Fuchsias

Got the day off tomorrow so will give the ones in the shed a good inspection.

 

Signs of life! Signs of life on the fuchsias in the shed!

Only thing is a couple look a bit mildewy - should I just spray and leave them where they are or could I risk taking the coldframe out of the shed and putting against a south facing wall, or is that too soon?

 

Bit soon as were due some frosts, although what type of Fuchsias are they? Is the sign of life from the stems, or from the base ? If the later, you may as well have left them outside, even the so called standard tender Fuchsias are hardy enough to come back from the roots..

If they are m'dew'd, cut the affected parts off and spray the rest. In my experience the affected parts of Mildewed plants are not salvageable.

 

Got a mixture of half hardy and tender, and the hardy Delta's Sarah that I take in anyway because I love it so much.

Life showing mainly from the stems - and I performed the scratch test on a couple that weren't showing at all and they're green (yaay!).

Okey dokey, thanks Stephen.

 

Brilliant i will try a scrape test on mine,i didnt think of doing that
Have you just left yours dry or does the cold frame keep moisture in it ?
Im confused about how much moisture they need whilst dormant so i had left mine without watering x

 

Yes, the coldframe has kept a lot more moisture in than I realised it would - I'm guessing that's why I've got a mildew problem on some of them. Actually when I picked a couple up they were much more damp than I expected or thought would necessarily be good for them, in the past the couple I've kept in large pots I've watered maybe once or twice through the winter and they've been fine.

 

I've been buying.
2 of each hoping to make a display at our annual show? (most plants I loose ).

Pink Marshmallow
Dark Velvet
Cascade.

Will see if I can remember to photograph the displays at the show in August.

Trevor

 

I scraped some of mine and they seemed greenish ive also had mildew and thats in the greenhouse and potting shed so i doubt you could avoid it in this soggy weather but you have watered a lot less than me so thats a bonus for you This winters a learning curve for me so i will be very happy if mine all make it through xx

 

Good stuff!

Same here. I only overwintered one fuchsia last year and that was hardy anyway. In the past, when I still lived in a flat, I got away with just leaving them in the pots on the balcony - being 3 floors up seemed to protect them from the worst of the cold and they got just enough water from the rain to keep them going. I basically got away with ignorning them apart from cutting them back! xx

 

The lovely weather inspired me to move the coldframe out of the shed. I've wrapped it in bubble wrap so I'm hoping the plants will be OK even though it's going to get colder again next week.

 

Just looked at the forecast again - light snow Thursday. I may have been a little previous.

 

I think they will be fine ,if it was below freezing for a few days then i would be worrying.
My smaller ones seem to showing signs of life but the larger thicker wooded stem ones are doing nothing..strange..i thought it would be the other way round x

 

Hope so! The hardy ones I left out in the borders have just started to sprout at the base, at least I've only just noticed!

 

A few of mine are hardy so this yr im going to plant them,less to look after in the greenhouse next winter

 

A greenhouse..? Luxury. I dream of having a greenhouse. But yeah, it's good to know those hardies really are - after all it's been pretty rotten the last couple of months with the snow and someone mentioned here last year that they've lost hardy plants they left in the ground. I've decided to get a couple of big garden fleeces to put over the top of the coldframe and use some of the bubblewrap to line the shelves for a bit of extra protection. Oh I'd forgotten the joy of fretting like this.