How to grow Hardy Fuchsia

prefers afternoon shade, ample water and fertilizer but is tolerant of drought and difficult growing conditions, except dislikes hot summers. With adequate water and fertilizer will bloom until frost.

Prune back any winter killed branches in early spring, and give a general neatening up and shortening of branches.Although hardy, in cold winters this will die back to the ground, returning in late spring. Mulch at least 2" deep in winter, more in cold climates.

This species is native to the southern tip of south america, and prefers a cool, temperate climate.

Best grown from cuttings, but you may try and propagate from seed. Seedling may not resemble parent.

Wait until the berries (fruits) on your fuchsia plant are well ripened. Most of them will have a very dark red colour, but some will be ripe when they have a light/dark green colour. To determine whether they are ripe or not gently squeeze between forefinger and thumb, if soft they are ripe, if hard they are unripe.

Remove from plant. Lay on a piece of kitchen towel and cut open (lengthwise). Scrape off as much as you can of the jelly-like substance. Fill small pots with peat based compost. Stand the pots in water until you can see that the top of the soil is wet. Do not water anymore until the seeds have germinated, only give a light misting of water with a hand spray if the soil looks really dry.

Place seeds on top of soil, cover with a minute amount of same soil less compost or wet vermiculite. Place in a well lit position, away from direct sunlight, if you have a propagator at 60f.

Another way is to use a small seed tray, same procedure as above, but cover tray with plastic, when seedlings appear only remove plastic for a couple of hours at a time to acclimatize seedlings.

Germination is erratic, from a few days to several weeks. Hybrids or cultivars very seldom come true from seed, you will have many variations of the parent plant, some completely different.

Look to ensure a distance 1.56 inches (4.0 cm) between seeds when sowing - bury at a depth of at least 0.04 inches (0.1 cm) deep. Soil temperature should be kept higher than 14°C / 57°F to ensure good germination.

After about one year you may plant out your seedlings.

Ensure that temperatures are mild and all chance of frost has passed before planting out, as Hardy Fuchsia is a hardy plant.

One little known thing about fuchsia is that the berries are edible! ¹

should use fresh seed.

These estimates for how long Hardy Fuchsia takes to sprout, grow and harvest are from real observations from real gardeners, right around the world.

Misspellings: fuschia

¹ edible fuchsia berries