Fuchsia round up 4: Fuchsia rust

Clearly this is not a picture of fuchsia rust, it is instead 'Voodoo'.  Unfortunately
rust struck in the days before I photographed every move a plant made, and its a funny thing to photograph
ordinarily.  I wasn't about to put up a post of just words so this will have to do.
There are plenty of good pictures of rust elsewhere Im sure

So you mooch out one day to your pot of prized fuchsias and things are not looking good.  Flowers are few and disappointingly small, things are looking a little bare on the leaf front.  Are there orangey-brown spots on the tops of leaves?  Turn one over, is the underside of that leaf suddenly looking like a rusty old bit of metal?  If so my friend; you have fuchsia rust.  Or more precisely, your prized fuchsia does.  Oh dear.  A fungal disease that 'reduces vigour' is blighting your plants.  Lovely word that; vigour.

I had heard tales of fuchsia rust being prevalent and to be on guard for it, but for several years my fuchsias had managed to evade its dusty clutches.  Had I not been so keen on buying new varieties on the internet I would probably always have escaped it.  But, alas, my lack of self control and incessant need for more frilly ruffles was my downfall and on one shipment in came the infection.  I couldn't tell you which plant it was and where it came from because by the time I had spotted it, it had already spread.  And quite frankly, my memory is just not that good.  I can however tell you how I managed to eradicate it, because it is possible.  I assumed that if a fuchsia caught rust then that was it- bin time!  But copious research revealed that it can be tackled.

Firstly I identified which plants had succumbed and tried to isolate these.  By 'isolate' I mean shift them about five metres away from the masses to the other side of the patio.  Considering rust can be carried on the wind, thats not much of a quarantine, but I tried.  Some varieties appeared to be largely unaffected, others were completely blighted.

Next I got plucking, literally.  Every single leaf that appeared to be affected was removed; a lengthy process that was a killer on the knees to say the least.  The lack of 'vigour' at this point is actually a benefit.  Removed leaves should really be burned I believe to help stop the fungus spreading.  Some of my collection began to look like freshly plucked chickens, but needs must.  Sometimes it has to get worse before it can get better.

I had hoped that if I kept on top of the plucking I might be able to steadily eradicate it, but its rusty little grip was tight, so I resorted to fungal spray.  Yes, chemicals.  I know if you are a fan of organic then I have committed a sin, but I was desperate and sometimes organic just isn't going to cut it.  Im not aware of any organic remedy anyway so there wasn't much choice.  Although fuchsias hardly enjoy fungal spray, they also don't enjoy rust so your between a rock and a hard place so you might as well give it a go!  Luckily my trip to the dark side worked, and while my plants did not ever return to their former glory that year, the year after there was no sign of it at all.

This kind of disease is the reason behind making sure all leaves are stripped from the bark before tucking plants away for the winter.  While keeping the fuchsia snug and warm, winter protection is also harbouring your pests and diseases if you don't ensure the leaves are all removed first.  Pests and disease that will happily sit and wait, patiently biding their time, plotting and scheming, and then boom, spring comes and they are back.  In the past I have not been the most vigilant about removing leaves, I have found it difficult to actively de-robe a plant while it is still looking fairly good.  I have been known to cover a plant up in leaf and go back and uncover it at a later date when the leaves are a bit more shrivelled.  Bad, bad, bad!  You have to be cruel to be kind, and that winter I held no prisoners.