Fuchsias - easy to love!

Have your fuchsias overwintered in a cold frame?

Assuming that they have survived, bringing your plants back into growth is always a case of timing, depending on the facilities you have available.

You will need to be able to keep your plants at a constant daytime temperature with a few degrees drop at night not being a problem. If you have suitable conditions available to cover this such as a greenhouse you can start as early as January.

Prune the plants back to about the third leaf joint from the base. You will see the scar where the leaf was attached. Having done this you will need to re-pot your plants using fresh compost.

First carefully tease out as much of the old compost from the roots as possible without damaging any white roots, these are the new ones. Re-pot using a size that is only just large enough to accommodate the roots. Plant firmly. A point to remember is that the compost should be just moist enough to retain its shape when squeezed into a ball.

Now these plants will need good light and a minimum temperature of about 7C. A spray of tepid water every morning will enhance the breaking of the dormant buds. You may wish to add Maxicrop at feed strength to this spray as it is more effective and also helps to keep whitefly at bay. To help maintain the shape of the plant give the pot a quarter turn every two or three days.

All being well the new shoots should develop and give you fresh cutting material, but if you want your plant for a show it is better to grow it on for that purpose than rob it of cuttings. If this is so pinch out the growing tip after the third leaf joint of each shoot.

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