FUCHSIAS - 2021/22/23

Decided to have a follow up on this. I removed bad looking leaves, gave plants a cut and left pot alone. Fuschias started growing nicely again.
Unfortunately gall mites arrived, I will have to discard plants :(.
It's a shame, I love fuschias. But I see many plants affected in Portsmouth including our neighbours'.

 

Heard mention of a Nematode for the F. gall mite - this link does some but no idea how effective they are, though worth a try for the relatively low price ...?

Amblyseius Andersonii | Green Gardener

 

Which trailing fuchsia is your favourite please? I intend to buy a lot of them this spring

 

Hi,

So many to choose from !

If you have protection then you want to be ordering / buying from now onwards, garden centers have small well rooted cuttings in pots for about a £1 or and even good sized ones for about £3 at the better places.

You can buy hanging basket collections from the big suppliers for not that much, but it will be a few more months before they are big enough to flower.

For a hanging baskets we find Marcus Graham is very good as its produces lots of flowers and looks really good on its own or with others.

Celia Smedley is another we like which is kind of half way between a bush and a trailer, depending on how you train it, though its a very big plant

Voodoo is another if you like strong dark colours.

Some other old time well known favorites are Swingtime and Snowburner

MG



CS



VD

 

Thank you so much

 

This is Fuchsia 'Beacon' with the first flowers opening on the balcony. I've been growing this variety for many years. This is a cutting that flowered last year which was a cutting of a cutting, etc. well you get the picture. :D

Some years ago I had grown 3 standards of it from cuttings; they grew well on 3ft high stems & lasted for several years. They died during the terrible winter of 2009/10. But I've always kept a few cuttings in the house to overwinter & thus I've been able to grow it on over a great many years.

 

@Balc , do a similar thing with Celia Smedley as metioned above, though its only slightly hardy and when in full flower so top heavy the branches can snap off if its too windy.

 

@Auricula , what are thoughts on varieties and what are your plans for growing them, in tubs, hanging baskets, the greenhouse bench or just indoors ?

Forgot to mention another good trailer we like, the Marinka family, partic the golden type for something a bit different.

Have you seen this supplier where you can buy one offs.
https://www.roualeynfuchsias.co.uk/product-category/trailing/

There are some decent sellers on ebay at good prices , this one looks good though not ordered from them; sure other members will have recommendations,
| eBay

 

Mainly hanging baskets and lots which hook over the top of the fence.
I have quite a number of bush fuchsia s bit am far less knowledgeable about trailing ones

 

@Auricula

I found this one, 'Adrienne', to be a good flowerer when I grew it in a hanging basket on our balcony last year. Big flowers that last some time on the plants & very prolific!

 

I had a 2nd trailing Fuchsia on the balcony called 'Time-after-Time'. This one wasn't as vigorous as the other but the flowers were daintier & more delicate. I like it very much & hope to get some cuttings from it later.

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That's a very pretty one @Balc I also have it

 

I had a look at the Fuchsias I have on the balcony this morning & it seems the majority have survived the winter. This one is still in the hanging basket it spent last summer in & I noticed little sprouts of new growth. Many of the others are doing well also.

One I thought might be dead because there is no sign of new growth yet but when I scratched a tiny bit of bark off I saw it was green underneath!

 

I've just about given up on ornamental fuchsias due to fuchsia gall mite, Thalia is the only one I still have as it's at least partially tolerant. I have got a number of species fuchsias including F microphylla and F campos-portoi planted out and F paniculata in the greenhouse where it has flowered all winter.

 

Fuchsia gall mites have become a real problem here in London too @NigelJ; sad as I really love hardy fuchsias which always all used to do well here. I tried cutting back, but ended up having to take out Mrs Popple, Hawkshead and a variegated magellanica. Genii and low-growing Sunray however are still here, having never attracted the mites, and are just starting into leaf.
A microphylla stayed in the ground over the winter (though I did take some cuttings for safety!) and although we have had the odd ground frost always kept its leaves. It also, this morning, already has flowers: