GGK: I'm on my way to a nursery having an 'everything off' sale. I really have no more room for any plants, but have I mentioned I have a weakness for terracotta pots?
Katye: So far no bug problems. Everything I used (pots, etc.) were either new, super clean, or sterile, and even though I inspected all the new plants when they arrived, I removed as much of the nursery's soil from around the roots as possible, and discarded that plus the nursery pots. Also, my basement is about 62 degrees and I'm hoping the coolness and misting plants regularly will help keep everything bug free.
Nice pics, everyone! Next week I have to bite the bullet and prune. The Pain!
Indoor Fuchsias
HG, that triphylla cultivar is one of my favorites, Orange Crush! The photo was supposed to go with the message above it.....
Thanks everyone, as I have said, I'd of never thought it possible to grow them indoors, let alone have them bloom so well.
And yes GGK, I am really looking forward to seeing Flash become a full sized bush outdoors! I really like this one, thanks again.
Yes, GGK - they have their own humidifier. It sounds like an airplane taking off, but it works well. i will be buying one with a larger (3 gal) tank, but it's $$$ so that will wait. The funny thing about it is that the dogs gravitate towards that part of the room when the light system & the humidifier are on. Takes about 15 minutes until you notice the change in the air.
What is not visible: the other unit with my Sun System lights, and all the plants around it. That humidifier takes good care of them all.
Katye: I had a thought overnight about the bugs. The only time I had a bug problem with plants I overwintered in my basement was 2 years ago. I brought in about 7 different plants, a couple were fuchsias. The plants were in the pots I used outside. I just picked them up and put them under lights downstairs. Eventually, they were all infested with either aphids, white fly, whatever. I concluded the bugs were in the 'outside pots' and I brought them inside with the plants. The next year I only brought one plant inside, and that plant was removed from its original pot, the foliage pruned and thoroughly washed, all potting mix removed from the roots and immediately put into a new clean pot with new potting mix. Never had a bug problem. This year, any plant remaining in its 'outside pot' overwintered in my garage, severly pruned and bug free (don't know about anything living in the soil, though, but the temps have been cold in my garage so I don't think I'll have a bug problem, but we'll see).
My goal is different than growing fuchsias indoors as a means of getting them through the winter in areas where they would not be able to survive outdoors.
I will be growing a few fuchsias indoors year round, as indoor blooming houseplants. Just like my orchids, hoyas, gloxinias, and a few others. Since on any sunny day with temps even close to 70, either the back door or the front door, or both, are open with me and my animals making a constant stream of going in and out, I cannot prevent insects from hitch-hiking a ride in. A spray bottle with insecticide stands ready to blast anything that manages to get in here. I purposely put earthworms into all of my potted plants. It is amazing how much better they do!
For humidity and good drainage, I just have all of my plants in trays of gravel. A little water acumulates in the gravel and evaporates around them. Makes for some very happy dendrobiums, which are currently busy producing flower buds and should be in full bloom by February. A real humidifier would be really cool to have, but my goal is also to spend as little money as possible. Especially on my utility bill ;-)
It is great to see such a wide range of efforts here!
GGK: what fuchsias did you order?
Katye
I know that some of those humidifiers make terrible noise but they serve there purpose. That is something that the dogs migrate to the room with all the humidity and green plants. They may get some good oxygen there or just plain tranquility.
HG
Your clean environment pays off. I hate fungal gnats but none so far! They can really kill the new roots on a plant quickly.
PC
I love putting earthworms in my containers in the Spring. I was just moving some leaves around my bed of Fuchsias today and found numerous worms under the leaves. This was the bed that I posted the compost photo of for ground cover. The worms do really good work aerating and fertilizing the soil. I put alfalfa pellets in the ground too so that also attracted them to the area.
The weather has been so strange here! Too warm for this time of year, I noticed the forsythia all ready has buds on it's branches and daffs and hyacinths are breaking ground! Don't get me wrong I like mild weather but it's WAY tooooo early for it.
GGK, what great idea! I am going to have to get some alfalfa pellets at the local feed store!
I also have several compost piles going. One is a ways away and open. That one gets fruit rinds and such so the hummingbirds that overwinter here always have a source of fruit flies and gnats.
Yes this kooky El Nino weather has my asparagus coming up already!
GardenGuyKin - Where do you order your fuschias from on-line?
It snowed on the mountains behind me last night! I will try and get a pic of it tomorrow. It's one of those things where you can see it from a distance but not up close. Here at home, I am up on a ridge, but a higher ridge is between me and the one with all of the snow. Fuchsias are all find though! Indoors and out! Even took the "face" off of the "greenhouselette" so everything in there could get a breath of fresh air when the sun came out. Lots of fuchsia flowers are peaking out from underneath their cover of violas.
mstish, first time I have ever ordered fuchsia online and here is the scoop.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/6977/
PC
Sounds like a beautiful site to see. Hope it's not too cold for ya! We still have mild weather
for this time of the year it's about 38 right now. This warm spell has been making it difficult not to get out and garden!! LOL
No, it was one of those wonderful winter days when the air is crisp but the sun feels so good on your shoulders! The snow was beautiful and at a distance :-)
Nothing here minded at all. I am anxious to see some of the upright fuchsias bloom soon which weren't big enough to bloom last year. One in particular has very fine little leaves, it barely survived being tortured by kittens last year LOL. But it appears to be ready to burst with growth soon.
This year the violas should include some yellows, oranges, and whites mixed into the masses of them coming up all over the place. There are a few with solid dark, dark purple faces I am coddling.....
'Ted Sweetman' is going to bloom now. So I went outside to take a photo of him as he sat and watched my dwarf Italian Peach beginning to open it's buds. Yes, that is a hoya and a rhipsilis sharing the windowsill with Ted.
Haven't posted in this thread for a while due to the major damage done by two teenage cats cooped up by rainy weather..... So the fuchsias looked horrid for a while.
Orange Crush, Pink Pearl, Amber Rose, and Ted Sweetman are all still indoors. But I have moved the others outside. Because I have realized that in selecting which fuchsias to grow indoors, I ought to have chosen the smaller and slower growing ones.
So I am going to be bringing in a Black Prince and a Marin Glow inside for starters.
And the whole lot is going to be moved to the mobile platform in the sunny kitchen area. Said platform is currently inhabited by a four foot high fibrous cane begonia of the 'Silver Mist' variety. Which is waiting to be moved back outdoors where his buddy 'Tom Ment' has already gone for his own safety.......
A squirt bottle is not only a wonderful thing to have on hand for your plants, it is also a very effective cat deterant!! But it is only useful when one is awake and has one in hand!
Here is a photo of the two juvrnile delinquents. They'll be a year old in April.
This message was edited Mar 12, 2010 11:49 AM
Oh, they're adorable! Those sweet 'lil angels couldn't have done any harm. ROFLOL!
I just checked on my indoor fuchsias, this morning, and they have really spurted in the past 10 days. In fact, they're looking a bit leggy... I will plant them outside, this weekend, & probably prune them a bit in the next week or two.
Liz
Ha! In the thread about winter hardy fuchsias, I posted a photo of what Gary, the one on the left, did to my F. magellanica mollinae last fall when he was learning how to climb. He used it like a jungle gym! I had to do some major pruning to it. He snapped three inch round branches. His sister, Marion, is a bit more restrained. But the two of them together on rainly days is better than watching tv!
Yes, it should be safe to move your fuchsias outdoors by now. I even made cuttings three weeks ago that are doing just fine outdoors in my minigreenhouse/shelf. It has a seed warming mat in the bottom which is basically just insurance against it freezing in there. AND, I went and bought 19 more varieties and planted them into one gallon pots last week-end. One is called 'Moody Blues!' I can't wait to see what it looks like!