Help with Fuchsia

Would appreciate any help as I’m not a gardener and would much prefer not to be responsible for the demise of a Fuchsia that I was gifted last year. It currently lives indoors still in its small pot because work is still needed on the outside of our house. When I was given it (I think around June 2021) it was bursting with flowers and continued to flower beautifully. Flowers all died off as we headed into Autumn (fine) and while it has now perked a little there’s no sign of any more buds imminent and I have a vague feeling that I ought to have pruned / snipped it back. I’ve put a photo below of its current state and would really love some advice!

 

Mine outside look like that. I think it's too early for the buds to be showing.

 

It looks in good enough condtion for now though it might do a little better moved closer to some better light / window this time of year, but generally not in direct sunlight.

You can see the new top growth is getting a little leggy so we often pinch out about half the length of the new growth which encourages a more bushy habit.

The pot looks more than large enough for now.

 

Mine outside are just sticks at the moment. Plenty of time for flowers to form.

 

Not what most would do I guess, but I would cut it back by half and keep it just moist until new growth gets well underway.

 

Agree with Pete , cut down by half what I would add put a few of the pieces you cut of in a jar of water and try and root them ,,, dont over water your fuchsia you will make the roots rot

Spruce

 

If you cut back by a half you are encouraging it to bush out , all the little green buds below your cut will branch out and form side shoots . As the side shoots grow , pinch out the growing tips leaving three sets of leaves . Do this a few times until the plant reaches the size you want.
Result ….one nice bushy fuchsia covered in flowers.

 

Thanks so much for your reply - it actually sits more or less below a skylight and I took the picture early yesterday morning before the sun was properly up. I was worried about pot size so good to know that’s not a hindrance!

 

Do you mean literally snip down the branches half way down? Apologies for being dense - I am literally clueless when it comes to gardening - my limit has generally been burying some bulbs in compost and seeing what pops up!

I’ll have a look around on YouTube for some demo videos, I think!

 

I would cut each stem at least halfway down ,that way it will shoot out from the tops of where it's been cut.
If you leave it, it will always have the bare stems at the bottom and will look top heavy.

 

So, literally reduce it (for the moment) to twigs? I’m fine with doing that, just want to make sure I’m understanding properly!

 

@SparkintheDark .

I just cut mine all back to fairly low, they'll soon grow back strong and bushy.

I would cut yours back by half if it were mine.

 

Yes, just brown twigs, reduce watering because it wont want as much until it grows new shoots and leaves.
You could then do as @Spruce says and use the pieces you cut off as cuttings, if you want to.
Make sure you keep it in a bright position.

 

Just to add definitely place the bit that you remove into water, they root really easily and you'll soon have a lovely lot!!

 

Oops snap Pete!!