Fuchsia flower: description, nuances of care at home

Fuchsia has made flower growers fall in love with its elegant appearance and long flowering period. This variegated plant is easy to care for, grows vigorously and reproduces easily.

To make a choice without regrets, you need to decide which species are suitable for which planting conditions.

It doesn’t matter whether you grow a crop in a flowerbed in the garden or in a pot, you need to choose the right variety. When giving preference to a particular variety, take into account not only the characteristics and timing of flowering, but also resistance to poor external conditions.

First of all, decide on the color palette, then decide on the shape of the bush.

Fuchsia grows as a hanging plant, shrub or low tree.

Description of fuchsia

Depending on the species, the plant is a tree or a bush. The flexible branches are covered with oval-lanceolate opposite leaves of a green or slightly reddish hue. They do not exceed 5 cm, pointed at the ends and along the edge with teeth or smooth.

The flowers have an elongated tubular calyx and long stamens. After them, edible fruits appear.

Types and varieties of fuchsia

Fuchsias can be grown as ampelous, bush plants, or formed into a pyramidal or standard tree.

Varieties can bloom in different seasons of the year. As a rule, almost all varieties have edible fruits (berries), but in room conditions they are difficult to ripen; you must wait until they turn black before using them for food.

Bush

Other beautiful varieties with double and semi-double flowers:

• Alisson Bell (violet-red);
• Anabelle (white);
• Ballerina (scarlet in the middle of a light pink skirt);
• Henriette Ernst (sepals - deep pink, petals - soft lilac).

Ampelous types:

• Blue angel (terry, white with lilac);
• Hollies Beauty (purple-blue);
• Imperial Crown (scarlet);
• Prince of Peace (white with red center).

Growing and caring for fuchsia at home

The flower goes through an active growing season in April - August. December - January is his rest period.

Rules for outdoor care

Caring for garden fuchsia is not too difficult, but it is recommended to pay attention to compliance with the irrigation and fertilizing regime. Lush, long-lasting and maximally abundant flowering will be facilitated by frequent spraying and sufficiently abundant watering, timely high-quality fertilizing

Proper irrigation measures are the most important part of growing fuchsia. The amount and frequency of watering directly depend on a large number of factors, including varietal characteristics, stage of growth and development, location of the ornamental crop, soil composition on the site and weather conditions

High temperature conditions cause intense evaporation, so fuchsia foliage must be sprayed periodically.

However, excessive soil moisture in a flower garden can displace oxygen from the soil and cause rotting of the root system, as well as the subsequent death of the ornamental crop. If the soil gets too dry, the plant may lose all its foliage. Drooping leaves serve as a signal for watering. However, there is absolutely no need to water the plant in late autumn or winter. After watering, the soil around the plant is shallowly loosened and weeds are removed.

When buds appear on fuchsia bushes and during flowering, the ornamental crop must be fed. For this purpose, it is recommended to water weekly with special liquid fertilizers intended for feeding flowering plants.

Fuchsia propagation rules

There are two methods for obtaining new fuchsias: seed and cuttings.

Seeds

This is a rather labor-intensive process, which, as a rule, does not preserve the individuality of the mother flower. Seeds are sown in early spring:

• Since they are very small, they are mixed with sand and scattered on the surface of the soil.
• Sprinkle with a small amount of substrate.
• Cover with film or glass.
• Maintain temperature +15…+18 °C. Water into a tray.
• Sprouts appear within a month.
• When two sheets are formed, they are picked.

Vegetative

Old or young shoots (about 10 cm) are used as cuttings, which are cut at the end of winter:

• The lower leaves are removed. The cuttings are placed in a glass with water, liquid substrate or sand.
• Create a mini-greenhouse using a plastic container or bag.
• After 2 weeks, when roots appear, the cuttings are replanted.

How to plant fuchsia sprouts

The sprouts are planted in small containers, no more than 9 cm in diameter. Drainage is required. The pot is completely filled with earth so that there are no voids. To do this, it is shaken and tapped, but not compacted by hand; the soil must be porous.

Transplantation is performed in the spring once a year. An adult bush is shortened by 1/3, the roots are trimmed (excluding hanging varieties).

The substrate used is slightly acidic, there are several options:

• sand, peat, sheet soil (1:2:3);
• sand, greenhouse, clay-turf soil, peat chips (1: 2: 3: 0.2);
• ready-made mixture for flowering plants.

Further step by step process:

• A ceramic pot is used to protect the root system from the summer heat, about 4 cm larger than the previous one.
• Pour drainage onto 1/5 of the new container (expanded clay, pebbles) to protect the plant from rotting.
• Sprinkle with substrate.
• Using the transfer method, the fuchsia is removed from the old container, without shaking off the soil, and placed in a new one. The voids are filled.
• Spray and water until moisture appears in the stand. After a while, excess liquid is removed.
• No feeding for 30 days.
• After another 60 days, flowering is expected.

Landing

You need to plant the flower in small ceramic pots. It is better to choose this material because it maintains the required temperature and humidity level longer. In order for the shrub to bloom beautifully, it is necessary to plant cuttings of ampelous varieties evenly in 3-5 pieces.

When planting bush forms, you need to place one crop in each small-diameter pot. This is necessary so that the root system can envelop the entire earthen ball over the entire season. If you choose a large container, the roots will rot, and the small ones will wrap.

Drainage should be placed at the bottom of the pot. Expanded clay is ideal for this purpose. In moist soil there should be growing roots. In this case, you should straighten the roots and sprinkle with loose soil and water. You can also mulch the soil to retain moisture as long as possible. It is better to use peat.

Methods for pruning fuchsia

Fuchsia is pinched to stimulate good flowering, the appearance of a large number of young shoots, as well as to form the plant into a ball, bush, or bonsai tree.

It is pruned twice a year: after flowering in October and during the dormant period in January.

Autumn

Remove stems that have bloomed. Dormant buds are left 2 cm below the cut.

Winter

Thin shoots are removed, woody old ones are pruned, since flowers are formed mainly on young shoots.

Bonsai

When forming a small tree, one shoot or several are left that can be twisted. The top is pinched to create a lush crown.

Bush

If you shorten the flower to the very stump, it will remain dormant longer, bloom late, but at the same time it will produce many young shoots and the plant will take on the appearance of an extensive shrub.

Preparing for winter

If an ornamental crop is grown in flower pots or cache-pots, which are taken outside only in summer to decorate the garden area, then the optimal option for overwintering the plant will be almost any sufficiently bright and relatively warm room with a temperature range of 5-15°C. Experienced gardeners place fuchsia in pots before the onset of significant cold weather on glazed balconies or heated loggias.

At the beginning of September, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are completely excluded from feeding. Instead of fertilizing, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are given at each irrigation event a couple of times a week. Watering is also reduced. Even in the central zone of our country, fuchsias most often freeze out in the winter, so it is recommended to dig up ornamental garden plants from the ground in the autumn and replant them in flower pots. Garden fuchsia must have time to take root well before it is placed indoors for the winter.

It is important to remember that for the “dark” wintering of fuchsia, it is necessary to prune all immature and non-lignified shoots, preserving the main branches and obligatory removal of all remaining green mass. For a “light” wintering, pruning needs to be done more gently, so green shoots can be left

Problems when growing fuchsia, diseases and pests

With insufficient care and non-compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, the plant suffers from various diseases.

Diseases

• Powdery spots indicate powdery mildew, which is usually caused by excess moisture; Fundazol and Topaz are used for healing.
• Yellowness and dryness are signs of chlorosis, usually from excess water and too cold a climate. Watering with a slightly pink manganese solution will relieve the disease.
• Brown spots indicate a dangerous infection. It's most likely rust. All painful fragments are removed and sprayed with Bordeaux solution once every ten days (three times a day).
• Lethargy of leaf blades causes insufficient nutrition and illumination.
• Whiteflies, spider mites and aphids can also be a nuisance. The drugs Actellik and Angara help.
• A hot shower once every seven days is a good preventive measure against ticks, and watering once every 6 months with Aktara protects against other parasites.