Fuchsia

The fuchsia plant (Fuchsia) is a representative of the Cyprus family. This genus includes about a hundred species. In their natural environment, they live on the South American continent, but can also be found in Central America.

The name of the flower comes from the name of the botanist Fuchs, a German plant researcher who stood at the origins of botany. Growing fuchsia at home is not too difficult. Sometimes the plant is used to create small standard trees or serves as ampel plantings. For the successful cultivation of fuchsia, you will definitely need a cool wintering.

Description of fuchsia

Fuchsia is a shrub or tree. Its leaves can be located opposite or be collected in whorls. Some species begin to shed their foliage during the dormant period. The shape of the leaf plates can be different, most often they are slightly elongated. The edges of the leaf may be jagged or smooth. The recognizable flowers of the plant can be colored in shades of white, pink, purple or red. They bark with a prominent tube-shaped cup, decorated with protruding stamens. The petals and calyx can be solid or painted in different colors and shades.

There are varieties with double flowers. A wide palette of fuchsia colors, including rather rare tones, gave the name to one of the shades of purple, as well as to a chemical compound with a solution of a similar color - fuchsin.

It is known that growing in its homeland, fuchsia gives quite edible berries, which are rather difficult to obtain in indoor conditions. Often, dishes are decorated with flowers of this plant, by the way, edible.

Brief rules for growing fuchsia

The table shows brief rules for caring for fuchsia at home.

Fuchsia home care

Due to its unpretentiousness and ease of care, fuchsia is ideal for beginner growers. All that is needed to ensure good growth and flowering is to follow simple growing rules.

Lighting

For fuchsia, the east or west direction is best. A flower needs a sufficient amount of bright light, but only diffused rays will suit it. In the morning or in the evening, even the direct sun will not embarrass fuchsia. On the south side, it must be shaded at midday. To do this, you can use a light-scattering cloth or paper, or move the pot away from the window. On the north side, the plant will lack light, so the branches of the bush may stretch unnecessarily, and the flowering will be weak. To avoid this, the bush can be supplemented with phytolamps.

In the summer, you can move the fuchsia to a balcony or other place with open air, but a similar procedure is carried out, gradually accustoming the plant to new conditions. Sometimes some plant varieties are even grown outdoors. The hardened flower is able to withstand frosts down to -10 degrees.

During the budding period, fuchsia should not be disturbed. You should neither move the pot with it, nor even turn it - the plant will begin to drop buds, flowers or even foliage.

Temperature

During the development of fuchsia, a temperature of 18-24 degrees is suitable, but the plant does not like extreme heat. If the foliage of the bush has wilted, it is likely that the reason was not a lack of moisture, but overheating. In warm weather, you can keep fuchsia on the balcony, providing it with a corner, closed from the scorching sun and protected from rain and cold wind. If the flower remains at home, they try to ventilate the room more often, but at the same time avoid drafts.

Fuchsia should winter in a cool place. The absence of such conditions will lead to dropping of foliage and elongation of stems. A dark corner is considered optimal, where it keeps about 5-10 degrees. During this period, the bush will not need lighting and can shed some of the foliage. This allows you to keep the container with the plant in the basement or garage.

Watering mode

Well-settled, not cold water is suitable for watering fuchsia. From the beginning of spring to the first days of autumn, the flower is watered when the soil in the pot dries slightly. In autumn, the volume of irrigation is gradually reduced so that by the end of November it becomes completely scarce. This prepares the plant for wintering and promotes more lush flowering in the next season.

If fuchsia hibernates in a room where it stays less than 10 degrees, it is watered as rarely as possible - about several times a month. But in a warmer place, you should not completely reduce watering. You should also not completely dry out the clod of earth in the pot.

Humidity level

Fuchsia loves moderately high humidity and needs periodic spraying. For them, use water that has settled for at least a day. Since May, with the onset of heat, the plant is sprayed twice a day, trying to do this in the morning or at sunset so that water does not fall on the inflorescences. In the fall, you can only do this periodically. In winter, spraying is not carried out at all.

The soil

As a soil for growing fuchsia, a slightly acidic soil is used, including leafy soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 3: 2: 1. Can be added to soil and peat chips. A drainage layer must be placed on the bottom of the container (about 1/5 of the height of the pot). The pot itself should slightly exceed the old one in size. For fuchsias, ceramic containers are best suited. This material allows the flower not to overheat in the heat.

Top dressing

Fuchsia is fertilized in mid-spring. Once every 2-3 weeks, it is fed with a liquid complex composition for flowering. You can use the foliar application. An excess of fertilizers (especially nitrogen) must not be allowed. In winter, feeding is not required.

Transfer

Fuchsia is undemanding for transplanting: the flower should be transplanted when the pot becomes cramped. If the roots begin to crawl out of the drainage hole, then there is not enough space for them and you need to take a larger pot. The plant is not demanding for the quality of the pot, it is selected in the same way as for other flowers, the main thing is that it has good drainage.

Fuchsia is transplanted at the very beginning of spring. Usually this procedure is combined with pruning. In addition to shortening the branches, you can also trim the roots a little.

After transplanting, the fuchsia bush is abundantly sprayed and watered, and then placed in a moderately bright place. If desired, you can transplant fuchsia twice, replacing the earthen mixture in the container. This is usually done in the middle of summer. For about a month after transplanting, the plants are not fed.

Pruning

The bushes of the plant should be pruned regularly in the spring. Fuchsia, which spent the winter in a warm room, during this period can lose foliage and noticeably stretch out. Due to the fact that most of the buds will form on fresh young shoots, this procedure allows you to make the flowering more abundant. Old bare branches of the plant are removed. As a rule, they are shortened by at least a third, or they try to remove everything to the stiff part. This will allow the bush to maintain a more neat and attractive shape. The only exception is ampel fuchsia - such trimming will not add decorativeness to them.

The stems remaining from pruning can be used as planting material as cuttings. Fuchsia can be trimmed not only in spring, but throughout the entire growth period. When 3 pairs of leaves appear on fresh twigs, they are pinched.

You can form a fuchsia crown in the shape of a tree. One of the stems of the plant is tied to a vertical support, continuing to remove lateral shoots from it until the required height is reached. Then the top of the bush is cut off. Up to 5 lateral stems will form on it, which will serve as the crown of a mini-"tree". In a few years, they will grow and make the plant look even more attractive.

Bloom

Proper care will allow fuchsia to bloom for a long time. The flowering period can last from late spring to November. After the bush has faded, juicy fruits similar to berries can form on it. They are edible and are often used as a base for desserts. They are also used as a natural coloring agent. But at home, the plant can be processed with chemicals, so eating the fruits of such fuchsia for food can be dangerous.

The formation and growth of buds in a bush takes about 2 months. At the same time, species with simple and not too large flowers bloom earlier than others.

For more abundant flowering, you need to regularly remove fading flowers from the bush. The timely movement of the bush to the air will help to extend the process of bud formation until winter - this should be done in July. Over the summer, such fuchsia needs to be cut a little about 3 times.

Fuchsia breeding methods

Growing from seeds

In order for seeds to form on fuchsia, it is necessary to artificially pollinate its flowers. Seed reproduction does not transmit some of the characteristics of the mother plant, but it allows the creation of hybrids. For this, different types of plants are pollinated with flowers that differ in shape and color.

Seeds must be processed in a weak solution of manganese and sown shallowly in a container filled with soil. Under glass or film, seedlings appear within a couple of months. After the formation of several pairs of true leaves, they dive.

Propagation by cuttings

Sections of about 5-7 cm are used as cuttings. They must have at least a couple of internodes. The lower leaves are removed from the cuttings, leaving only a few pieces (up to 4) on top.For rooting, they are placed in water or planted in wet sand. At a temperature of about +20, the process of root formation takes from a couple of weeks to a month. Young twigs take root faster. After that, the cuttings are planted in separate pots about 9 cm in diameter. A mixture of equal parts of sand, leafy earth, humus and turf is used as a soil.

To get more lush bushes, you can place several cuttings in one container. Such fuchsias will bloom this year.

Cuttings can be carried out until the end of the growing season. But for slow-growing species, segments from the bush are taken not in spring, but at the very end of summer. Sometimes leafy cuttings are also used for propagation.

Possible growing difficulties

One of the reasons for problems with fuchsia is considered to be poor ventilation of the room. Lack of air movement can affect plant health. It is for this that the room with a flower is recommended to be ventilated more often or to move the pot to fresh air in the warm season.

Flowering ends too quickly

A flowering wave that ends too quickly can be caused by several factors. The first of them is insufficiently cool wintering and abundant watering during this period. Other reasons include a lack of lighting during the growing season or a lack of moisture and nutrients in the summer. An excess of nitrogen in the soil can also harm the flowering - in this case, the fuchsia may not bloom. The introduction of phosphorus and potassium will help to correct the situation.

Sometimes the reason for the lack of flowering becomes too small a pot. In this case, the bush will need to be transplanted into a more suitable container.

Leaves fall

Falling leaves may be associated with unfavorable plant conditions. Poor lighting, improper watering, low humidity, or excessively hot weather can be the cause. If fuchsia sheds leaves in winter, it is likely that the bush is in too bright sun and needs to be removed from there. Untimely buds are pinched during this period.

Spots on the leaves

Foliage mottling can occur due to over-watering during the winter. If the foliage has become pale, the bush may have been planted in unsuitable or too poor soil.

Shedding buds

During bud formation and flowering, you should not disturb the fuchsia bush - in this case, all the flowers from it will fall off. To avoid this, you do not need to move or twist the pot, and also expose it to drafts.

Pests

Whiteflies and spider mites can settle on the fuchsia bush. The presence of whitefly is manifested in the appearance of rusty spots on the leaf blades. Fuchsia can react to spider mites by shedding foliage. Such pests should be dealt with with insecticidal preparations.

Types and varieties of fuchsia with photos and names

Fuchsia brilliant (Fuchsia fulgens)

Mexican species native to the mountains. It forms tall bushes up to 2 meters in size and branches quite strongly. On bare twigs there are large elongated or heart-shaped leaves. There are notches on the edge of each leaf blade. The leaf width reaches 12 cm, and the length is about 20 cm. Hanging cluster inflorescences are formed on the tops of the stems. They consist of reddish flowers with petals up to 10 cm long. The whisk is the same size. As it approaches the base, it narrows. Flowering continues throughout the summer. After it, fruits are formed on fuchsia - edible berries.

Fuchsia boliviana

The species lives not only in Bolivia, but also in the mountains of Argentina and Ecuador. Reaches a meter height. The foliage has a slight sharpness at the top and a finely toothed edge. The width of each plate reaches 6 cm, the length is up to 15 cm. This fuchsia blooms until mid-spring. At this time, inflorescences-brushes are formed on it, located at the tops of the shoots. They contain small red flowers.

Fuchsia magellanic (Fuchsia magellanica)

Either multi-colored fuchsia (Fuchsia discolor), or conical fuchsia (Fuchsia conica). The size of such a shrub can be very impressive and reach up to 5 m in height. It has branches of a purple hue, covered with weak pubescence. The foliage can grow on them one by one or be collected in whorls of 3 plates each. The leaves have a serrated edge and crimson veins. The length of each leaf reaches 5 cm. Flowers are formed in the axils. They are collected in inflorescences of several pieces or are arranged singly. The flowers have a reddish corolla and a purple calyx. Flowering begins in late spring and lasts almost until autumn.

Fuchsia corymbose (Fuchsia corymbiflora)

The species lives in the mountainous regions of Ecuador and Peru. Forms large bushes up to 5 m tall. She has erect shoots. The foliage is oval and slightly pubescent. The width of the leaf plate reaches 7 cm, the length - up to 17 cm. Each leaf has a reddish central vein. The flowers of this species combine purple petals with a scarlet calyx. Flowering occurs in the second half of summer.