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over wintering fuschias
Yorkslass
Posts: 3
I have put my trailing plants in the greenhouse for the winter, how often should I water them
0
Posts
The answer to that is "hardly at all". Dormant plants are easily killed by a combination of overwatering and cold when they may survive the cold alone. Once the leaves have fallen and the plant is dormant, the compost only needs to be barely moist. I'm a great believer in the 'finger test': Poke a finger into the compost and as long as it feels slightly damp about an inch down then no water is necessary. The top inch can be completely dry with no ill effects.
My fuschia book recommends burying the dormant plants. I have a pit under the staging in my cold greenhouse - about 15" deep. At end of october I strip off all the remaining leaves, cut back any straggly bits, then give the pots a good watering. Once they have drained they are laid horizontally in the pit, side by side then one on top of another and covered with damp newspaper (it is supposed to be loose compost but I never have enough of that!) and then bubblewrap tucked in around the whole area. They are then left until the end of March when they are brought out and will already have new shoots forming. They return to the staging, are well watered, and will grow on enthusiastically. This is when I also have the most success taking cuttings.
If I don't have enough space the pots are brought into the shed (they need to be cold but frost free) - and virtually left until watering recommences in March.
These two methods seem to have worked really well for me.