What is the best fertilizer for Fuchsias?

I figured there must be some trick that greenhouses use to get such huge blooms.

Please share their, or your, secret! :o)

I've been trying to figure this out myself. A restaurant owner uses fish fertilizer (no scent) and his baskets are prolific.
http://www.americanfuchsiasociety.org/articledirectory/fertilizers-and-mineral-nutrition-folk-fiction-and-fuchsia-physiology/
http://www.fuchsiaclark.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/new_articles.htm
I have found excellent results from evening misting of the plants. I wonder if Fuchsia also absorb fertilizer through the foliage. If this is the case, fertigation (fertilizing by irrigation) would be a good bet. Last night I used Miracle-gro using the hose attachment and did the whole garden. The Fuchsia certainly perk up but I'd say it was more-so from the foliage spray. Hope you find something in this info that helps.

Thank you ever so much Growin! :) I will track down some no scent fish fertilizer and since the Urea suggestion also sounded interesting I'll give that a try too (next year when I'm preparing the soil). I've been using Miracle-gro but haven't been watering the foliage (will have to try that as well).

I'm so disgusted when I bring a Fuchsia home and the new blooms are half the size of what the plant had when I originally purchased it.

Well, I'd do an experiment. When you think about it, Fuchsia come from cloudforest and higher altitude areas that receive mist and higher humidity. The growers produce the plants in a humid greenhouse. I know you can get mist attachments for hoses. If you want to do an experiment, I'd get a few spray bottles, fill one with just water, one with fish fertilizer and one with Miracle-gro. One fuchsia basket doesn't receive misting, one with just water, one gets the fish fertilizer and another the Miracle-gro. Spray them in the evening when the stomata are open. You should notice some difference in about 2 weeks. Go with the winner of the experiment.

LOL I had originally said I've got 4 Fuchsia that I could experiment on (but realized it is too late for the Urea). However I will be following your directions next year (and to a certain extent this year)

This year it has been a good year for Fuchsias on the prairies (at least so far). Mine are loving the cooler temps and of course the rain (finally it found us....and boy has it ever found us).

This year I planted my Fuchsias in moss baskets and with our current weather they are in 7th heaven (now to work on the bloom size). The blooms below are new and not too bad but not as big as what the plant came with.

Wow, that looks great! Reminds me of my F. 'Pink Galore'. I've been watching the rain and flooding on the prairies. Yikes!

Here's a few of mine. I planted Fuchsia in the crotch of the Cedar Trees. I almost fell trying to get a bloom for the combo. I'm also interested in the variation in foliage.

You have a lovely collection! :o) I really love the gold and yellow leafed one! What is the name of that plant Growin?

I really love seeing them grow in the trees. My honeymoon was spent out in Vancouver/Victoria and I fondly remember seeing flowering plants (Foxgloves I'm pretty sure) growing naturally in the trees there (Grouse Mountain (sp?). I was so amazed by that sight (prairie eyes and all ;o) ! I've tried it here but without much success. :'(

We haven't had the rains that Saskatoon and area have been getting but we sure had a lovely thunderstorm earlier today! :^)))

p.s. what is the gorgeous plant that you have pictured over your handle????

I just took a closer look at a number of your Fuchsia blooms (oh my what a wide range of colours some have)! :o)

p.s. be careful out there!!!

The gold and red leaf one is Fuchsia 'Autumnale' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71647/ I love the foliage and the blooms are a bonus!

My avatar is Eucomis bicolor http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/657/

So, Lilypon, a few months ago I drove to Spokane, Washington and was pleasantly surprised to see a Fuchsia collection, albeit leafless. It's a zone 5b. I noticed how the Fuchsia were planted in a bit of a divot and were heavily covered in mulch and leaves. I got to thinking, why don't I do that for the zone 9+ stuff in my garden. In the same token, why couldn't you try it with the Fuchsia that are zone 5? I bet it would work. I mean, if bananas are grown in Ohio this way, why not with Fuchsia. Just a thought.

Tempting...I'll have to do a search and find out which ones are good to zone 5 (a lot might be and I've never taken notice). Mind you we don't often see the more unusual ones on the prairies. I've never seen the 'Autumnale' for sale here though I did get one years ago from one of our members in Quebec (I'll have to see if some Canadian company sells them online). Do you know of any that do?

Now that I've seen your Eucomis up close I recognize it...I remember a master gardener grew a couple in her yard (and so did I after admiring it).

I don't know of any Canadian growers selling 'Autumnale' online. I'll be doing cuttings in a months so hit me back in a few months.

Any of the Fuchsia magellanica's should work. They seem to come back from the roots quite strong.

I will and thank you ever so much for your kind offer. I'll be tickled pink to pay you for them (I really doubt I'd have anything too exotic to trade with you)! ;o)

After asking you I did do a quick search re Canadian suppliers and no luck. One of these years I'm going to have to head back to Vancouver or Montreal or Toronto for one of the plant festivals.

I'll also have to whisper in some of the local greenhouse owners ears to see if they can bring more exotics in.

Now I'm off to see what the Fuchsia magellanicas look like. :o)

Now I know which Fuchsia to look for and experiment on re overwintering. :o)

Thank you Growin!

Well, that was fun reading your conversation about Fuchsias! I adore them but haven't had much luck growing them in Houston. It is so dang hot here. But this year I do have one in a hanging basket that is alive and blooming! It's not very big and is growing very slowly but is just now producing lots of buds. I'll post a picture when it's in full bloom. It's supposed to be adapted to our area, so I had to try it. I'm in 9A. I really love your collection, Growin. And your gorgeous pink "fluffy" one, Lilypon! Good luck with your experiment. Let us know what works :) Janet

Janet I congratulate you on managing to grow a fuchsia there!!! I'd love to see it (and know the name). Some years Texas shares some of its heat and humidity with my province and those years my fuchsias give up the ghost so now I'm really curious!

Well, I have some info that might be helpful there too. My Fuchsia regia has been a real trooper, coming through the harshest winter. Further reading suggests it is resistant to the Fuchsia gall mite. Coming from Brazil, it also seems to have leaves that seem to be a bit more tolerant to heat. It's the longest leaf in my pic above. Janet, if you can find a spot that keeps the roots shaded, it would be one to try.

Also you might want to look at Fuchsia lycioides http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/117648/ which comes from drier (and hotter) regions than most. You can buy seed here: http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/HighResPages/EH0421.htm It can become deciduous during the hottest, driest periods without dying. With a bit of protection it should make the winters as well. http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/general/lst.gen.asp?prodid=3306

Growin seeing your pics brought to mind a Fuchsia that I eyed a couple of weeks ago. This one was so loaded with blooms that I had to lift some of the branches with sticks so the blooms weren't crushed more than they already had been.

This is one of my fave Fuchsias...Dancing Flame I think is the name (it wasn't labeled).

I couldn't resist...this year isn't supposed to be as hot as what we've had for so many summers so temptation won out.

Just sharing my method of feeding fuchsias and what works for me:
1.) For trailing fuchsias, I prune them back to the edge of the basket around December and move them to a protected spot since we do get frost here, then keep them moist until the leaf buds start to swell, which is usually around mid February. Once they start to leaf out I pinch them every time they develop 2 sets of leaves and feed them with a high nitrogen fertilizer or just mix blood meal into the soil. Continual pinching of every 2nd set of leaves makes for a huge framework of stems and foliage until they get to the size I want them to be. THEN I start using a bloom booster type food high in Phosphorous which makes them explode with blooms. MISTING them in the mornings form underneath as well as overhead really gives them the humidity they need since (as Growin said earlier) is when the stomata are open.

2.) For uprights (either in containers or in the ground) I follow the same procedure and do the piching in the same way. This forces side growth and tons of blooms instead of just on the ends of the stems and makes for a very full look. I just use a commercial granular ROSE food for them when they're growing in the ground where the natural soil has more NPK readily available vs. potting soil.

In hot summer weather, a pie tin (or saucer) attached to the underneath of the container and filled with water (with an inch or so space between the saucer and the bottom of the container) creates a humid environment all day long especially when you don't have time for misting.

Remember: Fuchsias are like Hydrangeas...they need a lot of water to keep them from going limp in the heat.

Lilypon, that looks like a mega-sized bloom! I think I've severely overspent on Fuchsia this year to a point I don't have groceries. I call it my "Fuchsia diet".

JasperDale, Thank You for that awesome info! I've been pinching my Fuchsia not knowing if I should but think I should to get more lateral growth on the stems and hopefully a more bushy plant. I was wondering about a high Phosphorous fertilizer to get better blooms but does it also increase the size of the blooms as Lilypon is hoping for?

Mike: Yes, it does...to a point, though. Genetics plays a lg. role in just how big each bloom can get. It does make them produce many many more flowers than if you never fed them anything.

Forgot to add that when I do them in hanging containers, I don't allow them to get any vertical growth. Doing it that way makes them get very wide in circumfrence and they really hang down over the edges covering the container.

I keep reading that Fuchsia are heavy feaders. So, as Lilypon was commenting on her disappointment at the size of the blooms once the plant is brought home, maybe the higher phosphorus would help as well as good humidity and more feedings. The bloom booster sounds like a good fertilizer with probably high phosphorus.

Another thing to keep in mind (two things, actually) is that when you purchase a hanging Fuchsia that is huge and laden with blooms, you are getting a container or basket that has 3 to 5 seperate plants growing in it, which accounts for why the "plant" (singular) seems so huge. The other thing is that they've more than likely been grown under glass in optimum conditions which may be very difficult to duplicate once you get it to your home, depending on where you live. These plants get fed a diluted dose of fertilizer every time they're watered at the grower vs. a once a month schedule at the homeowner's.

Here's a monster Fuchsia for ya ! Pedrick'sCorner correctly identified it as "Jack Sieverns" a while back. This one will take full sun here, but I have it in a northeast location and you can see by the photo it is close to 10' tall and about 8 feet across.
It only has 3 main "canes" but I've trained it in an umbrella shape using the pinching method mentioned earlier. Right now it's nearing the end of it's first main flush of blooms so they're concentrated on the ends of the stems, but a few weeks ago it had triple the # of flowers on it.
I've taken to keeping it this size because in the past I let it get even bigger and it collapsed on itself. It needed a flying buttress around it. LOL
I don't even bother feeding this one because it's prolific enough w/o any feeding.
In the winter it gets cut back to the 3 main canes and just a few nubs on each cane.

edited for spelling of cultivar name

This message was edited Jun 16, 2013 6:54 PM

Wow! Now that's a nice lookin' Fuchsia. My Fuchsia magellanica var. molinae 'Alba' was over 6' this year and barely dropped leaves this past winter. I did the dumb thing of trying to divide it. Not a good move and it hated it. So, JasperDale, I've been fertilizing on a 1 week basis with Miracle-Gro one week and Fish Fertilizer the next. Should I be fertilizing heavier?

Bloom booster is the Miracle Gro I purchased for my plants this year so will make sure I feed and mist them daily now.

Re Jasper's pic I am now truly in a state of Zone Envy re the two fellows above.

*sigh*

and once our rainy weather moves on I'm shifting my Fuchsias to my little greenhouse (I'd rather they be out but for the sake of getting a few more flushes I will move them).

Mike: I go back and forth in my mind about MiracleGro and it's benefits. It's sort of like "speed" for plants at times...IMO...but I do use it on some things. I like fish emulsion but it's hard to find here anymore. Not as fast acting as MG but better in the long run since it's organic. The last time I saw any real fish emulsion it was all nitrogen...no P or K listed. Is your soil alkaline or acidic ?

Lilypon: Kansas seems to be a harsh climate for Fuchsia's, no ? I live a few blocks from the ocean and there are some varieties that won't do well here even in this climate that most of them thrive in. Late summer here is scorching hot and I've lost a few to heat stroke in the past. Your greenhouse sounds like a better place for them vs. outdoors.

My Fisher Fertilizer is N 5%, P 1% and K 1% so it is mostly nitrogen for growth. Soils here are predominantly acidic. I face north and moss loves the garden.

Lilypon is in SK, not KS. lol. The prairies. I think of it as the land where no one gets mugged as you can see them coming.

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada Jasper (the Canadian prairies). Somewhat like Kansas...mostly flat and as Growin stated above one can watch one's dog run away for days and days. I live in a valley though that is treed and sheltered from the worst of prairie weather.

We can get hot (114F is the highest we've hit) and dry here but in Neutral years, like this one, we tend to get lots of rain and temps in the 70's F (though this year we're getting a lot of 60's...though that will be changing in a day or so).

Oh and in the winter we can hit -50F (and so much colder yet with windchill).

Plants, on the whole, winter inside here (except for our perennials). Though when we have winters with good snow cover we can overwinter plants from higher zones.

and mugging and many other crimes are almost unknown here (like most exotic plants).

All I can think about is Corner Gas. Too bad it goes below 0C there alot or I'd move there. I really think, if you use a barrier to prevent wind, mulch it, maybe surround it with bales of hay. Hey - hay! That actually might work very well. I do think you should give the Fuchsia thing a shot. I'll give you a few to try out. It's all about protecting the soft tissue of the stems and roots from hard-hard freezing.

Growin I really can't see you giving up your tropical paradise for here (even if the coldest we ever got was 0C/32F)! ;D

Thank you ever so much for your kind offer....when would it be best to contact you? (no idea when frost might come here, sometimes we are lucky and have a very warm fall, but end of August is best considered our cut-off re shipping plants).

re variety making a difference......pictured with a Canadian looney.

I know this is a giant variety...please does anyone know it's name? I picked 3 of them up as small starts.

This message was edited Jun 29, 2013 9:01 PM

Maybe Golden Anniversary ??? or Golden Mosaic ???

Jasper you led me to the right name : "Royal Mosaic B

All the extra large white and purple fuchsias are similar, all beautiful too. Note the pink splashes on the blue. Annabelle Stubbs was the breeder"

http://www.weidners.com/Fuchsias_alphabetical.html

Thank you! :o)

Lilypon, I didn't notice the splash of a lighter colour pink in the corolla in your original image. I noticed the poppy that is typically stuck on the loonie you have has fallen off. Royal Mosaic B is interesting with that splash. The name, Mosaic reminds me of a plant virus. Do the other blooms have more of the lighter coloured splashes? How did you find a match like that?

Growin I just went to the greenhouse it was purchased at and the owner said to me it had purple in the name (she had labelled it Giant Purple).

So my guess is "Deep Purple B"
Absolutely incredible huge blooms with white, purple with pink streaks.

The description matches (see pic at my 2nd last posting above). I did see a lighter coloured splash on it but when I checked after reading your posting about I only noticed it on one petal. It can barely be seen in my pic above, on the petal sitting closest to the bottom of the loonie.

This message was edited Jul 18, 2013 5:52 PM

I'm no fuchsia ID savant, but that bloom looks an awful lot like the Deep Purple I just rescued from the heat in the greenhouse where I work (west central Minnesota). The blooms start out purple and age a little unevenly (so a slightly streaky appearance) to a sort of - well - fuchsia. Violet-pink. Cerise. I was going to suggest Deep Purple, but I thought, "Every time you guess based on your limited experience, you're wrong." (Is there a "B" form of Deep Purple? Educate me!)

There's no white in the flower on this, right, Lilypon? Just the sepals?

Joan