Countryfile: Matt apologises for picking 'unacceptable' flowers
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Fuchsia plants grow from the mid-summer through to the first signs of frost in the autumn. They are one of the mainstays of the summer garden and they produce masses of delightful, bell-shaped flowers for many months. Fuchsias provide a colourful display in any garden adorning flowerbeds, borders, hanging baskets and more.
Fuchsias are easy to grow and can last well into autumn.
They are much-loved flowers due to their long flower period and their beautiful bell-shaped appearance.
To encourage more of these pretty flowers to appear you should try to pinch out the soft shoot tips.
This means you must be aware of when exactly your shoots will begin to grow.
Fuchsias like sheltered areas and can cope with any type of soil, so long as it is well-drained.
Ideally, they like full sun areas, but a blazing south-facing area may be too hot for them.
You can grow fuchsias in pots under glass as well, but you should avoid too much direct sunlight and therefore growing them in a greenhouse is ideal.
Hedges of hardy fuchsia only really grow well in mild locations, but in colder regions, they are killed to the ground in winter.
According to the growing fuchsias calendar, you should begin taking cuttings from your plant in the fourth week of March.
This means your shoots will begin to appear in March.
You should take the next step and begin pinching out to encourage more flowering in the third week of April.
The second pinching out stage should take place in late April before the third pinching out is due in late May.
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You should allow your young fuchsia stem to grow upright and remove all side shoots as they develop.
Try not to remove the leaves from the male stem because these will feed the plant.
New side shoots will be produced at the top of your plant, which will form the head of the standard.
The leaves on the main stem will be shed naturally in time, or you can carefully remove them.
When to pinch out fuchsias
Pinching out fuchsia plants helps to encourage the development of bushy side shoots which will be covered by summer flowers.
You should begin pinching out the plants in Spring and continue into the early summer.
You should pinch out the tips once each side shoots when it has two to four sets of leaves.
Your fuchsia plant should produce its first flowers around four to six weeks after the last pinching.
How to pinch out fuchsias
When you have young fuchsia plants or rooted cuttings, allow two or three pairs of leaves to fully expand before you pinch out the soft shoot tips.
Next, use scissors, a knife or your fingernail to gently remove the shoot tips.
Repeat the pinching two or three more times, allowing two pairs of leaves to expand fully on each of the following side shoots.
This will take around 10 to 20 days, depending on the speed of growth.
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