Fuchsias over winter

[digger]

Hi all, I am going to over winter my fuchsias and i was hoping that someone could advise me how it is best done, i have read that it is better to rest the older plants and allow them to die back but cuttings struck in autumn should be kept growing at a temperature of about 5 degrees celsius. I tried a year ago to allow my older plants to die back and they died back completely and never saw the light of day again. At the moment all of the plants are in the greenhouse which is warm and can be lit up. I am led to believe that Paul will have the sufficient knowledge to advise me.

[Paul Narramore]

Digger, Pin back your lug oles. I have two sorts of fuchsias - hardy ones, which stay in the ground all year round; and tender ones, which stay in pots all year round and will shortly need to come into my unheated greenhouse. NOTE - Even so called hardy fuchsias which are kept in pots should come into the greenhouse. The cold gets to their roots through the sides of the pots and may well kill them off.

Right so you have the potted plants in the greenhouse. What I do is to reduce all stems by 50%, then strip off all of the leaves and flowers. This looks drastic but if left on, they may well start to rot and get infected. Clear any dead leaves and flowers from the tops of the compost too. Place under the greenhouse staging and more or less forget about them. Allow the compost to ALMOST but NOT QUITE dry out. Water very sparingly. Bone dry and they'll die off; too wet and they may rot. Should the weather become really extreme, just lay a piece of fleece over them. In the spring, put on the top of the staging and sprinkle overhead from a watering can & rose. This encourages them to produce news shoots.

Cuttings taken in autumn. I leave mine on top of the staging and keep an eye on them. Again water very sparingly, and I'd leave the leaves on them. Keep a very close eye on them so make sure the dreaded mold doesn't creep up on them. If you see any, the compost might be too moist. If in doubt, bring into a cool bedroom for a week of R&R.

Outdoor (and therefore 'hardy') fuschias - the large ones (I've some 6ft tall and across) I just leave well alone. With stems 1" in diameter, they are well capable of looking after themselves. The smaller ones - say 10" tall and across - I'd put a mound of tree bark around their bases to protect them from the cold.

[digger]

Thanks Paul, When you say reduce them stems by half, should i cut them to a point just above the leaf nodes? I think i must have let the compost dry out last year which led to the death of the plants. perhaps i shoul take a few more "insurance" cuttings from them

[Paul Narramore]

Cutting them above a leaf node? I don't think you have to be too careful as in the spring they'll be sprouting leave shoots from all over the place. It's pretty late for cuttings but if you bring them into the kitchen, say on the window sill, they might succeed. As we're well into November, I doubt if there would be much growth. I put a couple of 'Blackie' cuttings last month into small blocks of oasis, something my mother used to do with success, and they aren't doing anything but surviving.