Fuchsia New Windchimes® Basket

Crop Culture Report: Fuchsia Windchimes® Basket

Recommended Containers: 4” to 8” pots, Hanging baskets, and combination planters

Consumer Uses: New series exhibits a mounding, spreading habit. Extremely floriferous, this series adapts to all forms of container and garden plantings.

Crop Planning from cell pack:
Pot Size Plants per pot (pp) Finish Time (weeks)
4” pot (11 cm) 1pp 6 to 8
6” pot (15 cm) 1 pp 10 to 12
8” pots (20 cm) 3 pp 10
10 to 12” pots (25 to 30 cm) 4 to 5 pp 10 to 12

Temperature Requirement:
Day – 60° to 75°F (15° to 24°C)
Night – 62° to 68°F (17° to 20°C)

Media and pH requirements: Use a well-drained soil mix with a pH range of 6.0 to 6.5. Keep evenly moist, but not wet.

Fertilizer requirements: 100 to 200 ppm N on a constant feed basis.

Pinching requirements: Rooted liners are pinched before shipping; however, an additional pinch when growing larger pots will encourage fuller growth.

Plant Growth Regulators: Under warm, low light conditions, B-9 is effective controlling stretch. (1250 – 2500 ppm rate) Bonzi drench at 1 to 3 ppm will control stretch well. Sumagic spray or drench also will work.

Disease and insect pests:
Aphids, Whitefly, and Spider Mite
Botrytis, Rhizoctonia, and Pythium
Susceptible to crown rot (Rhizoctonia). When transplanting rooted cells, be cautious not to plant below existing soil of liner. Damage to stem will create entry for disease pathogens. Keep soil evenly damp for control of Pythium and Phytophthora and have good air movement around plants. Apply preventative root rot fungicides at labeled rates.
Avoid watering late in the day creating wet foliage and stems through the evening. Botrytis may develop, resulting in damage to flowers, stems and leaves. Maintain air-movement along with dry conditions once canopy fills to prevent Botrytis.

Comments: Selected for its spreading branching habit, early flower response, and continuous bloom even as days get warmer. New Windchimes® Rose/Purple and Dark Eyes exhibit a perfectly branched habit that spreads to fill baskets or pots with multitudes of flowers. The Neon/White is slightly more compact and are very early to flower.
Light- Partial shade in the southern regions to cut heat on leaf. New Windchimes® are very responsive to day length. For southern regions, only grow during the shortest days of the year. If planted later than February 15 from rooted cell, again for southern regions, New Windchimes® will not size up due to reproductive growth.

Windchimes® Timing: We are frequently asked to rate the short day timing of the Windchimes®. All Windchimes® bloom early under short days. As days get longer, however, Windchimes become increasingly reproductive. Below, Windchimes® are rated for their recommended daylength use. Group 1 is the earliest under short days. Largest growing varieties are Dark Eyes, Pink/Purple and White/White
Group 1: Dark Eyes, Rose & Purple, Neon & White
Group 2: Red & White, White&White