Fuschia - buds turned black

I have a Fuschia (Dolllar Princess) which has a lot of buds on it still. It's in a pot outside and I watered it today for the first time in ages, although the soil didn't feel dry. I noticed that some of the buds have turned black while others look perfectly healthy. I bought the fuschia this year and it's done so well...my best ever one with loads of flowers on. Can anyone perhaps give me a reason why the buds would have turned black? Could it be too cold? I have another Fuschia (Paula Jane) which is perfectly healthy. Thanks

 

Hi B17 and welcome to the forum.

Are you sure that they are black buds and not fruit.? After flowering, Fuchsia produces small fleshy black fruits in autumn. I am told they are edible, but I have never tried one. I am not sure that all Fuchsias produce fruit as most fuchsias that you buy are hybrids and this can mean that some will be strile, and not produce seed or fruit.

If they are buds that have gone black, I think it is quite possible that they could be caused by a sharp cold spell. But I really don't know. I have noticed that the leaves on certain plants turn either red or black when they get hit by a cold spell even though it is above freezing.

 

Hi PeterS

Thanks ever so much for your reply. I went and looked at my Fuchsia and indeed there are black fruits on there! I never knew that Fuchsias produced fruit. I guess u learn something new every day!

 

Hi B17 - so glad you got that sorted. Yes there are so many simple things that you don't know about until someone tells you - then its obvious. The general rule is that everything has flowers to attract a pollinator, then after pollination they all produce fruit (in its widest sense), sometimes the fruits are soft and fleshy like plums or cucumbers, sometimes the fruits are hard (which we call nuts) and sometimes the fruits are in edable containers like pea pods, and sometimes you just get a dry container. But all the containers, which we call fruit, contain the seeds.

This means that even grasses like corn have flowers that get pollinated, and then produce the fruit - in that case corn seeds.

But then, as you say, you keep learning new things. Only today I heard on the radio that figs can produce fruit without ever producing a flower! :D Technically, I think, there is a flower, but the fruit grows round it before you can see it.