Caring for Fuchsia

Fuchsias are also possible to reproduce successfully with their leaves. Well developed leaves are torn away together with footstalks and bedded at a depth of 1 cm into tender substrate and covered with glass or plastic cap. Every day, spray them with warm boiled water from a spray gun. When small rosettes appear at the bottom of the footstalk, transplant them into containers and further nurse them.

Forming of the leafage. Fuchsias are well suited for the creation of shaped trees. They can be shaped both from bunchy Fuchsias, for example, Annabel, and trailing ones, such as Auntie Jinks. There are three types of standard shapes: table type with a height of 30-45 cm; lowly, 45-80 cm high; and standard from 80 to 105 cm. For the standard shape, formation of a good solid enrooted graft of Fuchsia is taken. Fuchsia has thin and tender branches. To prevent bending, you will need to secure its straight growth by providing support to it. A bamboo stick is an ideal option. Cut the bamboo in two; tie the branches at the top and the bottom. This is convenient and looks natural. The branch itself will begin lignifying in a year. When remaining branches have formed a head, there will be two to four buds, which should be nipped off to intensify ramification. This de-heading should be done regularly. The more de-heading and pruning you do, the thicker the leafage of your tree becomes. It is important to watch that only these branches remain that grow “inwards” toward the head. Then your tree will be filled with foliage.

Trailing varieties of Fuchsias are best grown in hanging baskets or pot. It will look very impressive if several fuchsia species are set in one pot – you will have a multicolored firework of delicate beauty.

Pests and diseases. Fuchsias seldom get diseases. Under conditions of increased humidity, powdery mildew can appear. In this case, preparation phundazol remedies the plant: 1 g per 1 l of water.

The most widely spread pest of Fuchsias is whitefly. These are tiny (up to 2mm) specks of white color. They have their name because their two pairs of wings are covered with white farina. Outwardly they resemble microscopic moth.

Leaves fall off. The possible reason this occurs is warm dry air. A common reason for exfoliation of lower leaves is insufficient watering or lack of light.

Flower buds fall off. The probable reason for this is disturbance in water treatment (too much or too little water). Other possible reasons include insufficient light, too much warm air or the pot was reset to another place or turned with respect to the light.

Short blooming season. The blooming period can decrease for many reasons. This might happen in the winter if the plan is kept in a warm room and heavily watered or not fed and watered enough, or because of light shortage during the growth period.

Brown spots with yellow rims on the leaves. Blotches on leaves occur if the soil is too damp in the cold season.

When you love your Fuchsia, it will reward you with beautiful blooms throughout the whole summer!