Newbie-Just received some Fuchsia's

Just received some fuchsia's and they look like they have recovered ( from stress of shipping) and some don't look so good. ( but fingers crossed)

I just got my Fuchsia's yesterday , looks like they had a hard trip over the weekend,crammed in a stifling hot box for a couple of days........ poor babies. So I quickly removed them all and began gently re-potting.
I received quite a few so it took me some time to pot up, and by the end they looked even worse! Gave them all a good sprinkle of water, placed them in the shade and crossed me fingers. It was the end of the day so I figured that over night rest would so them some good.
Well went out first thing this morning and sure enough most have perked right back up, but some look ....... dead.... or almost.
I've been told that they would bounce back , and Fuchsias are quite resilient.
but my concern is ........ the temps are going to drop tonight to possibly in the 50's. ( strange for Fl so early)

Can these " gals " stay out side?


Thanks,
Sylvia

I cant post pix , something is wrong with the cord I use in my usb port.
Have to go pick up a new one.

They should be fine outdoors in temperatures that are not freezing. The cold temps will actually assist in their recuperation from being shipped. Even ones that appear to be goners, will put out new growth. Next week, you can let the ones that are doing the best, get a peak of sunshine in the morning.
Yes, photos will help us determine how they are doing :-)

pic 1

2

Here are some pix of the plants a few hours after they were planted, day one

I'll get some pix of how they look now, some look worse but fingers crossed they will make it.
most have lost their leaves as of today.

Will update soon with pix.

Do you have any Superthrive? I won some at a nursery and heard it is good to use when plants are stressed. Last spring when my mail order plants arrived I immediately mixed a solution in a tub and let the plants soak for a little while. They were happy little plants after that. And what could be more traumatic than being stuffed in a box, no light, no air, and suffering the tender handling of a delivery serivce or postal employee.

I, also, do not repot the plants for a couple days, leaving them in the pots they arrived in, because they were stressed from the shipping and repoting an already stressed plant adds more stress. My plants sit on the front porch (eastern exposure), in the shade while they revive. This is not a criticism, just my way, which isn't necessarily your way, or anothers way of handling their plants. Just passing on information that may be of help.

I ordered 13 fuchsias via mail order last May/June, and they all got a dose of Superthrive care when they arrive. A few looked very sad on arrival, but I didn't lose any, and presently they are all still blooming.

This message was edited Oct 1, 2009 1:19 PM

This message was edited Oct 1, 2009 2:18 PM

No I dont have any ....... sure wished I did .
I couldnt leave in pots because they came in baggies.

They were really hot and wilting ...... dont think leaving them like that
would have made a difference.

Unfortunately seems that half of what i bought is dead or dying ...... for sure
the ones that looked bad a few days ago are dry sticks now, seems many more are
following right behind. It looks like the smaller single stemmed small ones are going first.
The ones with multiple stems or larger than 6 inches are doing better, but even some of them are
starting to look bad . I'm going to wait to see how they do in a couple of days before I count them out.


Sylvia

here are the ones that look a little better

This message was edited Oct 1, 2009 3:48 PM

here's one thats doing great

I had a bad feeling you were going to say they didn't come potted. Since they didn't, you didn't have any choice but to pot them up.

Did you buy them from a nursery or individual? Anyway to get a refund?

This message was edited Oct 1, 2009 3:50 PM

I bought them from a Individual
They've advised me to wait until next week to see if they
bounce back, but that was a few days ago and many have died since
they are dried up sticks, LOL no hope for those , but hope that the others
will pull through.

Shame because I really liked the ones i bought.

Lesson learned, wont buy that many and wont buy them that small.
I think the stress is too much for the little ones,shown by the success of the
multi stemmed or larger plants.

No matter what I'll have fun with the ones that survive. = )


Keein it positive !
Sylvia

What was the root size on the plants? Fully established or small? Could they have been recent cuttings that hadn't had enough time to put out good strong roots?

I don't know if it helps, but I talk to my mail order plants when they arrive and reassure them I'll take care of them and they don't need to worry. Put positive energy out there and it will come back to you.

Have you been misting them? Fuchsias lose a lot of moisture through their leaves.

LOL ...... So I'm not the only one who talks to plants!
yes I did ......... really I did! and I handled them with the gentlest of hands.
So as not to hurt the babies.

yes some of them were pretty small



I'm still holding out hope .
Yes I'm misting

Update:
dispite me efforts looks like 17 out of my 35 have died.

But I did scoop up a tray of some beautiful Coleus for a buck this weekend!

Sylvia

Sylvia: I picked-up some more Fuchsia books from the library over the weekend, and here's what one says about mail-order fuchsia plants:

Being in the dark for a period of days will, in itsself, cause the plant a certain degree of trauma. Add having been removed from their pot, and the degree of stress is much, much more. When the unpotted plants are received, handle very carefully, disturbing the compost around the root area as little as possible. The plants should be repotted in 2 1/2" to 3" pots, nothing larger, at this stage. When potting unpotted mail-order fuchsias, put some compost in the pot first, gently holding the plant, center the plant in the pot with one hand and gently trickle more compost around the roots. When the pot is full, and the plant at approximatly the same depth as originally grown, gently tap the pot on the table to settle the compost. Do not firm the compost into place. Next, spray the potted plant from overhead, do not directly water the compost. Place the plants in a humid, shaded spot to recover from their shock. The plants could also be placed in a propagator while they are recovering. Once or twice daily, mist the plants. Do not water the compost until the roots have begun to move. The leaves of the plant will become glossier and firmer when the roots start re-growing.

Hope this helps.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy .


wish I knew this last week!
Thanks for the info it could help me a lot next time
if there is a "next" time. =)


Sylvia

I've ordered bareroot fuchsias, and had some success growing them outdoors. The ones I received had well developed roots, and while I did loose some, I also have some really hardy plants I know will survive the harsh conditions I have at our place.
I've noticed that my fuchsia babies need some shade during the hottest part of the day, but otherwise do well, as long as I am home to water them.
Some people don't understand the concept of letting them go dry between waterings! Lost several of my babies while other people were babysitting them. Sigh.
However, had good luck with a variety called Cardinal and another called Lycoides. Both were able to survive the neglect or overloving they were given during my absences during the summer. They even survived the recent heat spell with minimal burning to the foliage, and no water. It was up to 110 a couple of days here during September.
I have great hopes for the ones I will be planting this spring. : - )
I just received the plants (at that price it was still a great deal! Not to mention the extras I received and the free postage for ordering so many! LOL!), I ordered bareroot, from the same grower to replace the ones I lost.
I potted them in one gallon containers today, which seemed to be the right size for the root plugs. I didn't do anything special, used recycled pots and even recycled soil. Took photos of them after they got a good watering. Last time they perked up quite a bit overnight. This time I'm not so sure since my DH didn't tell me when they got here, two days ago! Even still am happy. They didn't look so bad, just a tad wilted.
Say GC, did you give the person you ordered yours from your Zip code plus four? I've noticed it makes a big difference at how quickly plants arrive. You'd be amazed at how quickly a package with the zip plus four can travel cross country. : - )
I had to put these into the gh temporarily, due a pup who thinks plastic pots are toys. I will send photos tomorrow to post to show how well they are doing. Mine will not be staying in the gh, past the spring, I will be transplanting them outdoors, after hardening them off, in late February.
These were ordered from a private party, but on the other hand, I've ordered them before from big companies and just wasted my money. At least a couple survived this year, which is great! : - )
Don't give up on fuchsias. I generally leave them in pots for the first year until I know how well they are growing in a particular location. Sometimes I move them to a better location, but they have to survive for a full year before I plant them in the ground. Then I know that other varieties of the same will survive. I always plan on loosing anywhere from 10 to 25 percent of any plant I order. There aren't any guarantees in my area, which is chaparal or desert, kinda on the edge of both.
Good luck with your fuchsia, let's keep each other posted on how they are doing on opposite coasts. LOL!
Walk In Beauty,
SingingWolf

Well I didn't give them the 4 plus numbers but it came pretty quick.
within a couple of days.

I planted them , watered and it was the end of the day so they rested over night and many perked
right up, but many were severely distressed , and I could tell. I was told not to worry , wait a week and mist, and keep in shade. I didn't work for all , the ones that lived are doing great , one even bloomed and another has two buds.
As far as loosing some plants, yeah you expect to loose a couple but 50% ?
I guess they died because I was supposed to soak them for a hour before I plant them
put them in the shade and then mist them daily.? So I was told. ( which I was told after they died)

I'm keeping the faith and wont give up on them , not yet, LOL

I'll take some pix and keep you updated .


Sylvia



P.S

The seller has agreed to replace the lost ones.
I thought that was nice.
I'll keep you all posted on that too.

That was nice of the seller, GardenersCorner, to replace the lost ones.
I guess because I live on a farm I'm more used to the vagaries of nature, not to mention irresponsible people who forget to or over water.
Here are some photos I took yesterday afternoon after potting the fuchsia. Only one looks kinda wilted.
Here is a group shot, for you to see them all.

Then again too, I've been working for years to turn my little piece of desert into an oasis. I didn't mist them, but the gh is only there to cover the pool so they probably get some condensation moisture. Other than that I just watered them thoroughly once yesterday and after I took these photos today. Mine are in part shade and part sun, but it's filtered sunlight.
I've lost up to 75 percent of an order on the trees we grow for Christmas. We plant hundreds of Monterrey Pines each year. That time, it was a combination of factors. The weather, miscommunication, insect infestation, etc. Then too, sometimes you don't know what your package has been exposed to on it's travels. Sounds like your seller is trying to work with you, that is a plus.
My climate can be really harsh. Sometimes especially in the winter there can be a difference of 50 degrees between our day time temps and night temps. A lot of plants can't take those extremes. Until I created it there wasn't much shade around here. Been working on it for the last 20 years or so. Not a desert in my yard any more, but except in the gh, it's not a tropical paradise either. Do you get temps like that there in FL too? The other factor that my plants have to endure is a constant wind. Depending on the time of the year it either blows in from the ocean, or it comes down from the upper deserts. Those northern winds are the mean old Santa Ana winds. Dry out everything. Also on average we only get about 10 inches of rain each year. How about where you live GC?
Oops I talk too much another photo from yesterday.
Some had flowers already.

Two more to post. This was taken this morning and one of the Lycoides isn't happy and I see wilt.

Here is a view from the other side. The lycoides and Waltz Bella seem to be the only ones showing any wilt at all. I don't know about the lycoides, seems that the smaller leaves perk up first though and several small leaves looked good. We'll wait and see. I expect the Waltz Bella is going to perk up again.

This is the Cardinal Fuchsia from my first order which was a few plants less than what you see above. It survived being over watered, being under watered, a couple of days when it was 114 degrees or above. Not to mention the new pup. The one that likes to play with plastic plant pots . . . .
I'm transplanting it into that bigger pot for the winter. It's deep enough that I can mulch around it for the winter. Seems happy now, despite the heat wave while I was on vacation that burned a couple of leaves.
I'll keep you posted on how it survives the winter. Thank goodness that pot is too big for the pup to play with. LOL! : - )

Here is the survivor Lycoides. It is also going to be transplanted into the larger pot and mulched and left outside for the winter. If it survives the first winter outside it'll be a keeper, and help feed my need for fuchsia's. I just love them. You notice the branch on top was chewed up a little but kept on growing anyway?
I love survivors almost as much as I love volunteers! LOL!
Got to go!
WIB!
SW

Well SingingWolf , your babies look good. Seem to be doing well. How long have you had them?
The ones that I had survive, are doing well . ( I'll post some pix I took today)
I was just wondering did you notice any common denominator in the plants that died or the plants that survived?
Did you have to soak yours for a hour before you planted? How long did you wait till you planted?

As far as temps over here, its pretty dang hot, and humid. We hit record Hi's this week, but the week they came it was comfortable out " 70's" LOL cool for us! Not too much humidity and there was a slight breeze. It should go back to the 70's very soon and stay like that till Dec. then we will have a few cool nights maybe a freeze or two and then by end of Jan. back to 70's and each month it will get more humid and more hot with lots of rain in the May , June time of year. Summers .... scorching HOT.
Most plants will wither away if not protected and watered properly ...... unless its a native of course.




here's a pic of some dead ones, LOL
Do you think they are dead? ROTF
they are GONE
dry brittle sticks . = (

Here's a bud

Here's one that recovered nicely

the bud bloomed ! Nice color. Picture doesn't do it justice.
Small flower, wish it was bigger , LOL I love it.

another of the same flower
the top left flower is a little more true to color .

GC, the photos help, it is sad when they don't make it. : -(
It does look like your plants are bigger than the ones I ordered.
I did not soak them for an hour before I planted them. You have to remember my DH didn't even tell me they had arrived until a day later, then I had to wait til the following day to plant them. Mine were still moist, and appeared to have good root systems. So I didn't bother watering them for an hour. It probably would have totally freaked them out. I planted them on Oct. 8th.
The last two, I posted abover were planted last spring, my two survivors.
I ordered more this fall so they could go straight into the ground to take advantage of the "rainy season" we have.
Usually we do get rain up into April and sometimes May (usually starting in late Oct. or early Nov.). Once in a greater while we'll get a t.storm in July or Aug. Mostly dry, and windy. Got lots of dust. Right now we are hoping for rain to wash off those Christmas trees. They look kind of brown, from all the dust. At least it's brown dust and not that red dust.
I suspect the main difference between where you and I live is two fold. I live in an arid (dry) climate. You live in a humid one. We sometimes have hard freezes, but they seldom last more than a week or two at a time. I suspect that you also get more rainfall than we do here. I am sure that at times you get some strong winds, and these guys do seem to like to be sheltered from the brunt of the wind. Our winds are pretty much on a daily basis. They can be pretty steady and strong, and the fuchsia starts are pretty tender, which is why my little ones are going to stay in the gh till spring. My two survivors are my guinea pigs. Can't wait to see how well they overwinter outside.
Those pots look pretty dry. I'd have kept watering them for a while. Sometimes those I thought were dead, weren't. If the roots are well developed they may send up new shoots. Even with the two that I have that are kinda wilted, I'm not giving up, yet.
I also grow orchids, and even if they loose all their leaves, they can put on new ones, just as long as the flower spike is still alive.
So all I can tell you is to use trial and experimentation to see what works for you. Have you talked to the other folks in FL? I mean on a general thread. Sometimes the local folks know what works best in your area.
I really like the Cardinal Fuchsia's, both for their larger flowers, and for their color. The smaller ones like the one you have pictured above, have their own dainty charm. I like the variety of fuchsia's available, and knowing that hummers like to feast on them. Didn't know about the berries until recently, but love not having to fill bird feeders. It's getting harder as I get older.
I didn't do anything to the Fuchsia's today. They look pretty much the same as they did yesterday. I also didn't take any photos, 'cause I'm running a fever and feel shaky. The one Lycoides is taking it's time, but I see the younger leaves perking up, and the Waltz Bella looks pretty much the same. It's been cold (for us), in the 60's during the day and low 50's at night.
It might rain, which would be nice since we haven't had any measurable rain since last February. Just makes my bones ache, and I wish it would get on with it.
More tomorrow, if I can.
WIB,
SW

Update:
Guess seller not so generous, they are now trying to backpedal their way out of replacement .
Only willing to send half of the lost plants and accusing me of listing plants they never sent oh and
not watering . LOL

Well ............. You live and learn. Not everyone in this world is true to their word.
No replacements here! Dont count your chickens before they hatch, I always say , didnt listen to
my own advice.

ON a good note the survivors are doing well , only two look a bit questionable.
I think I should donate the surviving plants
Perhaps to a retirement home.
I think something positive should come out of this!


Sylvia


P.S
Sorry DG stalker no new pix today for you to dmail me and critique !
better luck tomorrow, I plan on taking pix . =)

TaTa

Wow, I don't know why you are having so many problems, or why anyone would stalk you. In my experience almost all the people who have dmailed me have been trying to help me out.
I thought I'd give you all an update on my fuchsias. Most of them are doing quite well.
The one Lycoides still doesn't look so good, (first photo) but I haven't given up hope.

Take a look at this one GC. I didn't water inside the gh yesterday. I don't want the plants soggy, and it did rain outside yesterday. Lots of humidity.
The Waltz Bella has lost all of it's leaves and looks like a dead stick. If you look closely, you will see a small green bud forming on what appears to be a dead stick. The soil is moist, but not completely dry. I did not water today either. The new bud appears to be a green spot in this photo, am still kind of feverish and couldn't stop shaking so this was the best I could do for today. Sigh . . .
Will take photo again of green spot tomorrow.

This is a freebie that the grower sent to me. I am still hopeful, although it appears to be loosing it's leaves too. Oh well, I'm not complaining, since the grower threw in several free plants, which I felt was very generous. : - )
Not giving up hope on this Redding Show yet either.

These have all perked up. I forgot to take a group shot, so my apologies for sending so many.

I was really surprised at how quickly my second Lycoides came back. It's much bigger in size than I usually order. It's the big bushy one in the back.

In this photo you can see both of the Lycoides, and the Redding Show. All of the ones around them are perking up just fine.

This is the center of the group and you only have one more to go. Please note that the black plastic I have under the pots is dry. The pots are on a slight slant, and are not in standing water. The plastic is there to keep the concrete from being stained by soil leaking out of the pots. They do seem to like good drainage.
All of these are looking pretty perky. Except the R. S. which I mentioned before.

Here is the last photo taken from the other end. The Cardinal Fuchsia is blooming little fairy ball gowns! : - )
The one called Chiquita Maria, also a freebie, is showing some leaf drop, but seems perky enough otherwise. They were all very happy to get some sun shine today.
Best of luck with your fuchsias, GC.
I don't know why you feel the way you do but I was hoping we could share what our fuchsias were doing.
If I said anything to offend you, I do apologize. That was never my intent, but rather to share with you my experiences in growing fuchsia's and the joys of finally getting it right. This is my first year trying them too.
I was taught, If at first you don't succeed try, try again.
Do keep in touch.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf