Today I will guide you on how to grow fuchsia in hot climate(Lahore). Fuchsia is a cool climate plant and it is grown as annual in hot climates. It is grown as perennial in Murree, Abbottabad and other cool climate cities. Fuchsia is is usually brought from hilly areas to lower hotter cities in october and it flowers till April. In May it starts suffering from the high temperatures and will need to be moved back to Murree or other hilly areas in order to survive. You should be able to get its plants from nurseries in October-November. All the pictures in this post are from rooftop garden in Lahore. Find below some tips to make it bloom good in lahore.
Sun Exposure
Keep your fuchsia plant in morning sun only if you buy it in october. As soon as winter starts by mid november, you can keep it in full sun. February start again keep it in morning sun only. Note that Fuchsia does not like afternoon sun so morning sun couple hours is enough for blooms. From last week of march, keep it in full indirect sun bright shade.
Soil Mix
A mixture of loamy soil (bhal) with leaf compost is best. Add a layer of peat moss on top of the plant. The picture below is a ratio of soil 50%, compost 25% and peat moss 25%. It is taken from my rooftop garden in Lahore. Good drainage is mandatory for its growth.
Pruning
Fuchsia blooms on new growth so when you get your plant in october or november, prune 1/3 or 1/2 of the plant from top, depending on plant existing growth. If plant is very small then no need to prune. Do not afraid to do ruthless pruning of fuchsia, it will grow quickly and will have more blooms due to new growth tips.
Fertilizer
For potted plant, Fuchsia is a heavy feeder. Feed it with balanced NPK every 10 days as foliar spray. Feed DAP twice a month. Do not fertilizer in october at all. Feed it during november till March.
A 12 inches pot is enough for fuchsia to produce flowers. A 14 inches pot is best I would say. If planted in ground, it will perform better but you need to make sure the soil has good drainage.
Some varieties of fuchsia are best for hanging baskets while some are erect. There are many variations of fuchsia like double petal, triple petal fuchsia. There are many shades like blue, pink, red, white, magenta etc. You can also see picture of fuchsia I took in bhurban a while ago at this link https://www.lahoregardening.com/2011/07/flowers-of-pc-bhurban-lobelia-hosta-fuchsia-gazania-and-daylily.html
Fuchsia attracts some bugs when temperature starts rising. Neem oil works good as preventive measure. As a last resort you can also use acetamiprid for bugs.
When your plant starts dying in May in Lahore or similar climate, it is best to send it back to some vendor at Murree or similar climate instead of letting it die.
I hope you would have liked my article on how to grow fuchsia in hot climate. Stay tuned for the next article soon.
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