Let beauty sleep
Fuchsias are rightly popular – they have done their job in the garden this year, writes David Overend.
Fuchsias seem to have done well this year with lots of blooms for months on end. Even now, at the end of October, the likes of F triphylla are still flowering wonderfully in pots and containers. However, most gardeners will be preparing to take them indoors – they deserve a rest; winter is approaching and fuchsias, which have performed so wonderfully, deserve a bit of tender loving care.
So, any mature, non-hardy fuchsias grown in pots with ripened woody growth should be housed somewhere frost-free during the winter.
Let them lose their leaves naturally and then prune plants back by about a third
(or even more in the case of F triphylla) and leave them to have a well-earned sleep somewhere frost-free.
Summer bedders grown in containers are best dug up and left to dry out. Then the roots should be trimmed back to the original rootball so the plant fits into its pot again.
After that, let the plant(s) hibernate until spring. The temperatures should range from 4-7C (45-55F).
Then it’s just a case of watering plants once every three to four weeks. The soil should be moist but not soaked.
The last step to overwintering fuchsias is to wake them up again. About a month before the last frosts are forecast, take the plant(s) out of their winter home(s) and cut back all the branches by half. This will encourage new growth.
Pop the plant(s) somewhere with bright, filtered light, away from direct sun, and resume normal watering. Once the threat of frost is over, move fuchsias to a shady area outside and care for them as you normally would.
There are plenty of hardy fuchsias that are more than happy to be left outdoors throughout winter if they have plenty of soil for their roots to avoid the effects of cold.
Leave them to do what they do naturally – lose their leaves and take on the appearance of bunches of twigs. Then, come late spring, they can be cut down to ground level; they will quickly start to throw out fresh growth.
To ensure the best flower possible, feed hardy fuchsias each spring and again in summer with a general granular plant food. A high-potash liquid plant food applied regularly throughout summer will encourage more and better blooms.