Many flowering indoor plants and garden varieties can be enigmas.
And, yes, it happens to me, too.
Particularly with African violets, they flower beautifully at the nursery but discontinue flowering after I bring them home.
When violets stop flowering, try these 10 hints that require just a little common-sense and care (perhaps that is my problem).
- Good light: About 40 centimetres from a window, but not in direct sunshine. North-easterly is a good position.
- Keep turning the plant so it gets light from both sides.
- Fresh air but not in a draught. Open the window during a calm moist day.
- Water carefully. The best method is to use a wick, one end into the base of a pot, then the other into a dish of water below the container.
- Root rot can be a problem if the pot is merely sitting in water.
- Fertilise regularly every two weeks in spring, summer and autumn.
- Never fertilise in winter and, when doing so, fertilise only when the soil is moist.
- Tepid water should only be used, applied under the leaves.
- Roots should never be allowed to dry out.
- Remove spent leaves and dead blooms.
The garden variety of plant, which can also be an enigma, are the very pretty fuchsias; sadly, these lovely plants will often grow in sun or shade.
The flowering period for fuchsias can last from June through to December.
At the end of this period, your fuchsia will be short on nitrogen and perhaps looking a bit bedraggled.
This lack of nitrogen causes a semi-dormancy period, which is the plant’s way of counteracting our hot summers.
During this hibernation period, fuchsias aren’t growing a great deal and they should only be watered sparingly.
By April, the weather is becoming cooler and less humid when fuchsias are ready to grow again.
When the plant begins to grow new, shoots pinch out the growing tips to encourage plenty of bushy growth, remembering that fuchsias grow on new wood.
Fertilise with a slow release or a little blood and bone.
THIS WEEK
- Cut back lavenders and diorama when they finish flowering.
- Container plants growing on exposed balconies will need extra care during heat and wind – they will require daily watering.
- Check your calendar, it may only be 8 weeks to Christmas – have your prepared garden beds and pots for planting out Christmas colour. Petunias need 6-8 weeks to be flowering in full.
Get all the latest Newcastle news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Newcastle Weekly Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.