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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 05/05/2008 01:20:51
Posts: 2,
Visits: 6
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I gave into temptation yesterday and bought a Fuchsia x hybrida at Walmart. It has red sepals and purple petals. Two open blooms and about a dozen unopened. The plant is in a quart pot, and is 10" tall. I have wanted to try a fuchsia as a houseplant for a long time. Big problem: I live in the high desert of S. California. In other words, its very dry here. Humidity levels are often in the single digits. It gets over 100 degrees many days in summer. I keep reading that fuchsias prefer nothing over 70 degrees. Oh boy. . . now I'm really concerned with how I'll keep this plant cool enough. The room I have it in has many plants of different species, and everything is misted and has a pebble tray. I keep the room at no more than 78 degrees in summer, but will that be cool enough? I'm reading online about dwarf heat tolerant fuchsias. I should have researched before buying this one on impulse, but you know how it is! If I hadn't bought it, I would have not gotten it out of my mind until I'd gone back and bought it! Its happened to me before, so I just saved myself a second trip and brought it home. It was only $3, but still, I don't want it to die! Any suggestions?
I love all houseplants!
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Genius
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 18/02/2012 22:54:12
Posts: 757,
Visits: 3,703
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| Hi Seaecho, Welcome to Bonsai Garden. Yes indeed, I do appreciate your siutation in respect of trying to grow fuchsias indoors because of the extremely high temperatures that you have outdoors. I have other 'fuchsia friends' who also live in S. California and even Mexico with the same problems as you. They try to keep them cool in the same way as you are doing with your other plants, that is using the air-conditioning to keep the room cool and using damp pebble trays. This will work to a certain extent, but the light factor is also very important, lots of daylight is needed but not direct sunlight shining through glass onto the plant. They also need the growing tips pinched out more frequently, otherwise they will be inclined to go 'leggy' ie tall and straggley. As you say it is flowering at the moment I would continue to let it flower at this stage and when it's finished flowering, prune it hard back and let it begin again, then you can pinch out the new growing tips and this will encourage the plant to grow more bushy. In respect of the'dwarf heat tolerant' fuchsias that you saw online, do you happen to have any variety names? or could you send me or post here the link to the site, then that will give me a better idea of exactly which varieites they are writing about  Please come back if you have anymore questions, success with your fuchsia.
Kath
UK - Zone 8
"People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget
How you made them feel."
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 05/05/2008 01:20:51
Posts: 2,
Visits: 6
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Genius
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 18/02/2012 22:54:12
Posts: 757,
Visits: 3,703
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| Thanks for the link Randi. I'm afraid I wouldn't agree with their 'heat-tolerant' fuchsia list, of course they are much further north than you are and do not have such hot temperatures as yourselves, so they probably mean that they are more tolerant of their summer temperatures when planted in the open ground.
Kath
UK - Zone 8
"People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did,
But people will never forget
How you made them feel."
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