Training a Standard Fuchsia

Buy Fuchsias

Standards are plants that have a clear stem usually 30-60cm high (12-24"), though sometimes taller, with a round or mop-head of a plant on top. They are sometimes made by grafting the normally bushy plant you want onto a different rootstock that also provides the tall erect stem.

Half hardy Fuchsias however don't need to be grafted, they are relatively easily trained by pinch-pruning in just over a year from initial cutting or plug to a fully-formed standard. You will need somewhere to over-winter the plant, a cool frost-free greenhouse is ideal, warm temperatures are not so good as there won't be the light to go with it and so the plant will grow weak and leggy. A cool windowsill indoors will do at a pinch.

Many varieties can be used to make a standard Fuchsia, the main criteria is that they are a strong grower, weaker growers will take longer or may not reach the required height.

The technique is one of training the plant to initially grow vertically up a stick without developing side-shoots and then once it has reached the desired height, allowing it to become bushy at the top of the stick. As long as you don't neglect the plants you are training, it is a straightforward and successful gardening trick to try and gives a very pleasing result.