Do hardy fuchsias flower better as they age?
United Kingdom 
My Lady Thumb and Son Of Thumb are in their first year (first summer), acquired by me in the spring as plants in 2 litre pots. I feel their flowering performance this summer has been 'reasonable'. They both reached what is probably their full stature, and put on fabulous displays quite early in the summer, then stopped flowering completely from August onwards. They are now both beginning to bloom once again, quite nicely, but only near the base. I am wondering, can these plants (both growing in 12" diameter ceramic pots) be expected to perform better next summer than they have this? Will the wood 'mature' itself and thus increase its ability to flower uninteruptedly throughout next years growing season? The blooms, especially on Lady Thumb (pictured), are VERY pretty. Also, will they benefit from being somehow repotted into some fresh compost to grow in next year? I've asked quite a lot of questions about fuchsias over the past months. Now here's just one more. Advise much appreciated.
12 Oct, 2009
Answers
i find they do get better with age.
12 Oct, 2009
This is encouraging Seaburngirl and Fractal. ... So a repotting Fractal, to next size up pots from !2" diam. That would be some 14" diam ones. Tease the roots out a bit when repotting if they are in fact
congested. Difficult to change the 'old' compost in the existing rootball though, unless I high pressure jet with water the compost out of the ball while dormant. I know what you mean by 'loam based' compost; do you mean by 'organic' compost the same thing as multipurpose? Can you teach me?
12 Oct, 2009
My Lady thumb has been fantastic in this it's second year. My question is, As it's in a pot that fits inside an urn I can't up the pot size. For next year do I just feed it or treat it as Crazydi does for hers, ie. shake most of the compost off and use new.
12 Oct, 2009
Follow Crazydi's method, and feed it well through the season as well Heron.
12 Oct, 2009
Previous question
Well, I am certainly hoping that my recently acquired Fuchsia magellanica 'Lady Bacon' will be.
Yes, you should re pot them as they are greedy root feeders and the roots will be getting congested.
Maybe use a compost that is half organic and half loam based too. This seems to suit more shrubby plants such as these generally.
12 Oct, 2009