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Fuchsias are a perennial, but because they tin be finicky during the colder months, many people treat them like annuals, replacing them each twelvemonth. Even so, with a piddling care, you tin keep your fuchsias healthy for years to come up! You'll do best by overwintering your fuchsias in a greenhouse or indoors if the plants are in a pot or basket. Withal, if yous're growing hardy fuchsias in the ground, you tin leave them in place for the winter, as long as you set them first.

  1. 1

    Water the plants every 3-4 weeks starting in fall, and then end entirely. Once you commencement having cooler weather—typically around September in the Northern Hemisphere and March in the Southern Hemisphere—cut back and so y'all're only watering your fuchsia plants every 3-4 weeks. Then, stop watering them altogether almost 4-7 days earlier you lot program to prepare them for overwintering.[1]

    • If the root brawl is too wet, it will cause water aerosol to gather at the places where you prune your establish, which can damage the fuchsia.

  2. 2

    Lookout for the first freeze so you lot'll know when to prepare your plants. To make up one's mind when yous should cut your fuchsias for winter, check the Farmer's Annual or a local gardening heart to determine when to look the first hard freeze of the year. However, it'southward of import to keep an eye on your local weather forecast in example a freeze comes early. If that happens, fix the plants before the common cold weather begins.[2]

    • For instance, if yous're overwintering fuchsias in the Pacific Northwest, and yous live in Zone 10, your first frost would exist expected between November ane and November 10. In that example, it would be a proficient idea to prepare the plants during the terminal one-2 weeks of October.
    • If a freeze occurs unexpectedly, bring the plants within until the freeze alert has passed, and so overwinter them as normal.

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  3. 3

    Prune back the institute by near 1/three, cutting i in (2.5 cm) in a higher place leaf joints. When you lot're ready to clip your plants, accept a pair of cutting shears and wipe downwards the blades with rubbing alcohol to disinfect them. Then, trim off about 1/iii of the plant's branches. Each time you lot make a cut, ensure you lot snip at to the lowest degree 1 in (2.5 cm) higher up a leaf pair to encourage futurity growth.[three]

    • As you cut, focus especially on branches that extend by the perimeter of the pot or to a higher place the residuum of the plant.
    • To avert potentially spreading disease or bacteria, disinfect the blades of your shears between plants if you'll be pruning multiple fuchsias.
    • If y'all're planning to overwinter the plant in a dormant country, you tin can cut it all the way back, leaving about iii in (7.6 cm) in a higher place the ground. Yet, if yous'd prefer, it's still fine to only trim it downward by about ane/3.

  4. 4

    Cut any remaining leaves off of the plant. Use your garden shears or a abrupt pair of scissors to snip away any leaves that are left on the plant. Don't worry—new leaves volition abound in the leap![4]

    • If your establish has already been through a frost, some or all of the leaves may have already fallen off. If so, only cutting off any that are left.

    Tip: Some people prefer to trim the leaves off of the plant first before pruning the branches, as it allows them to see the shape of the plant more conspicuously.

  5. v

    Store older fuchsias betwixt 34–36 °F (1–2 °C) to keep them fallow. Putting a constitute into dormancy ensures that it won't abound at all, allowing it to conserve free energy to grow more in the spring. To do that, keep it in a location that'south absurd, but not freezing, similar a porch or a basement with a abiding temperature of 34–36 °F (one–2 °C).[5]

    • This is a good pick for plants that already have a well-established root organisation.
    • It's okay if the temperature fluctuates higher during this fourth dimension, although the roots and branches of the plant may abound a little if that does happen. However, if the temperature in the storage expanse is going to dip beneath freezing, bring the plants indoors or movement them to some other protected location.

  6. 6

    Keep younger plants semi-dormant by storing them betwixt 42–45 °F (6–7 °C). Storing your plants in a semi-fallow state is a gentler mode to overwinter them, so it's a good choice for younger plants that haven't had as much time to develop a strong root system. The all-time way to keep your fuchsias semi-dormant is to keep them in a greenhouse with a steady temperature of 42–45 °F (6–vii °C), although if you have a warmer cellar or enclosed porch, that could work also.[half-dozen]

    • Avoid letting your fuchsias get much warmer than that, or they'll commencement to grow leggy, weak branches.[vii]
    • Yous can shop the plants upright, but if you take the infinite, consider laying them on their side to promote better root growth.

  7. seven

    Mist your plants every ii-iv weeks to keep the root ball moist. When yous're overwintering plants, they tin easily die if they go too much or likewise piffling water. To avoid this, mist the soil lightly every 2 weeks or then, although you can wait upward to 4 weeks if the soil is still moist to the touch. Do not soak the plants, but do make certain the earth is thoroughly damp.[8]

    • If you'd like to encourage more root growth, you tin mix a diluted fertilizer in with your water. However, this isn't necessary, and you should have intendance not to over fertilize the plant, since it's outside of the normal growing season.[nine]

  8. 8

    Prune and repot your plants in the spring. Subsequently the danger of frost has passed, examine your plants and prune away whatever dead growth that might have developed during the overwintering process. So, remove the fuchsia from its pot, replace the compost, and gently place the institute dorsum into its container.[10]

    • Pruning the constitute again will help encourage new growth.

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  1. 1

    Water the plant every 3-4 weeks starting in the fall. To requite your hardy fuchsias the winter care they'll need to go far another year, start preparing every bit soon as the temperatures start to cool. At the beginning of autumn (September in the Northern Hemisphere or May in the Southern Hemisphere), cut dorsum how oft yous water your fuchsia plants to about once every 3-iv weeks.[11]

    • Too much water will cause your plants to die dorsum during the overwintering process.

  2. 2

    Stop watering the plant entirely two weeks before the offset freeze of the year. Check your local news and weather stations or the Farmer'south Almanac to determine when the first hard freeze is expected in your area. It's a good idea to overwinter the plants almost a calendar week before this date, and then yous may desire to stop watering them entirely about two weeks before that.[12]

    • For instance, if the engagement of your expected offset freeze is November 2, you might program to gear up the plants on October 26. In that case, you lot wouldn't want to water them later than Oct 19 to give the roots fourth dimension to dry.
    • Be sure to continue an eye on the forecast in case a freeze happens earlier than expected.

  3. 3

    Prune away whatsoever long branches, cutting 1 in (two.5 cm) above foliage joints. Look for any branches that extend beyond the basic shape of your fuchsia plant. When you notice 1 you lot want to cut, locate a leaf pair, then use garden shears to cut near 1 in (ii.5 cm) above this joint.[xiii]

    • When you're preparing a establish to overwinter in the ground, it's of import that yous don't prune information technology back likewise difficult. Much of the growth that'southward left will dice back during the winter, but it will aid insulate the constitute from the cold.
    • If you're pruning multiple fuchsia plants, disinfect the blades by wiping them downwards with rubbing alcohol between plants.

  4. 4

    Snip off whatsoever remaining leaves. Use your garden shears or a pair of scissors to trim off any leaves that are left. Cut equally close to branch as you can.[fourteen]

    • This will help the plant conserve the energy it needs to get through the winter.

  5. 5

    Identify 1–2 in (2.5–v.1 cm) of mulch effectually the base of the plants. In society to insulate your hardy fuchsia plants from the common cold, put a generous layer of mulch effectually the torso of the plant, extending out about every bit far as the root ball would reach.[fifteen]

    • You can use straw, leaves, grass cuttings, bark, or compost as mulch.
    • If y'all're not sure how big the root brawl is, make a circumvolve extending virtually 2 ft (0.61 m) from the eye of the plant.
    • Check the mulch periodically throughout the wintertime to ensure it hasn't been disturbed by wind, birds, or small animals.

  6. 6

    Cutting back any expressionless branches in the spring. One time the danger of the terminal freeze has passed, examine your plant and use your garden shears to cut off any branches which expect dead or wilted. If it was a very cold winter, you may take to cut the plant almost all the way back, but avert cutting the main branch shorter than 3 in (7.half dozen cm).[16]

    • If yous're not certain if a branch is expressionless, scrape abroad the bark. If the inside of the branch is green, it'southward still live. If it's brown, the branch is expressionless.

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Things You'll Need

  • Garden shears
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Compost (for leap)
  • Garden shears
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Mulch

References

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