October 15, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
99 
THE CULTURE OF THE 
FUCHSIA * 
It is frequently remarked, and with some truth, 
that the Fuchsia is not grown so well or so exten¬ 
sively as it used to be, and that the wretched speci¬ 
mens one sees at flowers shows now are mere 
shadows of what were grown at one time. Per¬ 
sonally I can vouchsafe that the h uchsia stands as 
high in my estimation now as it did when I first took 
up its culture twenty or more years ago. As a 
window plant it is a universal favourite with cot¬ 
tagers, and I anticipate that it will find a place in 
their windows and little greenhouses when many of 
its contemporaries have passed out of cultivation and 
are forgotten. It is rather singular that the first 
Fuchsia introduced to this country was grown for a 
time in a cottage window. It was brought by a sailor 
from Chili in 1746, and was growing in the window of 
his mother’s dwelling when it attracted the attention 
of Mr. Lee, nurseryman of Hammersmith, who after 
sundry offers ultimately procured it for eighty 
guineas on condition that he would return a plant 
after a stock had been secured. The incident was 
related to me more than once whilst in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London, and I have seen it in print more 
than once since, so we may conclude that it is quite 
correct. 
This plant was named Fuchsia coccinea. Some 
eighty years later hybrids were raised, and since 
then scores of varieties have been raised and sent 
out, and subsequently ousted out of cultivation by 
better sorts. All the varieties are beautiful, and 
many form natural drooping pyramids, and two— 
Wave of Life and Sunray—have pleasing variegated 
leaves. The doubles have not such good habit as a 
rule as the singles, but with a little manipulating 
they can be trained to any form. 
Propagation. 
Cuttings may be rooted any time from June to 
September, but they root sooner and with greater 
certainty in the spring than in the autumn providing 
there is the accommodation of a house or pit with a 
temperature of 6o° to 70°. In the latter temperature 
I have had them ready for potting into 3-in. pots in 
ten days. The usual method of rooting them is to 
insert several in small pots filled with nice sandy 
soil and a layer of sand on the surface, a portion of 
• which trickles down and follows the cutting. The 
sand does not hold so much water between its 
particles as soil, consequently the cuttings are not so 
liable to decay. The pots are either plunged in 
bottom heat and covered with glass, or stood on the 
stage and covered with hand-lights according to con¬ 
venience. At times the cuttings do not succeed so 
well, and many decay and perish probably from want 
of due adjustment of heat and moisture, and though 
the latter would appear to be their greatest enemy it 
is notorious that the Fuchsia will root in sand and 
water with the greatest freedom ; scarcely a cutting 
missing. I fill a few garden saucers with sand and 
make it fairly sloppy with water, then the cuttings 
are thrust in without the aid of the dibber. In the 
early months of the year the cuttings require no 
shade, neither will they flag if the sand is kept 
moist. 
Unlike those inserted in pots, which invariably 
have many of their roots broken when they come to 
be parted for potting, those in the sand can be pulled 
out and potted without breaking a single root. In 
order to have cuttings ready in January it is neces¬ 
sary to start some plants in heat in December. Our 
rooted cuttings are first potted into 3-in. pots in 
nice sweet sandy loam, leaf soil, and a sixth of burnt 
earth, or a less portion of charcoal dust. For a few 
days the young plants will remain in the house they 
were rooted in, but as soon as they have got hold of 
the soil and are on the move a temperature of 55 0 to 
6o° will suit them better than 6o° to 70°, from now 
until they are in flower and their growth completed. 
The structure must not be an airy one, and the 
plants must be kept constantly on the move by main¬ 
taining a moist growing atmosphere produced by 
syringing and sprinkling the floor and other surfaces. 
Probably our present day glass structures which.are 
nearly all glass and very little wood, are not so 
suitable for the Fuchsia as those of less modern 
build. Many of these ancient structures with their 
small squares of glass, sunk paths and other internal 
structural arrangements, had naturally a moist 
* A paper read at the last meeting of the Preston and Ful- 
wood Horticultural Society, by Mr. W. P. Roberts, Cuerdon 
Hall Gardens, Preston. 
growing atmosphere, which enabled our forefathers 
to grow the plant with greater ease than we can, and 
will in a measure account for any decline there may 
be in its culture. The best plants I ever grew were 
located in a deep sunk brick pit, the bottom of which 
was always moist and cool. The plants in their 
early days were on a temporary stage, and as they 
grew were lowered until they ultimately reached the 
floor. 
I am convinced that from the end of May the 
Fuchsia would do better out of doors—plunged in a 
shady sheltered corner, in some material to prevent the 
wind from blowing them over—-than it does in many 
houses. To keep the plants steadily growing they 
must not be allowed to get the least pot bound, and 
though it is not safe to give dates as to when they 
should be potted,’ it may be fairly assumed that those 
rooted in January, and potted into 3-in. pots, will in 
March or April be ready for 5-in. or 6-in. pots. The 
next potting will be into pots 3 in. larger, and must 
take place ten or twelve weeks before they are 
wanted to flower. If they have been properly 
attended to the plants by July should be quite 3 ft. 
in diameter, and 6 in. more in height, bushy, fur¬ 
nished with shoots overhanging the pots, and loaded 
with flowers. If larger and later flowering plants are 
aimed at they must be again moved into still larger 
pots, but if say September flowering plants must be 
confined to 9-in. pots, the best plan will be not 
to strike the cuttings until March. 
I rarely grow any of the plants in pots the second 
year, but make a practice of planting them in the 
open air in beds. They, however, do very well the 
second year in pots, and after the leaves are off they 
must be pruned and stored in any frost proof struc¬ 
ture that is not too dry. As soon as they show 
a disposition to grow, shake the soil from the roots 
and pot into a smaller pot, and after this is filled with 
roots, pot again. 
Compost. 
This should consist of fresh turfy loam with one 
fourth leaf soil, a sixth of sand, and a tenth part of 
fresh horse droppings passed through a Jin. sieve. It 
is always safe to add charcoal to the compost for 
Fuchsias, and if charred soil is at hand it will prove 
highly beneficial, and may replace a portion of the 
loam. Rotten manure is frequently recommended as 
a part of the Fuchsia compost, but I discard it, 
because the high vitality to be maintained in the 
Fuchsia requires a large supply of nitrogen, which 
has been dispersed by fermentation and long exposure 
to the atmosphere from the decayed manure, and I 
contend that a handful of fresh droppings is worth a 
spadeful of decayed substance for the Fuchsia. 
Stopping the Shoots. 
All varieties inclined to run up without branching 
must be pinched when 8 in. or 9 in. high, and 
if wanted for exhibition the shoots will require train¬ 
ing downwards by being tied to sticks, or to a piece of 
mat run round the pot. These laterals must have 
the points pinched when 6 in. long, and all future 
growths every three joints. This process must be 
carried on until eight or nine weeks before the plants 
are required to flower, and any flowers that may 
appear are as well pulled off exhibition plants until 
a fortnight before the show day ; for it is evident that 
a flower developed so long beforehand will be of little 
service after being conveyed to the show. Exhibi¬ 
tors of Fuchsias overlook this fact, and allow their 
plants to flower for weeks before the show, con¬ 
sequently their glory has departed, and on the show 
day the grower has to make the apologetic remark 
that they were much better at a certain date prece¬ 
dent to the show. Yet perhaps it would be difficult 
to name a plant the time of flowering of which can 
be gauged to such nicety as the Fuchsia. All the 
plants will require a sound stake in the centre, and 
for exhibition the side branches will need supporting. 
Feeding the Plants. 
In addition to the food provided in the soil the plants 
are growing in, they must have additional support in 
the way of liquid manure, and its application may 
commence in about six weeks after the last potting, 
as by then the roots will have extended to the sides 
of the pots. The growth of the plants from this 
date will be most marked, and far more rapid than 
when depending solely for their sustenance on the 
soil, however rich it may be. Liquid manure, if of 
the right sort, that is, containing the necessary fertilis¬ 
ing properties, is a food that can be readily taken up 
by the plants, and if the roots are in good health they 
greedily absorb it. The best sort of liquid manure 
unquestionably is that collected from the drainage of 
mixed manure heaps, with the urine from the various 
animals, which in too many instances runs into the 
drains. This, however, is not within the reach of 
every one, consequently we must look for the best 
substitutes we can find. Their names are of little 
importance providing that they contain ammonia, 
the source from which plants derive their nitrogen, a 
highly important element in the formation of the 
green or young parts of plants. The best way to 
apply liquid manure is to give it weak and often, and 
not occasionally and strong. 
It is quite possible that the method or time of 
propagating the Fuchsia detailed above may not be 
suitable to the convenience of amateurs and cottagers. 
I will therefore mention another plan of propagating 
and growing the Fuchsia. The cuttings may be 
rooted any time during late spring and summer 
months and the„ plants grown on and potted until 
they are in a 6-in. pot. The leader and side shoots 
may be stopped once. Just when they show signs of 
growth in the early part of the year cut them back to 
where they were pinched or stopped in the autumn, 
then shake the soil away from the roots and pot into 
pots sufficiently large to accommodate the roots 
without cramping them. The after treatment must 
be the same as already advised. Any one wishing 
for large plants in June full of vigour and covered 
with flowers must root the cuttings some time be¬ 
tween the last days of July and the early days of 
September the previous year. These plants must be 
kept growing through the winter in a temperature of 
50° to 6o°. A shelf near the glass with a layer of 
cocoa fibre, sand, or fine ashes for the pots to stand 
upon, will suit them well. 
Shading. 
This must be attended to as soon as the flowers 
expand and at times during the plant’s growth, much 
depending on the nature of the structure and its 
aspect. The plants make such rapid growth, that 
after a series of dull days, followed by a sudden out¬ 
burst of sunshine, they are almost sure to droop. 
Then is the time to shade. From the time the 
flowers begin to expand the plants must have more 
air, and syringing or overhead watering must cease ; 
but the floor and staging must be damped two or 
three times daily to compensate for the rapid 
evaporation that is going on. 
Staking. 
Insert a sound stake in the centre, and those plants 
with naturally pendulous habit will need the lower 
branches staked to prevent the flowers rubbing 
against the stage. Beyond this, plants for home 
decoration need no stakes, but it is different with 
those that may have to be conveyed over rough 
roads to exhibitions, for hot only should the main 
branches be carefully supported with stakes, but all 
the most floriferous branches should be slung in 
sheets of tissue paper, these being tied to temporary 
stakes. In this way they oscillate without taking 
much harm, whilst in the absence of tissue paper 
they are dashed against each other to such an extent 
that most of the flowers are spoiled before reaching 
the exhibition tables. Large plants in compara¬ 
tively small pots are apt to topple over in the 
exhibition van in spite of nails and blocks. To 
prevent this I have taken the precaution to drop the 
pots into a size larger and fill up the space between 
with moss. 
Insects. 
Whilst in good health and kept apart from plants 
already affected with insects, the Fuchsia gives very 
little trouble. Green-fly is the most common enemy 
of the Fuchsia, but it is easily got rid of by fumigating. 
An arid atmosphere with dryness at the roots a few 
times will bring on thrips and red spider. As soon 
as the latter makes its appearance syringe the plants 
a few times with soapy water and a handful of 
sulphur to every three gallons. Thrips may be 
destroyed by fumigating two or three nights in 
succession, which is preferable to one strong dose. 
Varieties. 
The varieties of the Fuchsia are numerous, but I 
will not attempt to describe them or name the best. 
The following are a few of those which I have 
grown, and which I can recommend :—Lord Fal¬ 
mouth, General Gordon, Gazelle, Sir John Campbell, 
Lord Clyde, and Try Me O ! The latter was once 
a great favourite with market growers, Diadem Clio, 
Guiding Star, Mrs. Marshall, Marginata, Rose of 
Castille, and an improved variety of it, Swanley 
Gem, Rhoderic Dhu, and Lady Heytesbury. These 
are names of sorts that still find their way into the 
exhibition tent, and for general usefulness it is a 
question if they can be surpassed.— W. P. Roberts. 
