Fuschia help for disasterous gardener please

Lillibet_2

Hi Green fingered money savers

I received the 5 free fuschias from the Thompson & Morgan offer at the weekend, I would ideally like to keep them for a birthday pressie at the end of May. But I am a terrible gardener & my hubby (an ecologist would you believe!) doesn't know the first thing about them!
Are there any idiot proof ways of keeping them alive & healthy for about 7 weeks? I have a (cold) conservatroy & a NW facing garden, no greenhouse. Do I put them into small pots now then plant up in a few weeks (dear Giod tell me no!) or can I put them straight inot the big birthday pots? Do I keep them inside, outside, under plastic bottle cloches??

Any & all advice gratefully received!

Many thanks
Lillibet

Fern_Merkin

Hiya!
I got them also, my pack had lots of detailed instructions and a dvd so I'd check them out:D

I think you could pot them on into decent sized pots but they are harder to look after when it comes to watering. The blurb says keep frost free as new plants are tender. I've put mine into pots 4inch across top and onto bright cool windowsill. Says best drier than wetter but suggest you spend 10 mins reading the instructions or watch the free dvd.

erewyn

Hi

I also got my fuschia's from there, they do need to be planted in a little pot, they should not be in direct sunlight (dvd and from experience) as they start to wilt/leaves go dry and crispy.. lol

hold them by the leaves when transplanting, its not as bad to hurt the leaf as to damage the stem of the plant..

they seem very resilient,.. as i am a beginner too... they have forgiven me for putting in direct sunlight.. lol

the dvd also talked about pinching out, this means the plant becomes more bushy, which i think for these giant fuschias is prob a must, the flower would be too heavy for just one long stem

have fun!
S

Fern_Merkin

Boo!

When I got home today one of them looks flat n another is droopy

The other 3 seem OK though. Any one else getting this or is it just me? Maybe following the instructions doesn't work after all erewyn

SKIPPY54

I got mine last week, they are really thriving. I have just followed the advice in the parcel .
I just put them in 3'' pots with potting compost and the fertiliser a teaspoonful for every litre of compost.

have not watched the cd yet saving it for a rainy day

erewyn

Fern_Merkin wrote: »

Boo!

When I got home today one of them looks flat n another is droopy

The other 3 seem OK though. Any one else getting this or is it just me? Maybe following the instructions doesn't work after all erewyn

hmm.. not sure what exactly is wrong, but maybe they r recovering from their move into the pot? is the compost moist? no drafts blowing at them..?

I have mine in a warm/hot conservatory by day, and just leave them there at night, and its quite cold.. I put them on the floor so its shaded in the day, and up on a table at night
Its my first year at really growing things from seed/plug, the chillies that hubby started are really loving the hot sunshine so i keep them on the table all the time
Good Luck!