| Oh boy. Well, your climate is not helping matters. Fuchsias are mostly either from the lands of eternal spring in the tropical Andes, or further south in cool-equable climates of southern South America. They're not designed for high heat or severe cold. When it gets too hot, Fuchsias' biochemistry basically shuts down. This makes them disease-prone and pest-prone. You've probably got both an insect pest and a disease--perhaps bacterial. You might be getting a root rot, which would explain the wilting. I dunno what to do about the insect pest. You could try hosing off the leaves and then spraying them with insecticidal soap. Disease will be a problem as long as it's hot. You might try watering in the morning instead of the evening. I'm not convinced you're overwatering if it's that hot; Fuchsias need plenty of moisture especially in hot, dry weather. Just make sure that the soil stays well-aerated; otherwise the soil will be full of harmful anaerobic bacteria. If it is in a hanging pot it probably drains pretty fast. By the way, although the baskets often say "full sun", you know that Fuchsias are fairly shade-tolerant and can't stand full sun exposure (at least, not all day) at your latitude, right? I assume that your canopy cuts the sun exposure, but I thought I should mention that if not. They grow a little like tuberous begonias, except perhaps a bit cooler actually. Native to similar tropical montain cloudforest type environments. Mine are all uprights growing in the ground; hanging baskets need more care that I don't have time for. I have dozens of them. By the way, if you really like them, you could probably grow a few types of them in the ground. People used to do that in Victorian times, covering them up with mulch for the winter and letting them freeze back. Fuchsia magellanica and F. campos-portoi are probably both hardy enough for you to overwinter in the ground with a heavy mulch over them. Growing in the ground, in partial shade (say a few hours of morning sun), their roots stay cooler. Good luck. I hope it makes it. |