by
Rodney Bergquist, Vallejo Branch
American Fuchsia Society,
by Rodney Bergquist, Vallejo Branch
Question: Have you over watered any of your fuchsias lately? I did so well for most of the fuchsia season…however just like last year…I got caught up in following instructions. I read in a couple newsletters and some e-mail that you must water your fuchsias daily and sometimes twice a day if it is really HOT. Then the 90° HEAT hit Vallejo so I went out and watered my fuchsias daily just as I had been reading… for about a week
.
Guess what happened next. After a week of watering daily, several of my fuchsias started dropping their leaves.
Background: I normally only water once a week because I use a heavy soil. My heavy soil retained the water I applied for several days. My fuchsia root systems could not use up the water when I kept watering daily.
I see a couple lessons here:
First: We must keep in mind that the fuchsia care information we are reading may be applicable to a different climate using a different soil mixture.
Example: If you live in a climate by the coast like Fort Bragg where the temperature is generally cool…use a light quick draining soil that does not hold much water. In that case, if it gets HOT you will likely have to water once or twice a day during HOT weather.
Lessons Learned: HOT in Fort Bragg using a light, quick draining soil is not the same as HOT in Vallejo using a heavy soil that retains water…SO know your soil and water accordingly.
Next year I plan to use a soil mix somewhere between light and heavy.
Brown Thumb, Learning
