Even beginner gardeners are well aware of fuchsia. The beautiful bells of the plant attract the attention of even those people who are indifferent to flowers. Culture strikes with a variety of forms and types. Hybrid fuchsia is a desirable plant for any grower. It is about her that will be discussed in our article.
Historical digression
Flower growers have been growing fuchsia for over 300 centuries. Culture appeared on our continent in 1696. Char Plumier brought her from distant wanderings. It is worth noting that the traveler introduced more than 200 different plants. However, it was fuchsia that fascinated the Europeans. The plant got its name in honor of the famous botanist Fuchs. The beautiful fuchsia quickly became a popular flower in France. And in the eighteenth century there was a new surge of fashion for culture. During this period, flower growers began to create new varieties of hybrid fuchsia.
The birthplace of culture is Central and South America, as well as New Zealand. About 100 species grow in the wild. Beautiful flowers,growing on the slopes of the Andes, pollinate hummingbirds. And in the northwestern lands of Europe, bumblebees are engaged in pollination. However, the insects do not have such a long proboscis as the hummingbird, so they make a hole in the side of the flower to extract the nectar.
Flower breeders have created many types of hybrid fuchsia. Currently, there are more than 20 thousand of them. In home floriculture, hybrid fuchsia is usually used, the different forms of which differ in the degree of doubleness, color and flower shape. Collectors created varieties with double coloration, which immediately found their fans.
Most often on sale you can find elegant fuchsia, three-leaf, shiny, hybrid and others.
Fuchsia hybrid: description
Ornamental shrubs are representatives of the fireweed family. The plant has a branched stem and beautiful flowers of different colors. Graceful fuchsia is an ideal culture for home cultivation. It is planted in greenhouses, on windows, in containers and in beds.
In warmer regions, the plant is grown in garden beds where it grows into large shrubs. They are even used as hedges. In cold climates, fuchsias die in winter. But in the spring, new sprouts appear from the base of the bush. When grown in the ground, the crop must be protected from frost. Flowers on the same bush, grown during the summer, usually have different shades. Some types of hybrid fuchsia (photo is given in the article) look good in hanging planters. They reach a height of 90 centimeters.
The leaves of the culture are small and oval. The length of the flowers reaches 4-8 centimeters, their colors are very diverse.
Fuchsia is an unpretentious crop that even a novice grower can handle growing.
Types of fuchsias
Currently, the following types of hybrid fuchsia are most common:
- Brilliant fuchsia is a popular plant that blooms from June to August. This variety is one of the parent forms.
- Bolivian is an evergreen shrub with large dark red flowers. The plant blooms from March to April. Highly decorative shape is good for home gardening. This type of plant was grown by the Incas for its berries, which have a narcotic effect.
Magellanskaya is an evergreen shrub that blooms profusely with bell-shaped flowers. The plant is used for vertical gardening
Popular varieties
In the arsenal of modern flower growers there are many varieties of hybrid fuchsia. The most popular among them are Aladna's Sanders, Alfred Fuhrmann, Alison Woods, Art Deco.
Containment conditions
Fuchsia hybrid (photo shown in the article) obtained by crossing several types of fuchsia. The culture has flexible branches. Young shoots are often painted in reddish tones. Twigs turn light brown with age.
In order for the plant to please with abundant flowering, it is necessary to provide proper care. Despite the unpretentiousness of culture, you need to know somenuances regarding the conditions of keeping hybrid fuchsia. Caring for a plant at home is not difficult. Culture must be placed on the western or eastern window. It is necessary to position the plant so that direct sunlight does not fall on it. Although breeders are currently developing new varieties that will be resistant to bright light. So you can count on the fact that soon the new forms will be on sale.
If you intend to put fuchsia on the south window, you need to take care of its shading in advance. The culture is good for decorating rooms with artificial lighting.
Water and temperature conditions
During the active growing season, fuchsia needs active watering. The plant loves clean, moist air. Therefore, the culture will respond gratefully to regular spraying with settled water. Fuchsias do not like high temperatures, they prefer cool year-round maintenance.
With the advent of the warm season, plants begin to tolerate room temperature poorly. For culture, temperatures above + 22 degrees can be fatal. Therefore, after the end of the frost period, the fuchsia pot should be taken out to a ventilated balcony or loggia. In the fresh air, the plant continues to actively bloom. However, the culture does not like drafts.
Reproduction
A photo of hybrid fuchsia flowers allows you to appreciate the beauty of the culture. Usually flower growers grow it as a perennial. But sometimes after a while you have to updatebushes, because it is not always possible to create optimal conditions for keeping. The plant tends to shed its leaves. In this case, the branches of the bushes remain without greenery. At the same time, the decorativeness of the plant suffers. In addition, this negatively affects the fuchsia itself.
There are two ways to propagate a crop: seeds and cuttings. The first method is rarely used. Firstly, it is more complex, and secondly, the new plant obtained from seeds differs in its characteristics from the hybrid fuchsia of the mother bush.
Therefore, it is customary to propagate the culture with grassy cuttings. The procedure is carried out at the end of March or at the beginning of April. For this, apical cuttings (7-10 cm long) are used, the surface of which has not yet become rough. For rooting, the shoots are placed in a container with water or in moist soil with a neutral pH. From above, the stalk is covered with a glass jar.
Gardeners note that rooting takes about two weeks. The success of reproduction can be judged by the green leaves growing on the crown. In the future, rooted plants are planted one at a time in separate pots of a larger volume. Experienced experts recommend using peat cups for rooting, since the root system of the hybrid fuchsia will not be injured during further transplantation.
Nuances of care
To give a beautiful shape and stimulate flowering, fuchsia must be cut and pinched regularly. The culture tolerates pruning very easily, so very often it is formed in the form of a standardplants. To do this, foliage and shoots are regularly removed on the lower part of the stem. However, the formation process is quite long. It usually takes a couple of years.
If necessary, bushes can be transplanted. To do this, use a soil consisting of sand, peat, leafy soil and humus, taken in a ratio of 0.5:1:1:1.
Possible problems
Fuchsias don't like too much light. But the lack of light also negatively affects them. Poor lighting and high air temperature leads to premature fall of flowers, buds and leaves. Yellow spots may appear on the plant.
The appearance of yellow spots on the foliage may be due to excessive water hardness or fluctuations in the level of moisture in the soil. Overdrying of the earthy coma with subsequent waterlogging should not be allowed.
We mentioned that the crop is good at spraying. However, water procedures cannot be carried out during a period of bright lighting in the absence of shading. Drops of water can cause leaf burns.
Mature plants very often turn yellow due to insufficient levels of magnesium or iron in the soil. Therefore, periodically the soil in pots must be updated. In addition, it is necessary to carry out regular feeding of the plant. To do this, it is recommended to use aqueous solutions of complex fertilizers containing the necessary trace elements.
Very often housewives throw away purchased plants because they shed their leaves. If such a nuisance happened to your bush, do not be upset. It must be placed incool place until young leaves grow on the plant.
Feeding
Fertilization is a prerequisite for caring for fuchsia. An insufficient amount of trace elements leads to weak flowering or its absence. An overabundance of fertilizers has the same detrimental effect as their lack. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out feeding according to the schedule - twice a month. To do this, use balanced fertilizers. For fuchsia, complex dressings for pelargoniums are suitable. In winter, it is better to refuse fertilizers.
Transfer
Fuchsias are undemanding to transplant. Replacing the soil and pot is necessary only if the container has become cramped and the roots are visible from the drainage hole. For planting, you can use any pot. A prerequisite for transplantation is the presence of a drainage layer, which will protect the roots of hybrid fuchsia from an overabundance of flags. Soil for the plant can be purchased at a specialized store. If you want to make the substrate yourself, then you will need peat, humus and compost (in equal parts). You can also add two parts of sand to the mixture.
Florists for abundant flowering recommend adding horn or bone meal when planting (in the ratio of a tablespoon of flour per liter of soil).
Diseases and pests
Despite all the unpretentiousness of the plant, it is susceptible to some ailments. Their appearance is associated with a violation of the conditions of detention. If the air in the room is too hot and dry, then there are high chances of suchpests such as spider mites, whiteflies and greenhouse aphids. In order to reduce the likelihood of insects, it is necessary to increase the level of humidity.
If you notice pests on your plant, it must be treated with chemicals. But you need to do this in non-residential premises. In summer, processing can be carried out outdoors in calm weather.
Greenhouse aphids are small, pale pink or black insects. Pests settle on young leaves, sucking the juice out of them. The easiest way to deal with aphids is to treat the bush with a soap and water solution. In addition, you can use Actellik.
Whitefly is a pale yellow insect that causes serious damage to the plant. Not only adults are dangerous, but also larvae. Insects reproduce incredibly fast. At the first sign of the appearance of pests, the bushes must be treated with Fitoverm, Aktellik or Verticillin.
When a net of the finest cobwebs appears on a plant, we can talk about a spider mite. To combat insects, fuchsia should be treated with hot soapy water. In the fight against spider mites, Neoron has proven itself well.
Experienced flower growers recommend monthly preventive measures. To do this, the soil is shed with a solution of "Confidor" or "Aktara".
Compliance with optimal conditions of detention avoids the appearance of ailments and pests. On the damaged areas of the plant, there is a high probability of the appearance of gray rot, which infurther extends to he althy shoots and leaves. Sick bushes are treated with Bordeaux liquid, and the affected foliage and shoots are destroyed so that the spores do not spread further.
Instead of afterword
Fuchsia is a wonderful home plant that pleases housewives with abundant flowering. Unpretentious culture is easy to care for. Following the simplest rules of maintenance will allow you to enjoy flowering for a long time. Among the variety of species and varieties of fuchsia, you can find stunningly beautiful plants with different flowering periods, which will allow you to create a real garden in your apartment, delighting with bright colors.
