Bonsai Garden Forums / BONSAI / Fuchsia Bonsai

Clacton Fuchsia Society Fuchsia Show

Kath — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:51:29 GMT

We've enjoyed Colchester, and BFS Eastern Region at Tiptree and this weekend was at Clacton-on-Sea.

Really TOO hot for fuchsias, but they all survived and what a great Show it was too, not only a show for competitors but also a great social event between 'Fuchsia Folk', many only getting together once a year at these type of shows.

I didn't compete in the Bonsai Class this time, but did do a Fuchsia Bonsai Display for the Society and for others to see and enjoy :-)

Another three flowering babies

Kath — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:22:41 GMT

Fuchsia 'Krommenie'

Fuchsia 'Bryan Breary'

Fuchsia 'Oosje'

Between cutting and bonsai form

Debra B. — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:16:44 GMT

I am new to fuchsia bonsai, but I have a long gardening history and several years of fuchsia culture under my belt.
I totally know how to do cuttings, overwintering and the like with regular fuchsias, but I am not clear on how a cutting is pinched or otherwise trained into a bonsai.
I have a few older plants in my collection, but some are too large to really make a good bonsai and some are just too large of leaves or flowers. So, assuming that I just have some young plants to work with, how is the culture different to get a bonsai sometime down the road?
Debra B. Lake Stevens, WA, USA

New growth in the greenhouse

Kath — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:54:28 GMT

These F.bonsai are all at different stages in respect of re-growth/repotting. Some were cut back and re-potted in November and some have only just been repotted. It all depends on a particular variety if it is 'slow' or 'quick' to come back.

Some will be left to 'grow-out' before being 'pinched back' and some will be 'pinched back' after 2 pairs of leaves have formed.

This is approximately 20% of my collection so a lot more to do as yet :)

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment107.aspx[/img]

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment108.aspx[/img]

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment109.aspx[/img]

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment110.aspx[/img]

This is a species fuchsia 'Lycioides', natural habitat is drier than most fuchsias, being that it grows along the coastal regions of the Atacama Desert of Chile and only has one pollinator, the litte humming bird.

It flowers throughout the winter in the greenhouse, will be pruned back in early April for further summer flowering outdoors.

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment115.aspx[/img]

Close up of flower

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment116.aspx[/img]

Fuchsia microphylla

daryl — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:38:47 GMT

Hello bonsai gardeners

I bought a microphylla in the autumn intending to make a bonsai or two with it. It has been outside quite happily flowering until very recently.

This morning I went to repot it and divide it up and its looking a bit dark on the leaves. I had assumed that it was hardy but now I'm wondering if I should be giving it some frost protection. I haven't got a greenhouse so the alternative to outside would be a garage which has lots of natural light.

Which would be best?

Daryl

My First Fuchsia Bonsai

topiaryjoe — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:42:00 GMT

I have had a love for fuchsia from a young boy helping my granmother deadhead using them in and around the garden in pots and tubs i never dreamed one could bonsai these adorable little plants .i saw some fuchsia bonsai's and they rekindled my passion for fuchsia's again but to use them in a diffirent way as bonsai.

HISTORY OF FUCHSIAS PART 1 OF 3

LEONHART FUCHS WAS BORN IN 1501.HE OCCUPIED THE CHAIR OF MEDICINE AT THE TUBINGEN UNIVERSITY FROM THE AGE OF 34 UNTIL HIS DEATH,ON 10TH MAY 1566.BESIDES HIS MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE WHICH WAS JUDGE FROM THE RECORDOF HIS ACTIVITIES WAS EXTENSIVE FOR TIMES,HE STUDIED PLANTS.THIS WAS THE PERFECTLY NATURAL BECAUSE ALL THE REMEDIES EXISTING AT THE TIME WERE HERBAL AND THE TWO SUBJECTS THEREFORE RAN SIDE BY SIDE.

IN THE COURSE OF HIS CAREER FUCHS WROTE DE HISTORIA STRIPIUM WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 1542 AND THOUGH IT DEALT WITH PLANTS FROM THE HERBAL POINT OF VEIW IT DIGRESSED FREQUENTLY TO EXPOUND ON THEIR OTHER BEAUTIES,AND IN THE FOLLOWING WORDS,TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN BY DR AGNESARBERG , HE COMMENDS ALL WHO LOVE PLANTS TO STUDY THEM MORE FULLY:

IT IS IN MEMORY OF FUCHS THAT THE FUCHSIA RECEIVED ITS NAME.THIS NAME WAS APPARENTLY GIVEN SOME TIME SHORTLY BEFORE 1703 BY P.CAROLE PLUMIER.IT WAS PLUMIER WHO COMPILED HIS NOVA PLANTARUM AMERICANUM,WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN PARISIN 1703 BASED ON THE RESULTS OF HIS PLANT -FINDING TRIP TO THE AMERICA IN SEARCH OF NEW GENERA.THERE IS CONSIDERABLE CONFUSION AS TO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FUCHSIA BETWEEN 1703 AND 1793 WHEN IT IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN IN ENGLAND.IT IS FAIRLY REASONABLE TO SUPPOSE,HOWEVER THAT PLUMIER TOOK HOME SOME SEEDS WITH HIM OF THE SPECIES HE DISCOVERED NAMELY FUCHSIA TRIPHYLLA FLORE COCCINEA AND THAT THEY WERE GROWN IN FRANCE.THIS TOO MAY ACCOUNT FOR THE REFERENCE TO IT UNDER THE NAMES THILES IN THE JOURNALS DES OBSERVATIONS BOTANIQUES IN 1725.THILES WAS THE NAME BY WHICH THE PLANT WAS KNOWN IN SOUTHERN CHILE WHERE, IT IS TO BE PRESUMED,PLUMIER DISCOVERED IT .

MY FIRST FUCHSIA BONSAI/30CM BRUTUS.05

B.F.S Eastern Region Show 2007

Kath — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:22:00 GMT

This year the show was held at a new venue, Thurstable School at Tiptree, Essex.

Another great fuchsia show in this region, it was very well supported, many entrants coming from far and wide with their huge pot plants, hanging baskets, standards, fans etc.

I did enter Whiteknight's Blush into the Fuchsia Bonsai class, and am pleased to tell you that it was the winner of the class :)

Twelve years ago I grafted two stems together, my aim was to see if I could achieve a 'twin trunk' style (Sokan ).

[img]http://forums.bonsaigarden.net/Attachment74.aspx[/img]

When should I defoliate?

Miss Babs — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:45:08 GMT

I know you're supposed to defoliate bonsai fuchsias over winter, but I'm not sure what to do with the slightly warmer weather we've been having. My fuchsias are in the greenhouse now, and still flowering their little hearts out. I'm worried that if I defoliate, instead of them taking it as a hint to have a rest, they'll work extra hard trying to produce more leaves. Any ideas?

Telling them apart...

Miss Babs — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:54:19 GMT

Hello :D

Good to find this place, I'm a bit of a bonsai fuchsia addict myself!

I was just wondering if anyone knows the difference between fuchsias 'Hemsleyana' and 'Microphylla'. Both great for bonsai as they have tiny leaves and flowers, but I can't for the life of me see any difference between either the leaves or flowers on my plants.

Fuchsia year

Stymie — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:22:50 GMT

It hasn't been a good year for Fuchsias in general, at least here. I even lost some cuttings including Charlie Dimmock, which is one of my favourite doubles. I've got a new (to me) double called Rocket Fire which has a lot of promise. The over-wintering ones will take their chances in an unheated greenhouse which is lined with bubble wrap. Does anyone else rely on nature like me?

Raw material

Stymie — Sat, 12 May 2007 19:16:11 GMT

I rescued these hardy Fuchsias from my garden in 2005. It must be high time that I considered styling them. Will No.1 be viable in view of it only retaining one divided branch to work with?

A Guide to Growing Fuchsia Bonsai

Kath — Thu, 10 May 2007 13:47:51 GMT

There are basically two ways of achieving this:

(a) From rooted cuttings.
(b) From an established plant which has been growing in a pot or in the garden.
Most important look for small to medium sized flower varieties.

Method (a)
Take a tip cutting in the normal way, before doing this make sure your plant is in good condition and has been watered at least a couple of hours before taking any cuttings. Tip cuttings are best taken from new growth, between a quarter and half an inch long. Plant in a peat based compost, you can add fine perlite but this is not absolutely necessary. If using a propagator 60f/15c. They will root perfectly well without a propagator, it just takes a little longer. Watering is best done in the mornings, if they are too wet at night you run the risk of the cuttings getting botrytis and then they will rot-off.

When rooted pot up into a 1 or 2 inch pot. Pot-on when roots appear through the drainage holes. Keep moist, never over water.

If you put a small plant into a small bonsai pot it will stay small and the main stem will never thicken enough to become a trunk. Therefore carry on potting-up as the plant grows. After the 3 inch pot size add 20% of horticultural grit and 5% of perlite to the soil. Carry on potting up until they are in the 5 inch pot size. According to the variety it can vary between 1 and 5 years before they are ready to be transferred into a bonsai pot.

During this time shaping can begin. When using wire on fuchsia main stems/trunks and branches be very careful, the reason being is that they mark very easily and can also become very brittle. Wire more on the ‘loose’ side than on the ‘tight’ side. Patience is required. It is better to wire once on the ‘loose’ side, and at a later date remove and then re-wire again to get the shape you are aiming for. ‘U' shaped and ‘S' shaped wire can be used for thinner branches, for training in a downward or upward direction respectively.

A technique known as ‘pinning’ can also be used for lowering/raising a branch. Cut a piece of wire a bit longer than the space between the said branch and trunk. Cut both ends of the wire to a sharp point, position the wire by pushing one end into the trunk and the other end into the said branch.

During the growing season use quarter strength of any balanced feed NPK 20-20-20 every watering. During growth keep removing large leaves, new leaves come back very quickly and smaller in size. If plants remain in the same growing pot for more than 6 months, renew the bottom third of soil, also removing any roots in bottom third.

Six months before it is time for a plant to go into a bonsai pot begin to pot-down, that is gradually transferring to a smaller pot size, so that the plant gets used to living in less soil with less roots.

Method (b)
If a plant has been growing in the garden or in a large pot for several years, have a good look at the branch/stem structure, bearing in mind the ‘bonsai’ aspect, look for thick and even contorted stems. You may even find this type of plant at your local fuchsia nursery, especially towards the end of the ‘fuchsia season’.

Scrape away the top soil, you may find some nice thick roots coming directly out of the lower part of a particular stem which later could be used as ‘nebari’(surface root/roots.) Remove all flowers and foliage. Cut out unwanted stems, cut back remaining lateral stems anything between a third/half, according to the size of the plant and your intentional shape for a bonsai, remembering that the new growth will shoot much lower down on the remaining lateral stems.

Dig out of the garden or remove from large pot, remove soil and any tap-roots, leave as many fine white roots as possible. Plant into a growing pot with new soil, allowing plenty of room for remaining roots to recover and grow. Place out of direct sunlight and keep moist. After two weeks, water once with a high nitrogen feed, and mist/spray with water, this helps new growth to come back more quickly.

Then carry on as above for a 5 inch pot.

WHEN TRANSFERRING INTO A BONSAI POT/DISH.
Soil mix for bonsai pot - 50% peat based compost - 25% loam - 20% horticultural grit 5% perlite and a small amount of horticultural charcoal (helps to keep the soil 'sweet')

During summer months outside, place in a well ventilated position, protect from hot pm sun, eg use green shade netting. Water in the mornings, keep moist, never let them dry-out completely. Constantly remove any large leaves and dead or dying flowers. Continue with shaping. Remember, the removal of growing tips will delay flowering between four to six weeks according to the variety.

Feed during the growing season with a balanced feed, NPK 20-20-20 at a quarter strength twice weekly. A monthly feed of Sequestrene (iron chelate, magnesium and manganese) helps to produce healthy foliage.

As fuchsias are deciduous carefully remove any flowers and foliage that are still on your fuchsia bonsai in late Autumn, and prune back anything between one quarter and one third of lateral branches (except for the encliandra type fuchsias, only give a light trim).

Give them a real good clean. Remove any moss and debris from the top of the soil.
If necessary, ie if the bonsai is becoming pot bound, re-potting can take place now instead of the following Spring. This is only advisable, if you are going to keep your fuchsia bonsai in a heated greenhouse throughout the winter, in other words 'keeping them in the green'. Once cut back and cleaned they will immediately begin to grow again, so repottting now means less risk of damaging top growth than if you were to wait until the Spring to repot.
Never remove more than 1/3rd of the total amount of root at any one time, try to leave as many of the finer roots as possible. When repotting is completed spray branches and stems preferably with collected rain water in the mornings, this helps new foliage to come back quickly. As soon as new foliage appears start shaping again.

If you are going to wait until Spring to repot, treat with Provado against any vine weevil larvae that maybe lurking in the old soil.

In frost prone areas place in a greenhouse for the winter and keep at a temperature of 45f/8c. If you don't have a greenhouse, a west facing windowsill indoors in a cool room is ok. Keep them just moist not soaking wet.

In Spring/early Summer do harden-off the foliage before placing your fuchsia bonsai permanently outside again. When the weather is suitable, put outside during the day, returning them to the greenhouse for the night, until night temperatures stay above 45f/8c.

[center]Fuchsia 'Pol Jannie'
7 years old[/center]

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