How to Cultivate Fuchsia

If you have a shady spot in the garden that is crying out for color, consider planting a fuchsia. A perennial flowering shrub, fuchsia bears its purple and pink flowers along long stems, providing not only color, but drama as well. Grow fuchsia in its natural shrub form or in hanging containers. To successfully cultivate fuchsia, provide it with lots of water and fertilizer and keep its roots cool.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Fertilizer
• Pruning shears
• Insecticidal soap

1. Provide the fuchsia with morning sun and shade in the afternoon. It also grows well in dappled sunlight. Protection from heat is critical when growing fuchsia.

2. Water the fuchsia frequently and soak the soil when you do. Fuchsia loves lots of water, especially on warm days when it will cool the plant’s roots, so keep the soil moist at all times. If there is a saucer beneath the potted fuchsia, empty it after each watering.

3. Fertilize the fuchsia with an 18-18-18 formula, at half the strength recommended on the label for the size of your plant. Add it to the irrigation water so that the plant is fed every time you water.

4. Remove dead flowers periodically during the growing season. If you need to prune the fuchsia, the American Fuchsia Society suggests that you do so in early spring. Water the plant two days before pruning. Cut off dead stems all the way to the soil. When pruning to control size, cut the stems back to just above a bud. Fuchsia blooms on new growth, so pruning it will help promote new flowers.

5. Treat pest infestations as soon as you become aware of them. Whiteflies and aphids can be controlled with insecticidal soap sprays, at the rate suggested on the product’s label. Spray the foliage until it drips.