I have never been successful trying to grow them in pots, but planted in the garden, they ramble all over everything, eventually reaching a point where hard pruning is necessary.
They need medium light(no direct sunlight), moist soil at all times and cool temeratures. Mine are planted in a woodland garden, where summer temperatures rarely go above 80-85°F.
Rb

They hate the heat. Keeping the soil damp during high heat can cause problems - certain 'rots' take over the roots and weaken the plant. You're kinda in a no-way-to-win situation, the best you can do is try your best and hope the plant survives until things cool down.

You think I should plant them now or stick them inside the house until it cools down? Thanks for the replies.

It's an odd thing - I just lost my second one in the same way (some sort of root disease, I think, in which case watering could be the problem), but I grow Fatsia japonica in both its standard and variegated form with no sign of trouble, ever (other than predation by voles - they love 'em, for some reason), and of course Hedera helix is impossible to kill. The best gardener I know has also lost several white-variegated Fatshederas, and has no explanation; she's an internationally known garden writer and lecturer who's been gardening here for almost 40 years. At any rate, she gave me Fatshedera 'Annamieke', which has more of a green-on-green variegation, and it's doing beautifully, as it has done in her garden for many years. So I'm wondering if it's some sort of a genetic weakness or inherent susceptibility to disease in that particular cultivar. Anyway, it's interesting that others are experiencing the same problem. BTW, all of these should be completely winter hardy in zone 8, as they are here. Both of mine survived the winter, only to expire in spring; it had not gotten hot yet, so I can't blame that factor, either. Oh well- to quote Felder Rushing, "Sometimes plants just die."!

Thanks for the replies. I also have another kind of Fatshedera lizei, 'Monstrosa', that has shown no ill-will towards the heat, but it is much larger and has less free space in the pot, so maybe it is transpiring the water too fast for root rot? The 'media-picta' are all looking like Aunt Pitty Pat after Scarlett came to Atlanta. I wonder if smelling salts will work on plants too?
---Keith