Fuchsia is a perennial shrub native to South America. The houseplant retains the need for high humidity and moderate temperature. Abundant bloom continues from April to October.
Growing fuchsia at home requires compliance with the rules of agricultural technology. How to plant fuchsia, the possible problems of care - read on.
How to plant at home?
A purchased plant or a cut stalk of a fuchsia flower will take root and begin to grow, subject to the rules of planting and care. The health of the plant depends on the selected soil and conditions.
How to choose a pot?
Every year, when transplanting, the size of the pot increases by 2-3 cm. The root system of the flower must fully braid the earthen room. Free soil sours, causing root rot.
Recommended material - ceramics, color light. Such a pot will not overheat in the sun. In the dark plastic, the roots of the plant die under the influence of high temperature. At the bottom of the tank should be drainage holes.
Soil composition
Fuchsia requires a nutrient friable substrate with a neutral acidity. Recommended ready-made universal mixture for flowering plants. To improve the structure, baking powder is added to the soil - perlite, vermiculite, coconut substrate.
If desired, the soil is prepared independently:
- peat, leaf humus, compost, sand in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 2;
- leafy ground: peat: sand (3: 1: 1).
At the bottom of the pot poured a drainage layer of expanded clay or small pebbles. It will prevent stagnation of water and leaching of the soil.
What to do to give the scion roots?
Fuchsia shoot rooted in the ground or water. To grow the roots, the following is required:
- stable warm temperature (20-22 °);
- good ambient lighting;
- high humidity (80-90%).
The required level of humidity will ensure that the glass jar or bag is covered. The scion is ventilated daily, the condensate is removed from the walls of the jar. The seedling is sprayed with water at room temperature. The appearance of new leaves after 2-3 weeks speaks of a successful rooting.
Recommendation. The lower leaves should not touch the soil, so as not to start rotting. The plant's need for moisture reduces pruning of the remaining leaves by half.
Location and lighting
The fuchsia pot is placed on the east or west windows. On the north side provokes weak flowering. The plant needs diffused lighting and fresh air. The best place for flowers is the balcony. During the flowering period, fuchsia cannot be touched and rearranged; it immediately resets the buds.
Temperature conditions
Fuchsia tolerates coolness, and the heat causes lethargy and lowering of the leaves. The optimum temperature during the growing season is 16-20 °, in winter 10-11 °. In summer, the flower is removed away from direct sunlight, causing leaf burns and overheating of the roots.
Watering
Flower moistening is the most important part of agricultural technology. Lack of water leads to drying, and overflow to rotting roots. Watering is carried out by settled water. The volume and frequency of moisture depends on the temperature in the room, the volume of the pot, the stage of development.
Average 100 ml per pot 0.5 liters, every 3-4 days. Determine the need for watering will allow a little trick. Wooden stick stick at the edge of the pot, if it is wet and dirty, then it is not time. If the stick lumps of earth, it's time to moisten.
Partially watering is replaced by spraying. While there are no flowers, the plant is periodically placed in the shower. In the autumn, the amount of water is reduced. In winter, 1-2 watering per month is enough.
Fertilizers
Fuchsia refers to plants that require regular feeding. A young flower needs fertilizer with a high nitrogen content. An adult plant requires full nutrition with phosphorus, calcium and other trace elements. The application of complex fertilizers once a week will satisfy the needs of fuchsia. Extra root top dressings with the preparation "Bud" are effective during flowering period. Minerals alternate with organic.
A good result is the use of long-acting fertilizer Osmocote (Osmokot). The drug is buried in the soil above the layer of drainage. Mineral substances are in capsules, gradually dissolving during watering. In the spring, to stimulate the growth of shoots, they are sprayed with magnesium sulfate (1 tsp. Per 1 liter of water).
Fertilizers can be applied daily with irrigation, reducing the recommended concentration by 6 times.
It is forbidden to feed:
- diseased plants;
- seedlings less than 3 weeks old;
- flowers in dry soil.
A photo
Next you can see the photo of fuchsia flowers:
How to plant - cuttings or seeds?
Fuchsia multiplies vegetatively and seeds. In the first case, cuttings are used, cut from a healthy plant. The optimal period is spring. For rooting choose green shoots with 2-3 pairs of leaves. The length of the stalk is 10-15 cm. The process is cut with a sharp blade.
Rules for propagation by cuttings:
- Cuttings immersed in a glass of boiled water, put in a bright place.
- Leaves should not touch water.
- After 7-10 days, the roots appear.
- The cuttings are transplanted into a loose substrate for fuchsia.
- The first week is kept under a glass jar, airing daily.
Seed propagation:
- Under the seedlings prepare light nutrient soil: turf ground, peat, sand.
- Seeds are laid out on moist soil, slightly pressed. Landing time is March.
- Germination occurs in the light, the seeds should not go deep into the ground when watering.
- Top container covered with glass or film.
- Shoots are shown after 30 days. Coverage is removed.
- After 2 months, the seedlings are planted in separate pots.
Eavesdropping has several advantages over seed propagation:
- A fuchsia stalk inherits the properties of the mother plant, but no seeds.
- Rooted shoot blooms in the same year.
- Reproduction cuttings less time consuming.
On how to propagate fuchsia and sheet, learn here.
Growing rules
The life cycle of fuchsia is divided into the period of activity (spring-autumn) and the rest time (winter). During the growing season, the flower needs watering, light, fertilizing. Treatments include trimming and pinching. The first pinching is performed on 2-3 interstitial cuttings. The procedure is repeated as it grows. Trimming is done twice. Before wintering faded branches are removed. In early spring, dry shoots are removed, healthy tops shorten by 1/3. After pruning, the flower is transplanted into fresh soil.
Important! Rest period comes in winter. The plant is transferred to a room with a temperature of 10-12 °.
Watering rare, subcortex terminated in October. In the spring, the bushes return to the bright windowsill, watered with warm water. The remaining cuttings after pruning rooted in water or soil.
Read more about the rules of growing fuchsia here, and here we talked about the nuances of growing garden fuchsia.
Possible problems
Plant damage can be divided into two groups. Some are caused by improper care, and the second by infection with fungi or bacteria.
Content errors
- Pale leaves, yellow spots - lack of nutrients. A comprehensive mineral supplement is needed.
- Fall of leaves and buds - violation of the irrigation regime, the soil is filled or overdried. The same problem occurs when there is a lack of light.
- Short flowering - There are several reasons: lack of food or moisture, high temperature.
Infectious diseases and pests
The most common disease of fuchsia is rust. The first sign of infection is brown spots on the back of the leaves. Rust spreads quickly, noticing the symptoms of the disease, isolates the flower. Affected leaves are cut off and destroyed. The plant and the soil is treated with the drug "Topaz".
Pests room fuchsia whitefly and spider mite. The result of their vital activity is withering and leaf fall. The insecticide "Aktara" or "Condifor" is used against the whitefly. With tick fight means "Akarin", "Fitoverm". It will take 3 treatments.
Errors in planting and growing affect the duration of flowering and size of buds. A light-shrub needs scattered light, plenty of fresh air and moisture. For the summer period, you need a place where the temperature will not exceed 20 °. In the heat of fuchsia sheds flowers and leaves.
