You have a longer growing season than I have so I would think you can cut them back some now and still have plenty of time for another good flush of flowers, keeping in mind it will take 6 to 8 weeks before you'll see them flowering again. Others please chime in if you can add to this.

A......

Hi

I grow my baskets and hanging pots for exhibition and I pinch back very ahrd at every pair of leaves for the first couple of stops then every other pair for the penultimate and ultimate stops.

By pinching hard you will get 'secondary' growths that are a little behind the initial growing tips and flowering of these will be delayed which coupled with the removal of spent floers and seed pods will give a longer flowering period.

Hope this helps

Tight.....

Here is a link that might be useful:

Tight.....absolutely gorgeous specimens, looks like "Best in Show" quality to me. How many varieties do you have? Different Fuchsia varieties are so hard to find over here I tend to collect as many as I can just to help keep them going. Each year I'll pick half a dozen different ones and grow these on to decent looking plants, the others, as long as they stay strong and healthy thats good enough for me. A lot of the good old varieties you just can't find anymore and in my opinion are better than some that are produced today.

A......

Hi A

Next time ask me an easy one.... I went out and did a check on what I have and give or take half a dozen there are 101.

And before you ask... they are...

ALBERTINA
ALISON PATRICIA
ANNABEL
ANOTHER LITTLE CRACKER
ANTHONY HEAVENS
AUNTIE JINKS
BABY BRIGHT
BARBARA EVANS
BARBARA WINDSOR
BEACON
BECKY REYNOLDS
BORDER QUEEN
BORDER RAIDER
BRENDA WELTON
BRIGHT LITES
BROOKWOOD BELLE
CAMBRIDGE LOUIE
CARADELLA
CELIA SMEDLEY
CENTRAL SCOTLAND
CONSTANCE COMER
DANIEL REYNOLDS
DAVID
DAWN FANTASIA
DIANNE WRIGHT
DOLLAR PRINCESS
EDIE LESTER
EMA MARIE
EVA DAWES
F. ARBORESCENS
F. BOLIVIANA ALBA
F. DENTICULATA
F. FULGENS VARIEGATTA
F. MAGELLANICA
F. MINIMIFLORA
F. PROCUMBENS
FIRECRACKER
GARTENMEISTER BONSTEDT
GINA
GINA BOWMAN
HARRY GRAY
HAWKSHEAD
INSULINDE
JACK SIVERN
JACK STANWAY
JANICE ANN
JIM WATTS
JJ ROBERTS
JUBILEE QUEST
KAREN ISLES
KATIE SUSAN
KEN SHELTON
KENNY WALKLING
KOBOLD
KORALLE
KORALLE SPORT
LADY THUMB
LAMBADA
LEONORA
LILLIAN ANNETS
LINCOLN CASTLE
LINDA MARY NUTT
LONDON 2000
LONDON EYE
LOVELY LES
LYES UNIQUE
LYNNE PATRICIA
MAGARET BROWN
MAKING WAVES
MARGARET JENKINSON
MARGARET LOWIS
MARGERET
MARINKA
MIEKE MUERSING
MILLENIUM
MY LITTLE CRACKER
OLD SOMERSET
OLIVE SMITH
PAT ROGERS
PATIO PRINCESS
PAULA JANE
PINK FANTASIA
PRESIDENT GEORGE BARTLETT
ROESSE BLACKIE
ROSE FANTASIA
ROSLYNNE
ROSWITHA
SHEILA MARY MASON
SMARTY
SNOWFLAKE
SON OF THUMB
SOPHIE LOUISE
STEPHANIE WHEAT
THALIA
THISTLE HILL
TIME AFTER TIME
WALDIS
WAVENEY GEN
WIGAN PEER
WINTERS TOUCH

Far too many....

Tight....

Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only one with far too many Fuchsias, I think I'm running at about 150 varieties at the moment, I have 12 of the same ones you have. Some of the ones on your list I have never seen for sale over here.
A few of the ones I have that aren't on your list are....F. PROCUMBENS, F. SPLENDENS, SPECIOSA, CHANG, NETTALA, CLAUDE MASSE, PINK RAIN, ERECTA NOVELTY, LECHLADE GORGON, TRUMPETER, OTHER FELLOW, HIDCOTE BEAUTY, PUSSYCAT, MACHU PICCHU, VARIEGATED MACCHU PICCU, GOLDEN ARROW, MORE APPLAUSE, QUASER, BONANZA, SUZY, BOLIVIANA PINK TRUMPET, RYS 2001, WALZ HARP, WALZ POLKA AND ON AND ON AND ON. At one time I had 250 varieties in my collection which in reality is only a drop in the bucket as far as Fuchsias go. I'm trying to wittle it down to 100 of my favorites, not having much luck, I've just ordered another 36. Out of the ones I grow each year I do discard some that I'm not to fond of, Some of the varieties I grew years ago I'd love to be able to find again, like BIANCA, HENRI POINCARE, SAMPAN, SATELLITE and ROSEBUD. Maybe someday if I should live so long.

A......

Tight,

Thanks for your help. I'd like to try pinching your way next year, but I'm not sure I understand...

Your message said you pinch them back very hard at every pair of leaves for the first couple of stops. Would you please explain a little more? Deos this mean as soon as a pair of leaves starts to grow you remove them? This doesn't seem right. Or do you leave the first pair and remove the second pair of leaves? I've always pinched by removing the 2nd or 3rd pair, but my plants don't end up looking as beautiful as yours :)

Thanks for your help!

Hi Fuchsiamom

What you have to remember is that I am growing my plants primarily for exhibition purposes and working towards a set date or set dates (my first show is Saturday 4th August). From this date I work back the number of days for my last stop which is dependant on the flower type or whether it is a Species or Triphylla.

I try to get as many stops in as possible before the last stopping date and by early stopping I can increase the flowering potential many times. In the early stages of growth after allowing the plant to make the basic shape I want, I start to remove growing points as they develop, at times using a pair of tweezers to remove the small growing tips. After doing this three or four times I allow the plant to make two pairs of leaves before stopping in the case of bush type plants and three pairs for hanging baskets or hanging pots. Every time the plant is stopped it will produce what I call secondary growths behind the last pair of leaves, this is this growth running time wise a little behind the original stop and these will give even more flowers spread over a longer period.

This seems and exact science but when the plants have made good growth I can use a pair of topiary shears on the small flowered cultivars to maintain a good shape.

I hope this has helped but I guess it has just complicated the issue?

Tight....

Tight,

This really helped.

Thank you!

Hi Fuchsiamom

Growing a fan is a good excercise in pinching out - I started this as a tip cutting last autumn and it grew steadily in the greenhouse with minimum amount of heat over winter. It is now over three feet across and about 26 inches high, and is just coming into flower in time for my first show.

Tight.....

Here is a link that might be useful: