Fuchsia: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How do you sow fuchsias outdoors?
Fuchsia seed needs patience and may produce plants different from the parent, particularly with hybrids. Cuttings are more suitable for keeping a named cultivar unchanged. If you want to try seed outdoors, choose mild, frost-free weather with reasonably steady temperatures. In a cool climate emergence is easier to supervise under cover; frost-free ground may still be too cold.
Use a small tray or clean pots with fine, free-draining seed compost. Scatter the seed over the surface and press lightly without burying it, as light is needed. Keep the containers somewhere bright but sheltered from scorching sun, heavy rain and drying wind. Warmth around 18°C or above supports this sowing. Maintain moist compost without waterlogging.
Germination can take several weeks and be uneven, so do not discard an apparently empty tray too quickly. Once seedlings have true leaves and are easy to handle, transplant gently into small pots. Do not sow individual seeds at 30 cm spacing as though planting mature plants. Continue raising them away from extreme weather and protect young plants from frost, even when some adult fuchsias are hardy.
When and how do you plant fuchsias?
When does fuchsia flower?
How do you prune a fuchsia?
How to care for this plant
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Prepare for overwintering
Check whether your fuchsia is hardy or tender. For a tender variety you want to keep, prepare a frost-free shelter before cold nights arrive. Hardy fuchsias planted in the ground do not routinely need bringing indoors.
