Keeping my fushias through winter

15 years ago

Hello, I've never tried to keep my fushias for the following year, but I was wondering if this would work. I have a sun porch upsatirs off my bedroom which is not heated at all but gets plenty of light. I'd like to put my strawberries up there too, and cover them all with straw for insulation. My fushias are hanging baskets, not in the ground. Do you think it will be too cold for them to make it? We have some pretty nasty winters here, and sometimes gets below zero. I also have seeds from my fushia that I'm going to plant tommorrow, so they get going before I put them up for winter....I really hope I can keep them this way. Any suggestions?

Comments (4)

davew
15 years ago
hi only hardies fuchsias will stand the winter you need a frost free place to keep your plants i would surgest that you pot them up and pack them in a box till the spring dont forget to give a little water just to keep the compost damp or you could dig a hole and put them in there i would say two feet deep would be good for your area then prune hard in the spring and away you go you say you have some seed thats nice but rember that the plants from the seed may not be the same as the plant the seed came from the only true way of geting the same plant is by cutings this would be better done in the spring time with the new shoots from your plants if you have a space in the house you could take some hard wood cuttings now and the should be ready for you to take cutting of by january to give you a good start for the year hope this helps davew
darlene87
15 years ago
You could take cuttings, they will root in water. In a few weeks they need to be potted up. Fushias do bloom best on new wood, so that is the way to go. Most cuttings will be a success, so I would do it that way.
darlene
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msjo
15 years ago
This will be my first year to over winter my fushia. Do you cut them back first? Would it be ok to leave in the garage or keep in the basement (65 degrees)? It can get pretty cold here also and I don't want to lose it.
seramas
15 years ago
I always kept them in the cool basement in front of a large window on the west side of the house. The basement isn't heated and gets down to 38F. The bush types are in 19" pots and are trimmed to within 6" of the dirt. They are kept moist-never allowed to dry out. The standards are trimmed back to 4" of the main trunk and also kept the same way the bush one are.

I've 3-4' standards that are 36 years old. The main stems are about 9" around. The biggest problem with the standards is keeping them out of the wind. Even as big as the main stems are they still are very brittle.

It is important to keep them feed regularly with a high nitrogen fertilizer and changing 1/3 of the soil each year-I use worm castings and mix in a couple cups of bone-meal, 1/2 cup of blood-meal and 1/2 cup of Epsom's salt.

Don't be afraid of cutting them back in the spring when you put them out again. I usually strip all the winter growth off to where they were cut back to in the fall so all the new growth is strong and healthy from the increased light they get outside and you won't have to deal with easing them in and out as so not to sunburn them. I always pinch back 2 times early in the growing season. This gives you a very full bush or tree.