FUCHSIAS - 2021

I have one of those USB Microscopes. Really good. Can be used also for seeing that splinter/thorn, in an awkward spot. I also have three other microscopes. I will put a piccie up.

Concerning the fuchsias. I will have to start all over again. At the moment I haven't any. I will stock up again with the older varieties. Much more reliable.

 

@Mike Allen
I'm envious Mike, this is all that I've got!

 

Oh nooo, just checked my fuchsia in the greenhouse and it has loads of rust on the leaves, what is the best remedy please? And should I move it out of the greenhouse as I have some buddleia cuttings, pansy seedlings, jasmine and honeysuckle in there too?
Thanks for any advice.

 

@Tinkerbelle61
I would remove the affected leaves and dispose of them, pick up any fallen leaves you can find, leave it in the greenhouse for the time being.
I wouldn't worry about other plants in the greenhouse as rusts tend to be species specific.

 

@NigelJ thanks for the advice, have removed the leaves, there were quite a few, each time I turned the pot around I found more. It’s looking a bit sad now, but has some new buds coming through (I have a small tube heater in there so it says above zero, even when covered in snow, was 12 degrees in there today). I will check it again tomorrow.

I forgot, there are three fuchsia cuttings from last year in there too, all had been looking very dead, but now two of them are showing signs of life, should I move these out or just keep an eye out for rust?

 

@Tinkerbelle61 I would leave the fuchsia cuttings in the greenhouse and just keep an eye on them. the RHS advice can be found here Fuchsia rust
I would steer clear of chemical control if at all possible and practice good hygiene and once they start to grow try and keep them growing strongly. By the sounds of it the rust is unlikely to be fatal.

 

Thankfully the rust seems to have stayed on just that one plant, as mentioned , removing the affected leaves.

Also restarted spraying all the Fuchsias once a week using SB Plant Invigorator that we got last summer due to a red spider mite outbreak.
Supposed to make the plants healther etc, though hard to say how effective it really is vs just a plain water spraying ?

 

@ricky101 plenty of ventilation can help with preventing fuchsia rust. Also some varieties seem more prone to it than others.

 

Just thought this seller of Fuchsia cuttings/plugs worth a mention as we were able to order the named trailing varieties we wanted, got 2 off of 4 different ones for just £10.52 delivered !

Received them yesterday and potted the well packed plugs up and after a night in the propagator they look good and healthy, good root systems too. way better than any cuttings we root ourselves ??


2 X FUCHSIA PLUG PLANTS CHOICE OF VARIETIES READY FROM EARLY FEB | eBay

 

I recently bought a microscope.
I'm going to use it to study Fuchsia Gall Mite life cycle and try to use it to time when to spray.

 

Sounds an interesting project but what could you spray with ?
From what we read there is nothing sprayable that will kill them all and stop the spread ?

 

That's interesting. What type of microscope have you bought?

 

Sometimes JR, that is all you need. A good microscope can cost you a fair bit. Then you can spend days, months even years looking at the scope and wondering why ever you bought it.

As I have mentioned. I have four including the small USB endoscope one. This you can hold or use on a stand. Plugged into your computer, you get very good images. Plus another benefit is that it will actually take photos of what you are looking at.These can be filed away and kept. I certainly recomend this scope for the average gardener tree budding scientist.

Just a few details about my microscopes. The single eyepiece one, is a Motic, known as a compound microscope. It has a built in light source. The actual eyepiece can be removed, and a suitable camera be inserted. This allows you to view the image on the computer screen and take photos. Certainly a benefit for persons with eyesight problems. I bought this model from a chap on ebay. To be honest. I've never used it.

Then I have the Am Scope 2000X + USB camera. This is known as a Trinocular compound microscope. It has stereo optical tubes plus the upright tube for the camera. It has a mechanical stage and other benefits. Plus four objective lenses giving upto 2000 times magnification. This is the jobby, this lets you see the inside of things.

Finally my dissecting microscope. This has stereo viewing, and an eyepiece can be removed so that a usb camera can be used. The lens is simple. Mine is 1X and 3X. In practice it acts in the same way as a magnifying glass.

To see life from another perspective is great. However as I said. Be cautious when embarking on microscopy. It can be very expensive.

 

Thanks for the rhs link @NigelJ very helpful. No I won’t spray it, but will give it a light feed (probably only multipurpose feed as that is all I have in the shed atm, or slow release maybe?). Realise now that it probably erupted as the window with the auto vent became rotted over the winter and was leaking into the greenhouse causing it to be very damp in there.

OH put some temporary plastic up and I got a tube heater (thank you to the GC member who recommended it from Screwfix on another thread)(sorry can’t remember name to thank them directly) which has resolved the problem for now, together with drier weather. OH will make a new sash window for the greenhouse sometime soon, fingers crossed.

 

I was looking into it and it seems you have to catch the mite just at the right time when spraying.
That's where the microscope study comes in.

I've also read that a particular chemical seems to have an effect called Abamectin.

But I'm just hoping the really cold weather has killed it off.