How to Care for Fuchsias in Pots and Containers: 5 Growing Tips
Fuchsias fill summer gardens with their hanging blooms and lush, green leaves. They’re perfect for hanging baskets, pots, planters, and containers. Learn how to give your fuchsias the best care with these five expert growing tips.
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Every porch needs fuchsias! These frost-tender perennials are easy to grow with the right care. They require a medium amount of maintenance, meaning they’re more or less like most other garden plants.
Potted specimens need a bit more care than those in the ground, as they’re susceptible to drying out, lacking nutrients, and growing rootbound. With some preventative measures, we’ll ensure your potted fuchsias stay perky and vigorous from spring until fall.
5 Growing Tips for Growing Fuschias in Pots
Hardy fuchsias overwinter outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 10, while hybrid varieties survive in zones 10 through 12. Protect your fuchsias during the winter by moving them indoors to a bright location or into a greenhouse.
Aside from winter protection, consider these five growing tips when caring for your fuchsias in containers.
Maintain Consistent Moisture
These moisture lovers need consistent access to water. Keep them moist, but not soggy, by watering them consistently during the growing season. The warmer the temperatures, the more water your fuchsias will need to stay cool.
Potted specimens are especially susceptible to drying out. They lack the insulation of the ground. Bolster their defenses by placing an organic mulch on top of the soil, leaving a gap between the stems. Use compost, leaf mold, or straw.
Mulches feed the soil with nutrients as they break down. They also conserve water, preventing it from evaporating during warm weather.
Fertilize Regularly
These plants love fertile soil. Because containers have a finite amount of soil, they may need a boost from fertilizers. Organic fertilizers feed the soil, and the soil feeds the plants. Synthetic, or salt-based fertilizers, feed the plants but harm the soil.
A bit of synthetic fertilizer is beneficial in boosting nutrient-deficient fuchsias. Fuchsias in pots have less of a soil microbiome than those growing in the ground. A diluted salt-based fertilizer every two to four weeks during the spring and summer is beneficial for fuchsia plants.
If you’re growing fuchsias in raised beds, planters, or other large containers where worms and microbes may be present, consider using a slow-releasing organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizers require fungi and bacteria to break them down into a form your fuchsias’ roots can access; this process takes time.
Provide Shade
Shade is perhaps the most important aspect of fuchsia care! These tender plants grow best in partial or full shade. They also thrive under dappled sun outdoors and bright, indirect light indoors. Ensure your fuchsias receive no more than six hours of direct sunlight a day.
The more sun fuchsias in pots receive, the more water they’ll need to stay moist and cool. Watch for signs of sun scorch or burns, like brown streaks and patches on the leaves. Potted fuchsia plants are easy to move. Simply place them in a new spot if they’re sitting in too much sun.
It’s important to remember that indoor light conditions are less bright than outdoor ones. Slowly transition fuchsia plants from indoors to outdoors in spring by giving them a few hours outside each day. Increase how long they’re outdoors over two weeks. They’ll grow well with partial or full shade after this hardening-off period.
Support Upright Varieties
Fuchsias have a few different types that vary depending on their growth habits. There are upright, arching, and prostrate fuchsia varieties. Most of the frost-tender kinds are drooping or prostrate, while the hardy species are upright.
You’ll know you’re growing an upright fuchsia if it has lengthy stems that reach up into the air. These stems benefit from staking to keep them standing tall. Use a trellis, cage, or bamboo stake to support them.
You may train drooping and prostrate varieties to grow like upright ones if you’d like to fit them in a narrow space. Simply tie their stems to the supports as they grow longer. Fill trellises, arbors, or obelisks this way, by securing the stems to the structures.
Care for Drooping Types
Drooping fuchsia cultivars have arching, hanging stems that flop as they grow. They’re halfway between a prostrate and an upright type. Incredibly popular, these fuchsias look their best in hanging baskets and tall containers. Their stems flop over the edges, creating a luxurious fountain of blooms.
It’s easy to find drooping types, as they’re commonly sold in nurseries and garden centers from spring through summer. Some have slender blooms, while others have giant, many-layered flowers with intricate folds.
If you choose to overwinter your fuchsia plants, you’ll want to repot them into larger containers every few years before they grow rootbound. Plant them into larger containers to give their roots space to grow, and use fresh potting soil to give them a boost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you feed fuchsias in pots?
Feed nutrient-deficient plants a half or quarter dose of diluted synthetic fertilizer every two to four weeks. Use an organic fertilizer if you’re also using compost, as salt-based fertilizers harm soil microbes.
What do you plant with fuchsias in pots?
What to plant with them depends on the type you’re growing! Use drooping and prostrate cultivars with upright plants, and upright fuchsias with other cascading plants.
When should I prune my fuchsia in a pot?
Prune overwintered plants in the spring when they begin growing again. Deadhead fuchsias in the summer to keep them blooming.
