help with fuchsias

[ber77tie]

Is it necessary to remove seed heads on fuchsias to keep them flowering?I know it would be a long job but mine don't seem to flower as well this time of year.I am feeding with a fuchsia food.

[Tee Gee]

Is it necessary to remove seed heads on fuchsias to keep them flowering?

Idealy ....Yes

I am feeding with a fuchsia food.

I get the feeling you are 'over feeding' assuming it is a liquid feed you are giving them.

What I am really saying is; you are perhaps watering them too much.

Fuchsias (a shrub) should be allowed to virtually dry out between waterings so if you are regularly liquid feeding you may not be allowing this to happen.

mine don't seem to flower as well this time of year

This could be down to what you did or did not do earlier on in the season, i.e. pinching out!

This is my slant on Fuchsia culture; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Fuchsia/Fuchsia.htm

[Kepouros]

I remember having a discussion with one of the foremost commercial Fuchsia growers at Chelsea Flower Show over getting Royal Velvet to start making flower buds after the winter `rest`, and his advice was to `stuff them with potash, and keep on stuffing them with potash until autumn`.  I have always followed this advice, and it has always worked - in fact with my 5ft and 6ft standards it is about the only treatment that does work.  You say you are using `fuchsia food`, by which I asume you mean the new Chempak formulation; this is, in fact, almost a balanced feed with little increase in the Potassium content, and I prefer to use No. 4 High Potash.  However, changing this late in the season probably won`t make much difference.

One point - have a really good look at the growing tips of the shoots and see whether there are any tiny punctures in the barely opened leaves aroun d the tips.  If there are that is the cause of the problem, and there seems to be a lot of it about this year.  I don`t known what insect causes it, but it damages the growing tip, which `blinds out`, and from the point of view of flower bud production this has the same effect as nipping back and 2 months wait for more .  If this is the case a good spray with `Bugclear` or some similar insecticide will sort it out.

You don`t say what part of the country you are in, but high temperatures can also have a bearing. Over 75 deg F fuchsia growth starts to slow, and flower bud production is similarly affected.  We don`t very often have that problem in the Midlands, but if you are in the sunny South East, and your fuchsias are exposed to the sun most of the day then that won`t help.

[ber77tie]

Thanks to both of you for some greats tips.Yes I am in sunny south london.I must say I didn't realise the balance on the fuchsia food.I will try chempak 4 next season.