string of pearls and burro's tail do not. Burro's tail, for example, needs to stay above roughly 5 to 7 °C, so in cold regions bring the basket indoors to a bright window before the first frost.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mixing thirsty and drought-loving plants. If one plant wants watering daily and another every few weeks, one of them will suffer. Keep the whole basket to succulents, or at least to plants with similar needs.
• Believing succulents never need water. They store water, but they still need a good soak when the soil is dry, especially in a breezy hanging basket.
• Using heavy garden soil. Dense soil stays wet and rots roots. Always use a gritty, free-draining mix.
• Crowding the dome. Packing plants too tightly looks good on day one but leaves no room to grow and traps moisture.
• Forgetting pets and children. Several common succulents are mildly toxic. The ASPCA lists the jade plant as toxic to cats and dogs, and string of pearls sap can irritate skin and upset stomachs. Hang the basket out of reach, and call your vet if a pet chews on it.

Ideas for making it your own

Once you have built one, it is hard to stop. A few variations to try:

• Add a glow. A string of battery-powered fairy lights wound through the tentacles turns the basket into a soft lantern in the evening.
• Make a family. Hang two or three jellyfish of different sizes at different heights for a whole "bloom" drifting across a porch.
• Play with colour. Red-tipped sedums and purple echeverias make a dramatic bell; silver-blue rosettes look cooler and more ocean-like.
• Go indoors. In a bright sunroom or near a south-facing window, a small jellyfish basket makes an unusual houseplant.

For more easy DIY projects, browse our other ideas for home and garden. Whichever version you build, give it time: the best jellyfish baskets are the ones that have grown into their shape over a year or two.

Sources: Video by Tropical Plant Party on YouTube; Wikipedia, Succulent plant; Wikipedia, Curio rowleyanus; Wikipedia, Sedum morganianum; Wikipedia, Sempervivum; ASPCA, Jade plant.