Fuchsias are extremely adaptable plants, cultivated for their very attractive, pendent flowers. They have their origin in Central and South America and New Zealand, that is why in temperate climates they are grown as indoor plants but love to be taken out in summer. Fuchsias prefer a loam-based potting compost and a bright filtered light with moderate to high humidity. During growth, water freely and apply a balanced liquid fertilizer monthly. Keep just moist in winter.
Fuchsia's attractive flowers are usually pendent, occasionally erect or semi-erect and mostly born singly or in groups from the leaf axils. They are often bicolored, with a corolla of one hue and a tube and four sepals of another. Single flowers have four petals, semi-double flowers five-seven petals, double flowers eight or more petals and fully double flowers have more than eight petals. They cover the full range of hues from white to pink, red and violet.
Fuchsias may be grown as a bush, as a tree or ones with downright habit look very attractive when planted in hanging baskets and window boxes. Mixing fuchsias with other trailing plants makes a very successful basket display.
You can propagate fuchsias by sowing seeds at 15-24 Celsius degrees (59-75 F) in spring. The other way is to root softwood cuttings in spring or semi-ripe cuttings in late summer with bottom heat. In late autumn you can still take hardwood cuttings and set them in a cold frame. As fuchsia grow easily from cuttings you can actually take cuttings at any time of the year when plants have suitable, non-flowering shoots.
You can train fuchsia to grow as a bush. When the cutting has developed three sets of leaves, pinch out the growing point. This will stimulate the production of sideshoots lower down the stem. A few weeks later, when several sideshoots have developed, pinch out the top set of leaves from each sideshoot to encourage further branching. Continue to pinch out the growing points of new sideshoots as they develop. Stop pinching out sideshoots when the plant has a symmetrical shape with evenly spaced shoots. Lax plants may need staking.
You can also train fuchsia to grow as a tree. When the cutting is about 15 cm high, pinch out any sideshoots as they appear in the leaf axils. Continue to do this to produce a long, straight stem. Tie the plant to a cane. When the plant reaches the required height, live it to produce three more sets of leaves, then pinch out the growing tip. Pinch out the tips of the sideshoots that form at the top of the stem so that they will branch further. Once the head has filled out, the leaves on the stem will usually drop off naturally, or they may be carefully removed.
