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Fuchsia blooming underneath but mostly foliage

MoviebabeMoviebabe Posts: 26
in Problem solving
Hi there, I thought I would prune my fuchsia bush while it was in early growth this year. It is extremely healthy but more foliage than blooms this year. It usually is covered in pink but it is only blooming on the low or inner branches. any ideas on why this might be and can I bring on more blooms this year before the season ends? It blooms until frost usually. I have tried pricking out some top/ new shoots, does that sound like a plan? Thanks lots.

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Maybe you cut it down too late,  mid February down to almost the ground,  picking out tops on fuchsias will just set them back.  That has to be down from the start, early Spring. 
    You may still get more flowers on it,  give it time, I’ve got one that blooms up to Christmas,  only just started flowering now. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I agree, that looks like healthy new growth that hasn't got to flowering stage yet. If the first frost comes late where you are, there might be time for it to flower on the new growth. Cutting off the shoots will just encourage it to make more new shoots from below where you cut, which won't have time to flower this year.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • MoviebabeMoviebabe Posts: 26
    Tk u Jenny and Lyn. Thinking about it I did cut it back a bit later than Feb, it was already greening up. And I will hold off on taking out anymore shoots. Tks lots. I do love this forum. :)
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    I think hardy garden fuchsias are best left unpruned.  Ok cut out anything that died in the frost.

    My Fuchsia magellanica "Hawkshead" (I only guess the name as it was a stolen cutting) with tiny white flowers is normally completely frost-proof.  This year in a warm ±Feb, it made early growth that was destroyed by a late frost ±May.  All growth was killed back to the main stem.  I tidied it up and it is flowering like mad right now.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • MoviebabeMoviebabe Posts: 26
    My fuchsia finally started to bloom on the top last month just in time for the cold days! V welcome colour in that corner. I won't be snipping it back next year. Tks for all your help guys.
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