Sick Swingtime Fuchsia?

[amont009]

A friend of mine bought me a swingtime fuchsia as a gift for my garden. She's a great friend, but wasn't careful in selecting said fuchsia (she's not very good with plants). She said she picked the healthiest one she could find. I love fuchsias, but I have never had one of my own to care for. It looks relatively good, slightly ignored ... the place she got it from is a very big nursery... I'm sure they just had their hands full to deal with this little guy. Anyway... I just wanted to see if anyone could tell me if my new little guy is sick or if he just needs some good tlc.
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[lorax]

Looks like it just needs a little TLC to me. I'd let the current flush of blooms open, then give it a nice haircut and repot it into something a bit roomier with nice big drainage holes, and very loose soils (at least 50% coir/bark chips blend with the remainder in leaf mulch and potting soil). That soil mix mimics the actual conditions where Fuchsias grow in the wild (Ecuador's cloud forests are a biodiversity hotspot for the genus - they're also some of my favourite plants). Then give the plant partial shade and plenty of water, and it will be just fine.

[amont009]

Thank you very much lorax for all your help. I will be sure to repot it in the mixture you suggested as soon as all the current buds bloom and die.

[applestar]

Wow, this must be a very mature plant.
This picture in particular makes me think someone could make a Bonsai out of that:

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(go to embed this image and copy the code in "forum" then paste here. I deleted the obsequious extra bit about Imageshack.)

I defer to Lorax's superior knowledge.

I was just going to say be sure that the plant isn't in full sun. In my experience, Fuchsias like well drained soil and is pretty drought tolerant, but is susceptible to root rot. I can't keep them alive in a hanging basket here through the summer, but they do well when the containers are placed in the grass under the plum tree, and the hummingbirds love the flowers.

They are easily propagated from cuttings, so you may want to try growing some extras for insurance.

[amont009]

Thank you applestar. He is in a very cozy corner on my patio and he only gets sun in the morning for about 2-3 hours depending if the day is clear or cloudy. I read that morning sun lighting is fine for fuchsia because the rays aren't very harsh. I just have to be sure to only have him there for a few hours. I'm lucky enough to have a patio with a section that receives full sun all day and the other section receives only partial sun in the morning and then is in shade the rest of the time. I am able to keep all my plants in whatever condition they need.

How would I go about taking a piece of my fuchsia to plant said piece to start a new fuchsia? I don't want to kill the one I have already. I'm really antsy about trimming and harvesting plants. I have basil that is ready to be harvested, but I'm so scared to do it. lol. I figure if I skrew it up I can just learn from my mistakes and start again next season, but I really don't want to skrew up.