Fuchsias are great summer flowering plants and ideal for use in containers and hanging baskets or grown on their own as specimen plants.
With just a little care and attention it’s easy to keep the plants for many years. Pruning back the stems of pot grown plants in autumn and over-wintering them in a cool but frost-free greenhouse is a reliable way to keep plants from year to year. The compost should be kept just moist and only watered over the winter months when it dries out. In these growing conditions the plants tick over in a state of semi-dormancy.
Step 1
Carefully remove the plant from the pot and check the roots are healthy and not damaged by vine weevil grubs.
Step 2
To give the plants a boost, scrape off the top layer of old compost and renew with fresh compost and added fertiliser.
Step 3
Tidy up the stems after the autumn pruning and cut back to healthy buds lower down to encourage new shoots to develop.
Step 4
Stand the plants in good light and mist occasionally with water to increase humidity, which encourages new shoots to grow.
As the days gradually start to lengthen at this time of the year, the plants naturally start to wake up after their winter sleep, and what were dormant buds will gradually start to develop. As soon as this happens stand the plants in good light and check them over for signs of pests and pick off the remains of any dead leaves. The plants may also need a little extra pruning to tidy them up and to encourage strong new growth from the base of the plant.
To really start the plants into growth, raise the temperature by a few degrees, increase water as the plants grow and start to feed regularly as the plants make more growth.