FUCHSIAS - 2021

Hi,

Just been out to check the plants in the greenhouse during a brief spell of sunshine, the first for some days.

Found one Fuchsia with three leaves showing signs of a new outbreak of Rust ! so think its a timely reminder to check yours if you have any still in leaf.

Got a little USB microscope as a xmas present so thought it would be interesting to have closer look as below.

Think the microscope, which can be used on a moby, will be very useful for spotting things like Red Spider Mite that are really hard to see in the early days, as we found last year.

 

Seems very quiet in this thread, nobody doing Fuchsias this year ?

Been starting ours off with a bit of low heat but already lost Voodoo to vine wevils , we had it outside last year .

Looking around for replacements ( mail order) and the good one mentioned in the forum are not sending out till March or later.

However did notice this company has been advertising in a magazine for the last couple of weeks, but their site only shows the plants but no box or basket to add them to ?
Mailed them to see if we could pre order etc but no reply.

Seem strange to pay advert costs if you are not open for business ?

Anyone know of or have bought from them before ?

https://www.roualeynfuchsias.co.uk/

 

I only have the 'Mrs Popple' that I planted last Spring and would like to add a couple more of the pollinator-friendly ones, but only if I can get the blooming things to grow properly! Was initially quite impressed by how well it flowered for a juvenile shrub but it seemed to shed the flowers rather quickly after opening! I'm also getting frustrated with the lack of growth as it has barely reached 3/4 of a foot after all this time. Can hardy fuchsias take a while to establish or something?

Nick

 

Hi,

Have grown several Mrs Popple for years, in full shade,semi shade and sun, they seem bomb proof , ours are about 4ft tall by 4-5 wide/deep in high summer, chop them down to about 100-150mm in December, when sometimes they still have flowers on !

Think that might give you the hint that somethings very wrong with yours ?

1 Are you sure its Mrs. Popple, the labels can get switched at garden centers.

2. Is it in a pot or the garden soil.

3. In full sun, shade ?

4. Everything round about growing well ?

5. Watering ok ?

If its dropping the flowers so quick, would seem like its too dry or sometihn wrong with the roots?

Could be a partial attack of vine weevil, if you do dig it up look for curved whitish grubs around the roots, or whats left of them,

Only being 9" tall after whole year, think you would be better replacing it and the surrounding soil.
If its so stunted its never going to recover properly or if it does taking years to do so.

Pic below not ours, but very similar, what they look like ater 2 -3 years of good growth.

 

@ricky101 Thanks for the useful checklist. I think it's definitely the right cultivar because it comes from a very reliable nursery. I planted it in the ground at the correct depth. I'm thinking shade may be an issue because the position it's currently in is right at the lower end of part shade, about 3 hours. It's in a particularly awkward area at the bottom of my back garden, the soil is heavy clay and it's a the bottom of a slight slope, so quite a bit of water can gather there. Only tougher plants like geraniums, laurustinus, eupatorium and ajuga seem to do fine there. It's planted in MPC, but could still be too wet. Do you think the excessive moisture could also be responsible for retarding its growth?

Nick

 

Hi,

It could well be the wet, but as said if its so small its clealry not well , so best to remove it and inspect its roots, if there are plenty you could pot it up and keep it somewhere drier and sheltered and see if it revives in the late spring.
Always give outdoor Fuchsias plenty of time to start re sprouting as they can be a lot later than many other plants.

Think we would get another healthy looking plant in a couple of months, but keep it in a pot and half bury it in that area so it stands a bit proud of any flooding and see how it goes.

 

Good point, I've got complacent with my fuchsias growing perennially with the mild winters.. Not sure if I'll see so many surviving this year.

 

We'll cross our respective fingers and hope, eh, JR?

 

I'm hoping the cold weather has killed off my Fuchsia Gall Mite.

 

I have a Fushia (Display) I bought last year. It's in a pot and put on a beautiful show last year. It looks as dead as a dodo now but I did read it was deciduous. I did scratch a little off the base last week and there was signs of life.

 

Assuming its planted outside as it is a Hardy type ? then it can be quiet late into the year before they spring back into life.

I all depends on their location, sun or shade, warm or cold spot, which affects how quicky they come back into life.

If we have a warm/hot long dry start to the Spring, giving the dead looking branches a spray with water to help soften things for the new buds.

Often in a very cold frosty winter, you do not get any new top growth, depending on how hardy they are, but they then send up new shoots at ground level, but you need to watch out and protect them as the slugs and snails love such tender shoots.

Thats why putting a layer of compost over the crown of the plant in late Autum will give it that extra bit of protection

 

Yes please keep them down there, we have enough trouble with the Vine Weevils !!

 

Thanks @ricky101 it will be well worth the wait