Care of your Fuchsia Plant
Care of a Fuchsia Plant In the Border
Fuchsias are surprisingly easy to keep in the flower beds, and in many soils will produce a good
display of flowers if simply kept weed free and watered in dry weather.
However, the best fuchsias are ones which are regularly watered and fed weekly
with general purpose fertiliser - ones high in potassium are believed to
produce superior flowers, but a general purpose fertiliser appears to do
the job just as well. A mulch of well rotted-compost around the plant
will go a long way to preserve moisture and provide nutrients.
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In
common with many flowering plants, fuchsias produce better and more flowers if they are regularly dead-headed.
When the flowers begin to shrivel, they will drop off by themselves, but
leave a seed pod which will take energy from the plant.
The seed pod is shown by the arrow in the picture on the left.
This should be removed (pinching off with your fingers), as soon as the flower fades or falls off. |
Pinching Out Fuchsias
Fuchsias flower on young wood, so the more young branches there are, the more
flowers you will get. To encourage a fuchsia to produce young branches,
pinch out the growing points where they have more than two sets of
leaves. Remember though, that fuchsias reach their flowering peak,
around 12 weeks after you last pinched out the shoots. With this in
mind, stop pinching out the growing shoots around
mid-April
time at the latest.
Fuchsias
in a Container
For a good hanging basket display, plant four or five trailing fuchsias around the
edge and fill around them with compost. It's best to choose plants of
the same variety, because that way they will grow evenly and provide
more impact. Lobelia or trailing geraniums can be planted with them. The
type of hanging basket used will affect how often you have to water them
- solid plastic baskets with a reservoir for water at the bottom are
best - the fuchsias will grow and cover the basket in six weeks or so.
Caring for all container grown fuchsias is simple but can be time-consuming.
they require a weekly liquid feed and daily watering - watch them
carefully in dry weather to ensure the basket does not dry out.
Growing in tubs is relatively simple, with one trick - fuchsias put on a lot of
top growth in a season and are very prone to tipping over in relatively
moderate wind. So ensure that reasonably large tubs are used, nothing
less than 30cm (12in), bigger if possible. Place lots of gravel and/or
crocks at the bottom of the tub to weigh it down and keep it stable in
the wind. A mixture of peat and John Innes compost (heavier) will also
give the tub a useful amount of weight.
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