Fuchsias are a PITA because while they're great in the summer, they need to be trimmed right back ( secondary or at least tertiary twigs in the fall, and allowed to go down to 40 F. for a few winter mos. But I love them too, so I suggest going to... http://www.bonsaigarden.net/gallery/fuchsias__upright_growth_-5.html because she knows what she's doing!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm quite careful with watering. It is on an irrigration system but I check the moisture in the soil with a soil tester from time to time and adjust the watering accordingly. What I did not mention in my original post is that quite a few of the leaves went brown and fell off recently. So it is possible it has also got a bit burnt. In the summer it is protected to some extent by a giant birds of paradise above it. I did not realize that the trajectory of the sun changes to a point where in the winter there is a lot more direct sunlight and it can get hot here even in the winter (it was in the 80s a few days ago). Hopefully it will gow back more leaves in the spring.

I've grown beautiful fuchsias over the years and find them to be quite a challenge to keep healthy during the hot summer. I would suggest watering well when the pot is relatively dry. Water in the morning, don't water when it's too hot - roots can't absorb the water. Misting in the heat is a good thing. Fertilize with something like Miracle Grow 10-10-10 liquid, monthly, being sure the soil is moist before fertilizing. These plants like a little morning sun but probably will do fine without it during the summer. If the plant really has bugs you might consider taking it back; we shouldn't buy plants already infested. I don't spray anything on my fuchsias. Even with the bad fuchsia mite I've been told to just cut the plant way back below the infestation. With the mite there is no way to entirely remove it from the plant as it's inside where you can't yet see it. The link below will give you lots of reading and education. Have fun. Ginny Here is a link that might be useful: Northwest Fuchsia Society

Do you have problems with vine weevil in your area Keilamarie? If so that's what it looks like to me, the adults do no harm to the plant except for biting pieces out of the leaves, the grubs that live in the surrounding soil, nibble at the soft white roots. We treat the surrounding soil with Provado which kills the grubs. You can tell if it is vine weevil. After dark go out and shine a torch light on your plant, if you see a greyish/black coloured beetle that's it, pick it off and stamp on it :) I suggest you ask your neighbours if they have had this problem, if it's not vine weevil it might be a similar bug that I'm not familar with - Kath:)