As a fuchsia plant, I am often admired for my elegant, dancing blooms and brought indoors with the best of intentions. However, the human home is a very different world from my native, dappled-light habitats. To help you help me thrive, here are the most common mistakes I experience from my perspective.
Many of my caretakers place me directly in a south-facing window, believing more sun equals more energy. This is a grave error. In my natural environment, I grow as an understory plant, sheltered from the harsh, direct rays of the sun by the canopy of taller trees. Your direct afternoon sun scorches my delicate leaves, causing them to turn brown and crispy, and often leads to bud drop before I can even show off my flowers. I need bright, but indirect, light. An east-facing window where I can bask in the gentle morning sun is my idea of paradise.
My roots are particularly communicative, but often ignored. I despise having my roots sitting in waterlogged soil; it suffocates me, leading to root rot which is often a death sentence. Conversely, I am not a cactus. Allowing my soil to become bone dry causes me immense stress, leading to wilted leaves, dropped buds, and a general appearance of despair. The goal is consistently moist, but not soggy, soil. Please check on me daily. Stick your finger an inch into my soil; if it feels dry, it's time for a thorough, gentle drink until water runs from my drainage holes.
Your modern home, especially with heating or air conditioning, is an arid desert to me. I originate from humid, misty cloud forests. Low humidity levels cause my leaf tips to turn brown and crisp, and make me highly susceptible to spider mites—tiny pests that love dry air and will weave their fine webs across my stems. Please do not place me near heating vents or drafts. Instead, cluster me with other plants to create a microclimate, place my pot on a pebble tray filled with water, or occasionally give me a fine misting to mimic the moist air I crave.
You expect me to bloom profusely all year round, but I am not a machine. I have a natural growth cycle. After a long season of flowering, I am exhausted. I need a period of dormancy in the cooler months to rest and recuperate. If you keep me in the same warm, bright conditions, I will become leggy, weak, and refuse to bloom well the next season. Please let me rest. Move me to a cooler spot (around 50-55°F or 10-13°C), reduce watering significantly (just enough to prevent my stems from shriveling), and stop fertilizing. A hard prune in late winter will prepare me for a vigorous return in spring.
Nutrition is a delicate balance. I am a heavy bloomer, which requires a lot of energy, but feeding me incorrectly does more harm than good. Using a high-nitrogen fertilizer will encourage an abundance of leaves at the expense of my beautiful flowers. I need a fertilizer higher in phosphorus to promote blooming. Furthermore, feeding me when I am dormant or stressed is pointless and can burn my roots. Please feed me regularly with a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer diluted to half-strength, but only during my active growing season (spring and summer), and cease entirely during my winter rest.
