How I Learned Not to Murder Fuchsias
From a program by Jim Lewark
Santa Clara Valley Branch, Los Altos , California
Jim Lewark was the speaker at the San Jose Branch meeting in October and as usual, he had some new ideas to make growers ponder and perhaps experiment with in the next growing season. Twelve years ago he bought his first fuchsia in Bolinas, California—and killed it. In the beginning every time a fuchsia died, Jim threw the pot and plant along the back of the garden. A friend remarked that he was creating a fuchsia graveyard.
Now his garden flourishes with fuchsias of all sizes and shapes. For some who toured the Lewarks’ garden this summer, it was a challenge to find a dead or dying fuchsia there. For this success, he shared what he has learned about keeping the fuchsias out of the graveyard.
Murder by Drowning
Jim feels 99% of his fuchsias died from over-watering. Too much water forces the oxygen that the plant needs out of the root ball. Since the roots are the main source of nutrients for the plant, without oxygen the roots cannot perform their duty. How to prevent murder by drowning? He showed two gallon sized pots, each with over fifty holes in it! One was similar to a gallon container and the other was stair-stepped and rectangular. He buys the square pots locally from a local hydroponics store. The other one was ordered from Oklahoma University.
Using a wet sponge he proved his point that tall pots drain water better than short pots. When the wet sponge was held in a flat position, little water drained off, but when the sponge was turned on end more water flowed from it.
Potting soils are an important factor in Jim’s success. He wants plenty of air spaces that allow water to flow through fairly rapidly. His friend, Mary Cooke of Santa Clara Valley Branch, uses a mixture of 50% perlite to 50% Super Soil potting mix with good success. Commercial growers along the Pacific Coast use heavy potting soils, but their cool climate allows the fuchsias to tolerate wet roots.
Jim makes his own potting mix using salt-free cocoa fiber for the base. Two thirds of the mix consists of perlite and rock, such as lava rock. He adds no sand because the granules are too small to create large enough air pockets.
Buying small starter plants allows Jim to repot them and use his own soil mixture from the beginning to ensure good drainage and aeration for the roots. Plants in larger containers are more difficult to grow in his warm environment as the heavy soil is more difficult to replace without damaging the plant. In some instances, he will use a spray nozzle to blast the potting soil from the roots and transplant it in good soil.
If he finds a large plant that he cannot do without, he will often take cuttings from it and throw away the large root-bound plant.
Warning: Do not be tempted to buy an unhealthy plant as a poor root system is probably the reason for its poor quality.
Jim always brings plenty of plants to prove his theories. One exhibit was a five-foot tall ‘Baby Chang’ growing in a five-inch pot! Another fuchsia standard (three feet tall with a head that was two feet in diameter) was growing in one of the stair-stepped pots. Jim had placed the pot in a larger container packed with perlite. The roots had grown through the many holes in the smaller pot and into the perlite of the second pot. How might he remove the inner container from the outer one without severely damaging the roots, I wondered.
One small plant had a piece of cloth hang-ing from the hole in the bottom, wicking material to draw up the water. All of these examples proved his premise that it is difficult to over-water a large fuchsia in a small pot.
During the summer, Jim waters and fertilizes his plants every day. Fertilization actually goes on all year long in his garden. A thirty-gallon, plastic garbage can filled with a liquid fertilizer mixture and equipped with a commercial grade siphon that meters the water flow simplifies the job. His water-soluble fertilizer of choice comes from a discount store. In addition, he adds Dyna Grow, one quart to every thirty gallons of water. Dyna Gro™ contains potassium silicon, which makes the plant more disease resistant. To stimulate lateral growth, he sprays plants with kelp or seaweed liquid which contains plant hormones and anti-oxidants. He sometimes strips some leaves off below the growing tips of established branches and sprays with kelp to get fuller growth.
Actually, Jim credits Kathryn with being the best fuchsia grower. Plants that he is dis-carding to the compost heap Kathryn will plant in wide mixed borders where they grow in-to fine looking bushes by the end of the season. The roots love the garden soil and the freedom from container confinement.
The following descriptions are from the Dyna-Gro Webpage, <dyna-gro.com.>
(Si)-Silicon: Component of cell walls; creates mechanical barrier to piercing- sucking insects and fungi. Foliar sprays reduce populations of aphids on some plants. Enhances leaf presentation; improves heat and drought tolerance, and reduces transpiration. Deficiency: wilting, poor fruit and flower set, increased susceptibility to insects and disease.
(K)-Potassium: Formation of sugars, carbohydrates, proteins and cell division. Adjusts water balance, improves stem rigidity, cold hardiness; enhances flavor, color and oil content of fruits; important for leafy crops. Deficiency: spotted, curled, or burned look to leaves, lower yields.