Cuttings - Fuchsias

I'm not sure what advice you got on fuchsia cuttings last time, but my experience has been that its much easier to root cuttings in early June. They seem to root readily then, but you will need to 'plastic bag' them by putting a few canes in the pot you're using and fixing a plastic bag over the canes, not touching the cuttings, to keep warmth and moisture in. Stand them in a shady spot in the garden - they should take within 2 weeks. Plant them into a mix of sand and seed/cutting compost. I always used silver sand cos that's all I'd ever got handy, but you can get horticultural grade sand from the garden centre. Softwood cuttings taken late summer onwards tend to root better with bottom heat, so a propagator gives more success.

http://www.growsonyou.com/crazydi/blog/5632-simple-guide-to-taking-cuttings

this blog was done by Crazydi it has pictures and all sorts really good.

I recently took loads of cuttings from my mothers plants and have them in just water am trying all sorts of waysincluding from seed.

x x x

I rooted a couple of Fuchsia cutting in water this year for the first time ever. I don't know what plants they are now as I've so many!

Today I took some more photos of the Fuchsias in baskets on the balcony. There are few flowers left after the days of strong cold winds we had. Some plants are recovering & beginning to flower again.

thanks for the advice everyone. I'm just going to have a read of the blog by crazydi and then i will try again. wish me luck.

i now have 8 more cuttings i just hope it works this time round. out of interest can i dig up my fuchsia plants and store them in my porch or will the disturbance kill them off? last year the plants i brought died over winter so i'm almost certain i need to do something to protect them this time round. they are blue mirage and dawn star

Digging them up will not cause them any harm & if you can keep them somewhere frost free you will have an earlier display next year & probably a lot more flowers than this year as you will start with bigger plants & they will start to grow earlier.

Have a look at this site: http://www.overthegardengate.net/garden/archives/template.asp?LinkID=674 it has some lovely photos & lots of info on Fuchsias.

Thanks Balcony. i've just checked my cuttings and 1 of the 8 has died so far. i think i will err on the side of caution, dig them up and move them into my porch. Is there anything i need to know before i dig them up? When do i dig them up? Do i wait for when the last flower has dropped? i couldnt see anything on the link to answer these questions

You can do it now if you want, Womble, but you can also leave them longer outside if you're prepared to keep an eye on the weather - we don't usually get frost here in the south before November, so I'd risk them until mid October, here, but it's up to you. I hope your porch has got a door on it - I think the two you mention are not hardy fuchsias. Make sure the pots you put them in are big enough to accommodate the roots - don't force them into smaller pots than they need.

my cuttings in water are growing roots... amazing to see

will be digging mine up too soon, dont want to lose them i have Carmel blue and pink spangles

x x x

I believe it's advised to pick all leaves off. I, personally don't do anything to my two standard Fuchsias. They stay on the balcony ALL year round. All I do is shorten some of the branches a little than I stand them on a table in the most sheltered corner of the balcony inside a huge plastic bag with an open top.

The bag spends most of the winter rolled down & I only roll it up again when hard frost is forecast. It is also filled with other plants I want to keep during the winter as I have no room for plants to overwinter in our tiny flat.

In the spring, or even before, there are often a few flowers! When I take them off the table I prune them back a little & cut off any flowers that are open. A month or so later they begin to show buds again.

I've kept them that way for 5 or 6 years now.

I do mulit pot tip fuchsias cuttings then give a good water and leave them under trees in in a shady part of my garden and all rooted.

This works well for me.

This thread has reminded me that I was going to take some cutting of my Fuchsias as I lost the majority of them last winter. :'( I've only got about 4 or 5 plants left.