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Growing A Standard Fuchsia |
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Please click on the thumbnails to view the pictures full size.Lets talk about growing a standard fuchsia. If you want to make your neighbours envious of your garden, there is no better way to do so than by placing a standard fuchsia in it. It can take two years to grow a good one, but when you see the final result you'll know that it was well worth the time and effort. My
favourite plant for making an excellent standard is one named Waveney Sunrise.
Not only does it We start by taking a cutting in the early spring.
If we can choose one with We remove new branches in the leaf axils close to
the stem as they grow. We do not remove the main leaves on the stem because
these will be We can leave the new side shoots in the top four or five joints as the plant grows. Then if the plant accidentally loses its growing point at any stage, we will have side growth in place to start re-forming the head. If all the side shoots have been removed and the growing tip is accidentally broken off, it would take quite a while for new growth to begin again to form the head. We need to keep the plant growing unchecked, so we pot up into a larger size pot as soon as the roots comfortably fill the pot. We need to be very careful with the watering at this time. The plan is to encourage the plant to make a large root system, we do this by controlling the amount of water we give the plant. We are aiming to make the plant put roots out into the new compost to search for water. We don?t let the plant get dust dry, but are careful and try to just give it enough water to make it search for more. We are aiming to have the plant in a 10? or 12? pot by the end of the first season. We do not make the mistake of potting up into too large a pot for the size of the roots. The compost can soon get wet and soggy and rot the entire root system, thus killing the plant. Please remember this old adage: More fuchsia plants are killed by overwatering, than are killed by under-watering. When our standard reaches a height that suits us,
we leave the top four or When the plant is growing strongly in the final size pot and has filled the pot with roots, we can begin to feed it with a high nitrogen fertilizer to promote plenty of fresh green growth. We continue keeping all the shoots pinched tightly as the plant grows. We plan on forming a well shaped head in the first year. We are not really bothered about letting the plant flower at this time. We don?t get too worried if the shape does not develop exactly as we hoped. If we get any stray branches that grow longer and faster than the others, they can be removed early on in the shaping process. We are planning on getting a nicely shaped head in the first year and this is the time to cut out any wayward growth.. We will over-winter our standard in a frost?free environment, just as we do with our other fuchsia plants. I myself keep them in a greenhouse, the heater is set to keep the temperature just above freezing. I find that they survive quite well in there. When we bring in our standard it is the best time to prune it. We cut back to the shape we want to begin with next spring. During the winter months we watch very carefully to be sure the roots do not dry out completely. Let me remind you again. Please remember the old adage: More fuchsia plants are killed by overwatering, than are killed by under-watering. In the following spring when the standard begins to show signs of coming into growth we need to re-pot it into some new compost and lightly prune the roots. I use an old serrated-edged bread knife for this task. We knock the plant out of the pot and using the saw-like knife, remove about 2 inches of compost from the bottom of the root ball. Then using a piece of stick or plastic we remove all the loose compost and dead, brown roots from around the root-ball. Now we re-pot the plant back into the same pot using clean new compost and give it a good watering in. This is the standard fuchsia?s second year and we intend letting it flower this time. We continue forming the head by pinching out the growing tips, until about eight to ten weeks before we want the plant to flower. We then let it grow and look forward to a stunning display. Enjoy your standard! |
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April 24, 2009 09:26:01
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