How To Grow And Care For Fuchsias

With their exotic, pendulous blooms, eye-catching fuchsias create a fabulous garden focal point.  Their dramatic flowers, which are often multi-colored combinations of fuchsia, purple, magenta, red, orange, pink, and white, are a staple for hanging baskets. Their bell-shaped and dramatic blooms with wispy stems make a dangling curtain for containers, while upright fuchsias make colorful shrubs for landscape beds.

Annual and perennial varieties can produce showy blooms from spring through fall on both trailing and upright forms. The tubular blooms of fuchsia with their vibrant colors and sweet nectar attract hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, and bees.

Plant Attributes

Care

Annual fuchsias are commonly grown in containers, but in warm climates some hardy fuchsias can grow as perennials in the garden. Plant fuchsias in shade to part shade areas with plenty of light.  Use moist, well-draining soil and feed regularly with compost or an all-purpose or bloom-boosting fertilizer.

Light 

Fuchsias grow best in full or part shade but do need bright light to bloom. Morning sun is best in part shade conditions. Avoid afternoon sun.

Soil

They prefer well-draining, slightly acidic to neutral soil rich with humus or organic matter. For container plants, use a well-draining potting soil mix or create your own with peat moss, vermiculite, potting soil, and coarse sand.

Water 

During the growing season, keep the plant moist but not soggy. Container plants will need daily watering.

Temperature and Humidity 

Fuchsias thrive in cooler, humid conditions, though some hybrids tolerate warmer temperatures. They are sensitive to extreme heat and drought. They prefer mild daytime high temperatures and cool nights. In hotter, dry areas plants will stop blooming and struggle in the heat of summer.

Fertilize 

Fuchsias are heavy feeders, performing best with routine fertilizing. Include organic matter when first planted and feed every few weeks through the growing season. Use all-purpose food through spring, then switch to a bloom-promoting blend in summer. Cut back fertilizing in fall as growth naturally slows.

Types of Fuchsia 

Popular Hardy Fuchsias

•  ‘Alice Hoffman’: A small, hardy fuchsia, this upright shrub has semi-double fuchsia-colored sepals, a white corolla, and a fuchsia-colored tube. Its flowers are accented by contrasting deep green and bronze leaves. It blooms from early summer through fall.
• ‘Beacon’: The striking combination of deep pink sepals and mauvy bells makes a striking upright garden shrub. Beacon has lush green foliage and is a single, with four corolla petals. Its compact form of 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide makes it a versatile garden choice.

Vibrant Trailing Varieties

• ‘Dark Eyes’: With exotic fuchsia and purple flowers, this small fuchsia grows 4 to 8 in. tall and up to 24 in. wide. Perfect for hanging baskets and spillers in containers, with proper care, this plant will bloom from spring until frost.
• ‘Rapunzel’: Up to 16 in. tall, producing arching 2 to 4 ft long stems, this dramatic fuchsia makes the perfect patio focal point. With whisper of pink colored sepals and velvety royal purple petals, Rapunzel will bloom mid-summer to mid-fall.

Pruning

For upright hardy fuchsias, prune heavily after the danger of frost has passed in late spring. It can also be pruned lightly throughout the growing season to keep the shape you want. Pruning will encourage full growth. Trailing fuchsias can be pruned at any time to shape and clean up dead blooms and stems.

Propagating  

To propagate fuchsias, take softwood cuttings in spring–approximately six inches long–with a few pairs of leaves. Wet and dip the cuttings into rooting hormone. Make a hole in a well-draining potting mix. Place a plastic bag or plastic dome over the pot and locate it away from the direct sun. Keep the soil moist, but don’t allow it to get soggy. After the cuttings are rooted in three to four weeks, transplant into containers or the garden after the last freeze.

How to Grow from Seed 

After the blooms fall off, fuchsias develop berries that contain seeds. Do not deadhead all the blooms if you want to harvest seeds. Allow a few flowers to fall off naturally. The berry will grow there, then turn dark and begin to shrivel when it’s ready. Cut off and open to remove seeds. Wash off and allow seeds to dry fully before storing or planting. If the seeds you’ve harvested come from hybridized plants, they may not replicate the mother plant exactly.   

Overwintering 

With a little preparation, trailing fuchsias can be brought inside to overwinter. Simply prune back stems six to eight inches from the base and keep them in a dark location. Do not water regularly, they only need water a few times through the winter. Bring back outside after the danger of frost has passed.  

Upright hardy or half-hardy fuchsia varieties may be perennial and survive winters in USDA Zones 9-11 and will return from the root in spring.

Common Pests and Diseases

Thriving in cool, humid conditions, Fuchsias are prone to fungal infections and viral diseases. Keep leaves and other garden material away from plants and ensure plants have good air circulation.  Fuchsias are also prone to botrytis blight and fuchsia rust, though there are some resistant varieties available. Treat with fungicide according to manufacturer’s directions.

Watch for whiteflies, aphids, thrips, mealybugs, spider mites, and scale. Treat with insecticidal soap, neem oil, or pest-specific insecticides.

Common Problems 

Heat and very dry conditions with inhibit flower growth, causing buds or blooms to drop prematurely.