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1.Never leave a potted fuchsia in the sun for too long. They can stand it for an hour or two, if temperatures aren't too high. If the plant is accustomed to the sun from the start and as an UNrestricted root run they do quite well in the sun, but ususllay colours get blurred.
There is a list on my page of heat resistant fuchsias. Just click HERE.
2. Never press the soil/compost with your hands when you pot a fuchsia (or a cutting). Just let the watering firm the soil/compost, that's enough. See also # 11
3. Fuchsias rarely break by wind alone but they do break when the pots topple over in windy weather. Best is to lay the pots down till the storm is over.
4. Always remember that fuchsias grow best under cool and humid conditions (+10-+20 C / +50-+70F) and they thrive when it's raining...
5. Black plastic pots are dangerous! When the sun hits the pot it heats instantly to scorching temperatures and kills the roots in a short time. Beware!
6. Place potted fuchsias in mostly shade & free-planted perennial fuchsias in full sun.
7. You are better off with cuttings of fuchsias than with 'ready made plants'. Cuttings happily adapt to your way of treating (or trating!) them. "Over-nursed" nursery plants are far more difficult to relocate. But also far more difficult to resist buying....
8. It is a lot better to feed fuchsias with a weak solution every time you water rather than giving a regular solution now and then.
9. All Fuchsias are all edible: flowers, leaves, berries - ripe or not. I can't say it's tasty but it isat least decorative, to say the least. Put some flowers of for example Eleanor Leytham or Other Fellow on a cake and your guests will never forget it. Colour up a sallad with some brigtly coloured fuchsia petals.
You can make capers out of immature berries and jam out of ripe ones. Phyllis is particularily suitable for jam-making because she keeps her berries on till they ripen. (See berries in picture!)
10. About winter care: A place where you can keep potatoes or apples all winter through, without them freezing or shrivelling, is a perfect place to keep your dormant fuchsias too.
11. I heve never been able to figure out why the potting soil in some, but not all, my Fuchsia pots, gets compact and silted. The plants get far, far behind in growth speed and the plant just doesn't seem to grow at all. I found out the other day why this is...after 12 years with fuchsias.
Right after repotting or potting up, when I water the new soil / compost for the first time I have really drenched the surface of the soil. Sometimes even with the garden hose. No, no, no! Never again! The mere weight of the water (water is heavy!) presses the soil too hard into the pot. What I do now is watering with a small watering can, just dripping water and let it sink through, add some more and let it sink, and so on. It take for ages but this is only necessary the first time after repotting / potting up.
You never get too old to learn and you can never stress enough the importance of loose, porous soil for Fuchsias...
12. Always keep a water-filled jar or plastic bag close to your Fuchsias so you can quickly put a broken Fuchsia branch in water. You'll probably not get around to filling a pot with soil and writing a label when you find the broken branch. By putting the branch in water you can come back later to make cuttings out of it.
13. Mailed to me by Bertha in Holland
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996
From: Ap van Weeren <apvweeren@globalxs.nl>
To: kenneth.nilsson@mbox3.swipnet.se
Subject: Germinate seeds
Hello Kenneth,
Thanks for you very interesting site, as a fuchsia amateur for many years I send you this TIP. An easy way to find out if a seed will germinate, is to take the seeds carefully from the berry and put them in a glass of water. The seeds that sink are the good ones and can be sawn immediately.Well, it is true you cannot get the same plant but I have grown some beautiful new variaties, but also plants that are inferior to the "motherplant".
That is it, all the best.
Bertha in Holland
14. Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997From: Birthe <OLEHANS@post5.tele.dk>
To: kenneth.nilsson@mbox3.swipnet.se
Subject: FUCHSIA TIPSHello Kenneth,
You ask for fuchsia tips on one of the pages, so I will give some of the tips we share here in the northern part of Jutland :
1. Use of chalk.
Sometimes the soil in the pots becomes too acidic as a result of decay of the peat components, maybe enforced by over-watering. The soil becomes dark and firm, and the smell of the soil changes. The plant gets lighter and grows thinner leaves and looks weak. In these cases, use of chalk as a suspension in the water for 2-3 days often helps. Sometimes the effect is dramatic - and the plant starts to grow and look healthy.
The type of chalk I use is very finely ground (as ordinary wheat flour) and intended for agricultural use (e.g. the type that are used to treat woods and lakes for acidification). Chemically it must be chalk (Calcium Carbonate), not the kind of 'chalk' that is used for 'chalking' farm-houses.I use about 200 grams (a handful) for 10 liters of water. Stir it and let stand for about 5 minutes to let the coarser particles settle. This leaves a milky suspension, which should be used immediately - otherwise it must be stirred/settled again. I have a 10 liter can that I use only for this - ready to be stirred/settled and used.
I let the plants to be treated dry out (to the normal state of dryness before watering) and simply water normally with the suspension for 2 to 3 days depending on how acidic I think they are, often judged by the smell of the soil. Normally, an improvement of the well-beeing of the plant is seen within a week and at the same time, the smell of of the soil changes.One should be careful not to overdo it, e.g. continue for a week or longer, as this will only make the soil too alkaline, which is just as bad.
I believe that some of the hybrids which are difficult to cultivate, may require sligthly more alkaline conditions than most other hybrids.2. Pest control.
I think that the hobby gardener should avoid the use of pesticides, and I have found a solution that is cheap and good. I spray directly at the whiteflies, etc. with a mixture of 1 liter of water, 50 mls of denatured alcohol and approx. 30 drops of ordinary detergent for dish-washing.
3. Up-potting.
The plants I train for standards, I up-pot 3-5 times during a season by using the following technique : The new pot should be about one inch larger than the previous. Take out the plant of the old pot. Fill the bottom of the new pot with soil and place the old pot in the middle and fill the interspace with soil. Help the new soil to settle by tapping the ensemble gently against the table. Remove the old pot and let the plant slide into the hole. This method is very gentle to the roots, and fairly quick.
I use the opportunity to notice the conditions of the roots, and write it on the label together with the date. This gives an idea of when next up-potting is due.
Best regards
Birthe / Skagen
15:
Sigbritt Forsman read in a book somewhere that to stop Vine Weevils from laying eggs in tha pot soil, you place pieces of RAW potatoes on the pot soil. The eggs will be laid in the potatoes and you discard them and put another piece back. Change potatoes every week during the season.
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