Fuchsia ?
Lilybeanz🌸
Posts: 66
Hi all I have just purchased 4 small fuchsia plants approx 20cm tall, no flowers yet, I have never had them before. I'm not sure how well they will do as they were from b and m (i had just paid for them when I overheard another lady telling someone that they would never buy any plant or flower from b and m again as they always die and never grow!)
I have 2 18cm square pots and a 20cm pot should I plant them separate or put them all together in 1 pot and do they need anything more that just to be kept watered?
I also bought 3 buddleia, 2 from the pound shop ???? these are quite twiggy but have some green bits and 1 from wilko that is quite green, I have put these in a pot, any ideas on helping them live?
Thank you
Last edited: 13 May 2017 14:58:45
Posts
Ideally, the Fuschias and Buddlejas should be put into the ground. If this isn't possible, you will need a pot for each plant and bigger than 20cm.
With all, I'd put decent quality topsoil and a mix a bit of compost in when planting in larger pots as soil retains water better than compost. They will need frequent watering.
The Buddlejas can be pruned down to a couple of leaves or leaf buds high on each side branch (try not to cut the main stem). The are incredibly vigoruous plants and will come back with a flush of new foliage although may flower later than normal.
Pruning Fuschias will also generate new growth but being in pots and replanting them may be a bit risky to prune them now if you want them to flower.
Last edited: 13 May 2017 15:21:55
Thank you for the reply, I initially planted the 3 buddleja together today in a 50cm pot as I wasn't sure if any would actually grow, i will take them out and plant each separately along with the fuschias.
Please could you advise in your opinion which size pot approx I would need for each?
I did want to put the buddlejas in a pot rather than the ground as I thought it would be easier to manage as I wanted it to fill out the bottom part of a privet hedge that hasn't grown back for many years, it's in 1 corner approx 1m each way and approx 1m high.
Thank you
50cm pots may be sufficient but larger ones would be ideal. Buddlejas are hard as nails when established and you've probably seen them growing out of drain pipes or even bricks in dilapidated buildings!
As long as they're correctly watered until they find their strength, they will be OK and a watering every couple of days during dry periods will help a lot if they're in pots.
Keeping them in check by hard pruning (but not excessive) as mentioned in the last post, early in Spring and chopping back the flower heads in early Autumn will stop them from becoming monsters or seeding everywhere.
Dead-heading i.e. removing brown flowers in the Summer to stop them going to seed will keep them flowering for much, much longer. The butterlies and bees will worship you
Do you which fuchsias they are Kath, not all are hardy, some are trailers, you don't want to put those In the ground, they will go in a hanging basket, or somewhere where you can put the pot up to show them off. You wouldn't put the ones with the giant flowers in the ground either.
You never over pot a fuchsia, so if they are small rooted just put them in a pot just slightly bigger than the root ball, then pot on, still plenty of time to pinch out the tops to make them bushy, a photo would help.
Never put a fuchsia in a black pot, they like cool roots and black pots get too hot.
Don't take too much notice of people that say certain shops are rubbish for plants, if it's good when you buy it and you give it what it needs, there's no reason for it to die.
Hi it seems the biggest pots I can find today are 50cm, so I now have 2 buddleja from wilko I have put the pink one in a 50cm pot, the purple one I initially put into a 50cm pot along with the 2 from the pound shop, these 2 look like twigs, do you think these will grow? If so I will put them each into a larger pot, I will try and add photos along with the fuschias
thank you
No plant should be over potted , just put them in pots that fit them with a little growing space, then pot on again until they reach the large pots.
Apart from the two other buddlias they look good plants, leave them like that and if those two take off you can transplant them later. fuchsias are nice, I have those.
As long as there's not too much room in the pots, they should be fine, you could pick out the tops from those long bits on the Delta Sara, still loads of time to bloom, they are a useful late plant on the patio.
Well my poundshop buddleia twigs have grown ? I now just need to move them into individual pots, i should have done this sooner but hopefully as everyone advised they are very resilient they will continue to grow, I just thought I would share a photo of them now ....