When you buy a plant you want to enjoy it. That is possible, but you have to know a few rules. You must always remember that fuchsia's need a lot of water, they need lots of manure and they need to have a good stand. Then your plant will bloom beautifully until the night frost starts. For clearer instructions we will go in mote detail on the good care of fuchsias.

The stand.

I think you bought a plant that isn't able to stay outside in wintertime. There are so-called Hall winterproof  kinds, which can not  stay in the soil outside. All fly-over parts die by high night frost, but in spring-time they will start to grow again. When planting choose a place in the morning sun or evening sun or half shade, above the upper bright afternoon sun. You have to try to avoid the full sun. Orange coloured flowers can bear more sun than others, white flowers turn pink. We prefer the plant in the garden or on the balcony, if the plant is in the houes give it a well lit environment, but not in the sun.

Giving water

The fuchsia loves water.Which means they need water every day. If it rains you need to look if the soil in the pot has got water, by if it is by closed and bushy plants they ground will stay dry.

Pots

When the pot is too small compare with the plant, then the pot needs to be exchanged for a larger one. In this case the clod will be full of roots. When the plants are standing on a balcony or patio, we prefer plastic pots. With plastic pots the soil in the pot will lose less water then in a brick pot. In the garden we can bury the plant with the pot, which is easily when you have to take it out in the fall. But we can plant the plants without the pot as well. The advantage without a pot is that they won't get dry too fast

Compost

We take the compost which is available in every florist or gardencenter. Which exist out of peat-soil together with some sand and manure. Since Fuchsia's desire a lot of manure we add to the soil some dry cow-manure or fresh cow-manure.

For example, 1 part of the manure by 10 parts of soil. Make from the entire a nice mixture. flowerboxes etc. need to be filled with soil and the plants can be planted without the pots.

To Manure

Every week we need to make a mixture of fertilizer, as is indicated on the packaging of the manure. To change brands is good from time to time, because the composition is different. Adding from time to time some cow-manure is recommended.

The non-winter proof sorts can hibernate in:

a. A greenhouse or a frost free place in the house, basement or garage, light is not nessesary. Watch out that the plants do not dry out, you need to water them ones a week. Crown trees do need a little more water, as the soil needs to stay damp. But watch out, don't water them too much. Manure is not nessesary in winter-time.

b. A hole: dig a hole about 60 cm deep. We have to make sure we are above the height of the water. We knock the plants out of their pots and cut the braches back, get the leaves off and get the soil off the roots. We lay the plant in like a roof-tile on a thick layer of turtmolm in the hole. We can lay three layers on each other and over that some netting and plastic. Over this we add a layer of turtmolm of leaves, and over that sand. For a bad frost you can make an extra layer.

c. Just as in B, but not in the soil, on top of the soil. This occur that by high water our plants lay in the water which brings them damage.

d. In a chest with turtimolm on a balcony or in a garage. You can make the walls and bottom frost-free by putting thick plates of foam-plastic on it.

Activities in springtime:

Plants should be put ouside at the end of March, in a well lit environment. Always plant them in clean pots and fresh soil. If they start outgrowing the pots, they need to be pruned back. When pruning, two thirds of the branch needs to be cut off. Broken branches will also need to be removed. To protect the growing plants against night frost, put a plastic or another screen over it. When we are pleased with the look of our plants we may be tempted to take cuttings. Well that is not a problem! As long as we have well growing shoots. We prefer the non-wooden ends about 6cm long. On the bottom make a cut just below a leaf-couple. Remove the bottom leaves. The cutting has to be put in a mixture of turtmolm and sand in a warm well lit environment. In three weeks the cutting will have enough roots to put it in a pot with compost. The compost we described by 4

From cutting to bush

To get a beautiful full bush you have to pinch the tops out as soon as the growing cutting gets 2 or 3 leaf-couples. You will probably have to pinch again later to get a nice bush

From cutting to crown tree

To grow a tree we prefer use a strong growing sort. Adjacent to the rooted cutting, place a little stick to put the branches around from time to time. Do not place the stick too close, otherwise the stem will get thicker. Do not snip the tops, but let them keep growing. When the cutting is 15 - 20 cm high, change the pot into a larger one. Do not remove the leaves of the stem. If nessesary replace the stick for a longer one. As soon as they reaches the preferred height, trim the top. Remove all side branches that grow on the stem, but keep the first 3 or 4 on the stem. Should the leaves on the stem fall, ensure that the strings are not too tight on the stem and the stick. Manure often and change pots at the right time. Important non wooden plants can not hibernate in a hole or darkness. They have to stay in a greenhouse or hibernate in a room with ambient temperature, preferrably frost-free.

"The fuchsia is fascinating, shining and mysterious. It's full of flower-shapes, colours and colour combinations; there are pendants, climbers, bushes and trunks. She does not ask for a lot, but gives a lot".