| Brian’s Fuchsia World | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Having quite
a stressful job as a Human Resource Manager, I find that
looking after and maintaining my fuchsia collection is a
worthwhile hobby. It relieves stress and transports me
into a totally different dimension. I have always been interested in gardening, although reluctantly admit moving house some 26 years ago to one with a smaller garden! This, obviously was prior to me deciding to specialise in a specific plant variety, and in fact to take gardening seriously at all. Some years after moving to my ‘smaller garden’ I got the gardening bug which has been with me ever since. I make no apology for not enlisting the help of the ‘Betty Forde Clinic’ or any other addiction clinic, as I now know I am beyond help and refuse to be cured! I have always liked fuchsias, and to be honest, my like was probably at first inspired because I realised I could grow them, unlike some other plants which did not immediately aspire to my ‘green fingers’. The ‘like’ reverted to ‘love’ when I saw my first triphylla at the spring Belfast Garden Festival in 1996. I was hooked by a triphylla called ‘Thalia’. I bought my first triphylla then and in the succeeding years have added to my collection. At that time I had erected a greenhouse and each winter since then have tried, successfully, to overwinter most varieties of fuchsia. As an avid admirer of fuchsias, this has also extended in winter to overwintering plants on southern facing window sills in my house.
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| COLLECTION | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following
fuchsias are currently in my collection:
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| TIPS FOR GROWING CUTTINGS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I cannot resist taking cuttings when pinching out fuchsias. I find these root quite easily if put in 1" squares of oasis and kept damp. Before long a root system develops, and the fuschia is then easily repotted in a small pot of multi-purpose compost. |
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| Fuchsias are remarkably pest
and disease free plants. There are however a few possible
problems. Vine weevil adults can attack the leaves of
fuchsias. Their presence will be obvious from the notches
cut in leaves. While this can make the plants look u
nsightly, they will not kill the plant. Vine weevils tend
to come out at night so the best way to combat them is to
use a torch, pick them off individually and squash them
underfoot. A more serious danger to the plants is the vine weevil grub which is fou nd in the soil. The grub is a cream colour and about 3cm long. The best protection is to use Levington Plant Protection Compost which contains an insecticide which is effective against the vine weevil grub. The other problem which affects fuchsias is ru st. This usually becomes evident during damp, mild weather and is spread by spores. These can be transferred by wind or by hand when removing dead flowers. The leaves of the fuchsia turn yellow and black spots also appear. Chemical treatment is sometimes effective and I have had success in combating rust by using
Plants should be sprayed at two weekly intervals. Remove the infected leaves when they appear. Rust is not usually fatal but makes plants look unsightly.
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