Lights, warmth, watering, feeding, on a regular schedule. Most of us don't have the set-up to do that, so ours don't look the same.

Dibbit is right about all that plus you must keep in mind that all plants are not the same as far as what cultural needs they have. In some hanging baskets that look so nice and full you will find more than one plant, maybe as many as four. Some plants need to be pinched to bush out to their lush look and some may need a growth retardant to keep them from getting too leggy. Some want lots of light and some do better in partial shade.
Research the plants you want to grow to learn all the cultural treatments they need to do best. Use a top-quality growing medium that is suited to that particular plant. Decide what size basket will work best for each plant. Time your growing schedule to bring the plants to the right size and maturity at the time you want to market them. While it is important to feed them the right stuff at the right intervals it's also important not to overfeed.
You gotta do your homework.

Bob

Bob do you happen to know where I can obtain an approximate planting schedule for annuals? This is my first year with a greenhouse and I would like to have hanging baskets ready to sell in the spring. I have somewhat determined that to have my baskets ready by the end of April I should plant my seeds in early December, do you agree? I plan to do mixed baskets, mainly petunias. I have searched the internet for a planting timetable but cant find one for our Zone 7. I am in SW Oklahoma.

Kathy

I worked at a central Ohio nursery for a couple of years. I participated in potting hanging baskets. We began as early as February. The grower was very diligent about watering, lighting, keeping insects and diseases controlled, feeding and pinching. The first thing we did every morning was perform the tasks above on the hanging baskets. It usually took a crew of two or three of us about three hours to perform those tasks on 400 baskets. They turned into incredibly full and lush plants and I could not believe the prices customers would pay for them. If you have the time, ability and equipment it is worth the effort. But it is a lot of work.

The best source of info that I found was in a book by Malcolm Hillier - called 'Container Gardening Through The Year' published by DK Publishing. Copyright of my copy is 1998 - cost was $13.95.

Great book for giving ideas of what to put into a basket - helps with not only colors (which is what I needed the most help with) but also helps with plant compatiblity.

Check the link below - it's at DK Publishing for "Container Gardening Through The Year"

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Gardening Through The Year

Thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it!!