The growing of fuchsias in baskets and hanging pots is possibly the best way of seeing the perfect beauty of the flowers to their best advantage. HANGING BASKETS
To begin with obtain a basket. The choice of material is up to the individual. This can be wire, plastic or the popular rustic looking woven wood type, all have advantages and disadvantages with the wire and wood types looking more traditional and attractive. If a wire basket is chosen this should be lined with any suitable material. Moss, felt liners, compressed peat liners, black or green polythene, -- any will do.
If you are using moss make a roll of it all around the top rim, then continue to cover the inside ensuring that the sides are sufficiently lined so that the compost does not fall through. Note that when growing for show purposes the branches of the plants must come over the top of the rim of the baskets, therefore this is not the same process used when filling a multi plant type display basket.
You can also tie the moss to the baskets structure using a green or brown coloured twine and a good darning needle. This will blend in with the moss, however this method takes a long time, but the end result if looked after correctly will last for a couple of seasons.
After you have finished lining the basket with moss it is an advantage to place a piece of polythene (about the size of a dinner plate inside the bottom before filling.
This will aid the water retention of the basket, take note though that if you are using only polythene as a liner you must make sure that there are adequate holes in this for drainage, fuchsias like most plants do not like their feet sitting in water.
You can use either a John Innes No 3, a multi purpose soil-less compost or one of the proprietary ‘baskets composts’ that are now available to fill the basket.
The choice once again is completely up to the individual, but remember that the John Innes is soil based compost and somewhat heavier than the others so more robust brackets and chains will be needed. Once lined, the basket is part filled with whichever compost you decide to use.
The selected plants or cutting you are using should be placed in the baskets and spaced out evenly. If using cuttings you can use 7 in 12” basket (If using cuttings I would suggest that you use a peat based or peat free alternative compost these are not only lighter in weight but a John Innes 3 would be too strong and could burn the tender roots).
If using plants these should have been previously grown in 31/2” pots with at least two stops prior to planting in the basket. With a 12 inch basket it is recommended to use four plants of this type equally spaced out around the basket and one placed in the middle.
A 14” basket will take up to 9 cuttings and five plants again spaced around the edge of the basket with another in the centre to add height.
When placing the cuttings or plants in the basket it is advisable to plant them at a slight angle towards the outside rim, this does not of course mean the one in the middle.
HANGING POTS
Hanging pots provide a similar view of the fuchsia flower as the plants in hanging baskets. It must be remembered that these are basically plants grown in pots that are suspended in the air. As with hanging baskets the air circulating through the plants will dry them out very quickly and a good watering regime is essential.
Many of the commercially produced hanging pots have a saucer attached to the bottom to assist in watering, from my point of view I feel that this is unnecessary and the first thing I do after purchasing a hanging pot is to remove this saucer.
Another thing I do is to replace the plastic ‘stays’ with chains, these are much stronger and I feel more secure with a chain in place, nothing is worse than finding all your hard work strewn around under a swinging plastic hanger.
Again the type of compost that you use is up to the individual but once more if you are using cuttings stick to a peat or peat free alternative compost as these are not only lighter in weight they are less likely to damage the tender roots of the cuttings.
Hanging pots come in a variety of sizes and again if you are not intending to exhibit your plants then the choice and size is a matter of personal preference. However if you are considering putting these into your local show I would suggest that you check with the Show Schedule (this is where you will find the classes and show rules) to see what size hanging pots they will allow. In most cases it will be one plant in a 6” pot, a maximum of 81/2” pot and up to 16” hanging pots (the latter can have as many plants in as you want).
In an 8”-81/2” hanging pot you can place three plants grown in 31/2” pots or as many cuttings as you can, I have grown this size hanging pot with as many as 14 cuttings. The larger the hanging pot, the more plants and cutting you can put in, remember that these will also need to tilt slightly towards the outer edge of the pot that is all but the centre plant.
A good tip is to leave an empty 31/2” pot in the centre of the hanging basket or hanging pot, this is very handy when watering and if you grow a plant of the same variety for the centre of the basket or pot with a short stem (like a bush plant) you can slip this in and have a display that has a complete upright centre. If showing you need to do this well before the show date, I don’t want you to be accused of cheating.
Watering and feeding should be the same as for any other type of pot, bearing in mind that hanging baskets and pots will dry out much more quickly and it is not uncommon to have to water plants grown by this method 2 or 3 times daily.
When the growth reaches of the plants or cuttings reaches the edge of the basket, it should receive its next stop.
After this stop the plant can be allowed to make another two or three pairs of leaves then stopped again. This will be sufficient to provide you with a good show of flowers, but if you wish to obtain a basket or hanging pot of exhibition quality you can continue to stop the plants until such time as you are satisfied.
WALL OR HALF BASKETS
You can also grow fuchsias in the very popular wall or ‘half basket’, once again a variety of materials are available for the construction of this type of container. If wire baskets are to be used the liner can again be moss, fibre, plastic etc and used in the same way as a full hanging basket. The compost as before can be either John Innes 3, peat based or a peat alternative, the plants or cutting are placed along the length of the half basket and where possible, in 14” and 16” half baskets plants placed in between to the rear.
The planting can be through the wires to give you a fuller effect but if you intend to exhibit this it must be top planted only. For show purposes the half basket may contain more than one plant.
Many growers grow their baskets and hanging pots over two years (the biennial system) and keep them just ticking over during the winter without allowing them to flower until the season after they were planted. Huge specimens can be obtained using this method.
Remember each stop will delay the flowering time by up to ten weeks.
Once again it is prudent on my part to assume that the correct varieties have been chosen. Do not expect a good lax hanging basket or pot if you choose a plant with stiff upright growth, read the description relating to the chosen cultivar.
