Fuchsia dying?
Question:I have so-so luck with my fuchsia's, but now, their flower buds are turning brown and dying before they even have a chance to bloom. I fed them Miracle Grow about a week ago, could this have something to do with it? It started shortly thereafter. If so, why did it happen? I fed them the normal dose for houseplants.
Answers:
I live in almost a desert like climate in zone 9 and have successful upright and hanging fushias that are in baskets and the ground. Here is what I know about fushias. They do not like their roots cramped, so if they are houseplants in a container, check to see whether they are rootbound. If you applied Miracle Grow in the heat of the day, in direct sunlight on the leaves and flowers, you could have burned them. I used to use the liquid type until I discovered that it was burning them and now I am very careful to only fertilize at soil level. My fushias like moisture and the one in the basket in particular requires watering twice a day when it is hot. The ones in the ground get a good soaking from the automatic sprinklers in the morning and are in shade all day so their soil stays moist. The hybrids are a little more fussy and seem to struggle a little more before they become well established. They also really require pure shade, not even indirect light. If you can get them to revive, you can have them for years, brutally prune them back at the end of the season and they will return stronger and bigger every year. I have one in my front garden that is a huge bush and 5 years old.
I am not sure where you live and the climate but fuchsia do not like summer weather and have to have full shade.
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