Is there a reason why pots used for hanging are wider at the top? Does this benefit the plant?
Assuming that both are made of plastic and both hold the same amount of soil, which is the preferred hanging pot for plants that will be receiving about 6 hours of strong direct sun and where the temperature is over 90 degrees F?
The majority of containers for plants are wider at the top than they are at the bottom, with the exception of those which are cubes or tubular. The difference with hanging pots is they are usually wider than they are deep, often a lot wider like a mesh hanging basket, or a little wider with some plastic types. The reason for this is primarily aesthetic; a hanging pot is usually above eye level, and if it was a pot like the one on the right on your image, you'd mostly be seeing the pot and not the plant/s inside it. The extra width in something like a mesh hanging basket means it's wide enough to plant trailing plants round the edges with something upright in the middle; the trailing plants hang down enough to more or less cover the basket. Smaller, solid plastic hanging pots often contain just one or two trailing plants which also means most of the pot is not completely visible; it's the planting which is meant to be on display, not the pot.
In respect of the most suitable hanging container for the conditions you describe, those temperatures and sun exposure are quite extreme, so a plastic pot (as opposed to a wire, mesh or metal one) is better because it will hang on to water for longer although it will need frequent and copious watering, at least twice daily.
Increases surface are of the plant to expand it's hanging leaves. also reduces weight by narrowing as it goes down, is stackleable like a cup Also it narrows allows drainage water to not splatter.
