I'll guess that the black stuff is a slime mold. But I would be more confident about that if I could see a closer view. Not a problem if it is a slime mold.

But the "clubbed" leaves are a problem. They're caused by the fuchsia mite, a creature that is much smaller and of a very different shape than spider mites.

Some kinds of fuchsias are more susceptible that others.

Her's some info from the Univ of CA:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/INVERT/fuchsiagallmite.html

Here is a link that might be useful: fuchsia mites, aka fuchsia gall mites

I don't know anything about the specific problem with this plant, but general Fuchsia stuff...

Is it very hot where you are? Fuchsias can't take high temps. Can't tell from your pics if your plant is outside or in.

The hanging basket - is there a hole at the actual bottom surface of the pot? Looks like the kind where the hole is recessed, allowing about 1/2 inch of water to stand in the bottom of the pot. If so, chop a real hole!

first pic.. long white mushroom stems???

if so.. its shrooms from your potting media ...

pick them out.. cut off those leaves.. and get on with your life ...

ken

Doh, good eye, I agree! The angle is perfectly lined up so they appear to be ON the leaves.

The black nets were on the leaves...encasing them actually. I did wonder whether they might be some sort of super thin mushroom that folded around the leaves.

In any case, they are pretty much gone after pruning the plants.

Thank you Jean for the info about Fuchia mites. I did some agressive pruning of the two affected plants; which included dispatchng some gorgeous double blooms on one. I hope that the hummingbirds haven't already spread these mites across the yard to my two large baskets.

In any case, I also sprayed them with an older Isotox formulation I found the shed and I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that I won't have problems elsewhere.

I've recently inherited responsiblity for an overgrown yard with lots of different kind of plants...and lots of issues.

Thank you for your help.

And thank you for reporting back to us.

I hope you will remove all of the blooms from your plant as isotox is toxic to those hummingbirds. Attracting them to a toxic plant is unusually, ironically cruel.

Wiki:
"In the US, lindane pesticide products were regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while lindane medications are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It was registered as an agricultural insecticide in the 1940s, and as pharmaceutical in 1951.[12] The EPA gradually began restricting its agricultural use in the 1970s due to concerns over its effects on human health and the environment.[18] By 2002, its use was limited to seed treatments for just 6 crops,[12] and in 2007 these last uses were canceled.[19]"

"Lindane is a persistent organic pollutant: it is relatively long-lived in the environment, it is transported long distances by natural processes like global distillation, and it can bioaccumulate in food chains, though it is rapidly eliminated when exposure is discontinued.[32]"

Don't know where you saw the mention about lindane in this thread. To my knowledge, it's been off the retail market for some years.

Edit:
So, okay, you're faster on the uptake than I was. (Lindane is the active ingredient in Isotox.)

It's far better to use low-tox materials which are currently available, if pesticides are required.

As far as that bottle of "ancient" stuff goes, it would be wise to recycle it through hazardous waste recycling event/program.

This post was edited by jean001a on Tue, Jul 2, 13 at 12:13

I hope you will remove all of the blooms from your plant as isotox is toxic to those hummingbirds

Yes, I pruned the plants severely and cut off all the blooms to be sure that the hummingbirds wouldn't spread the mites.

As far as that bottle of "ancient" stuff goes, it would be wise to recycle it through hazardous waste recycling event/program

Actually, the Isotox was already in a bin I'm using for stuff to go to the next HazMat recycling day when I read a reference to it in one of the fuchsia mite articles so I decided to try it. I'll put the rest of the bottle back in the bin and read up on alternatives.

Thank you much for the additional information.

Excellent, sorry if my post had an abrasive tone. I incorrectly interpreted yours as blasé, best of luck!