Propagating a fuchsia

Mander

I have a rather unruly fuchsia shrub (from Poundland, no clue what variety) that I want to cut back a bit. I experimentally cut a few twigs off a few days ago and put them in a jar of water in the house to see what would happen. All the leaves shrivelled up and started to fall off, so they went into the bin.

I have read elsewhere that they are very easy to propagate in water but this does not seem to have worked even for a few days. Should I try a different method? Is it just the wrong time of year? 

Obelixx

You need a healthy sprig and you need to remove all except the top leaves and trim the stem just below a leaf node.   Roots should then form from the leaf nodes.

GemmaJF

They are easy to propagate. The trick if you don't have a propagator, is to leaf trim and put a plastic bag over the pot. I always use soil as the roots that form in water are very weak.

They actually do not require a node to be in the soil, they readily root from hard stem, soft stem and even leaf cuttings.

It is always a battle though to prevent the leaves drying out, hence why you trim them scissors to about half and remove lower leaves. The bag will retain the moisture and give you the best chance.

Mander

Maybe I will let it grow a bit longer and try again later in the year. It seems a bit anemic at present. It has been a bit chilly and very dry here though so maybe I'm just being impatient. 

Hostafan1

@Lyn is a magician with fuchsias. 

jo4eyes

Better to leave it to grow on & try in the early summer when there should be much more cutting material to use. 

The plastic bag over a small pot of seed/cutting or even multi purpose compost is my preferred method. I do use a tiny bit of hormone rooting powder after trimming the cutting as described but it’s not vital. Keep the pot cool, but not cold & preferably somewhere shady either inside on a sill or in a coldframe outside & after a while you’ll see new growth & then its time to pot up if you’ve taken several cuttings in 1 pot. 

Agree Lyn knows a lot about fuschias. 

GemmaJF

Mander said:

Maybe I will let it grow a bit longer and try again later in the year. It seems a bit anemic at present. It has been a bit chilly and very dry here though so maybe I'm just being impatient. 

A lot of my outdoor fuchsias are still like that. It was a mild winter, but the drying winds and huge swings in day/night temperatures at the moment are not a lot of help.

They will though soon have real vigor when the night temperatures settle down and there should be plenty of good vigorous material for cuttings.

Lyn

Easiest to root in a glass of water, no need to cut on a node, they’ll root anywhere along the stem.   They won’t root in a few days, give them about 2 weeks. Keep in the warm, not in full sun. You need to be very careful when you pot them up,  put a bit of compost in the bottom of the pot, lay the cutting in and trickle the compost around it, they like free compost so don’t firm it down too much.

I’m in the process  of cutting mine right back to lowers shoots.