Articles Written By Members and Associates

Month By Month Tips Throughout The Year

JANUARY - If your greenhouse is just frost free your plants will not be showing many signs of fife yet. Make sure pots are washed ready for the new season. Ventilate on bright days. If you heat your greenhouse and have cutting material available you can start to take cuttings now! Gentle bottom heat will assist rooting and 1 find rooting powder helps to prevent damping off at this time. Peat and perlite is a good rooting medium to use. Label your cuttings. Start a diary of what you do and when. It will be invaluable to look back on.

FEBRUARY - Any old plants not showing growth buds could be sprayed daily with tepid water to encourage growth. Large plants can be laid on their side to help the sap rise. If you favour potting back to a smaller pot this is the time to start. Do not prune until signs of growth appear, then prune to shape. At the end of this month the light will be improving and plants should really start to grow. Cuttings taken in Autumn should be ready to pot on now. Tip them out to check root growth Check for pests regularly and spray when necessary. Prevention is better than cure.

MARCH - I love this month The plants start to grow strongly and cutting material is plentiful. Try to be strong willed and only take cuttings you know you will have room for. It is far better to allow your plants room to grow. Plants grown too close together will not reach their full potential. Have a look at the Show Schedule and select plants for special attention- Cuttings will be ready to pot up in 3 - 4 weeks. The growing tip should be removed to encourage breaks. Pot on older plants as they begin to grow strongly. It is not necessary to feed plants whilst potting on as the fresh compost will last about a month and they will then be ready to pot on again.

APRIL - If you intend to show, pay attention to the penultimate and final stopping. Pinching out your plants will be a regular task now. Pay attention to the shape of your plants. You may find one side of it has to be stopped at two sets of leaves and the other three or even one. Try to keep it even. Some plants will need feeding now. 1 favour a quarter strength feed at every watering. High nitrogen is needed now to encourage growth. You may have to shade your greenhouse slightly as the sun can be quite hot through the glass. Ventilate at every opportunity. Continue spraying varying the insecticide to stop the bugs becoming immune. Don't forget to sprinkle general fertiliser around the Fuchsias in the garden. As shoots appear prune quite hard.

MAY - Continue potting on and stopping plants. Towards the end of the month change to a balanced feed. if you are growing just for the garden do not continue pinching out your plants as you will delay flowering until late summer. 1 find two or three stops quite sufficient for a plant for general display purposes. 1 like to see all plants in their final pots by now and feeding will start in earnest.

JUNE - Whitefly may be more in evidence now (not if you have been diligent). Keep on inspecting your plants. Get to know them so you know if anything is wrong. Providing they are not in flower they can be immersed upside down in insecticide if you have an infestation. Do not be tempted to pot on any fuchsia once it starts to flower. They do not make much root now and cannot cope with large amounts of compost they cannot use. If absolutely necessary you may ease them out of the pot, cut a thin slice off the bottom and replace this with fresh compost. This they will happily accept. The greenhouse will have to be damped down on hot days by throwing water on the floor. Increase shading when necessary. Where ever possible plants are better outside now preferably in partial shade. Hardy Fuchsias can be planted out. Prepare the soil and make sure you plant them deeper than they were in the pot. Hanging baskets can go out now.

JULY - An occasional high potash feed is now beneficial. Hopefully this month you can sit in the garden and admire all your plants - when you have done the watering of course! You can invite everyone round to make suitable complimentary remarks. We are now looking forward to the Show and 1 hope you will all bring your plants along. Remember, you give a lot of pleasure to visitors when you enter the Show and you could be pleasantly surprised.

AUGUST - Remove all seed pods from Fuchsias to encourage more flowering. You could be watering twice a day now if it is very hot. If you intend to take Autumn cuttings, strip back a branch that can't be seen on your Fuchsia to produce young shoots that will root more readily in September and October.

SEPTEMBER - All plants should be stood outside to ripen up before the winter. Thoroughly clean your greenhouse inside and out with a disinfectant such as Jeyes Fluid. Take any cups you wish.

OCTOBER - If you are not heating your greenhouse strip off all leaves from your plants, trim back, pack on the greenhouse floor and cover in peat. You can lay them down to get more in. A layer of fleece over the top will give added protection. Light is not needed. If you are heating your greenhouse, stand all plants on benches having removed all leaves. Do not disturb the roots at this time. prune lightly. Botrytis is a problem with young plants at this time of year. On a warm day spray with a fungicide

NOVEMBER - Check plants in a heated greenhouse occasionally to make sure they have not dried out. Ventilate when possible. In the garden trim Fuchsias by approximately one third. Cover the crown with straw or bracken.

DECEMBER - Enjoy the rest!! Peruse next year's catalogues. Reflect on the year's achievements and decide where improvements could be made. Check your fuchsias occasionally. Look at your diary that you have been keeping and decide what changes you will be making next year.

JW (Member)
First published in the 1997 Year Book.