by Dr. Peter Baye
From “Some Low-Tech Horticultural Tips For Growing Fuchsias”
A Program for Vallejo Branch, March 200
Cuttings:
Not all fuchsias are easy to propagate by cuttings, especially some species. Propagation of cuttings is a race between rooting and rotting. Cut stems in high humidity required for rooting is also good habitat for fungi. You can reduce vulnerability of a cutting to rot, and improve rooting, by doing a few things:
Take the cutting by gently pulling off a short lateral shoot from its base where soft wood joins harder wood. The old “bud scar” is more resistant to rot than juicy, soft new growth.
Take the cutting of a short lateral shoot that has been growing at a moderate pace. Stem tissue at the base of a cutting from a shoot that has been growing very fast may not be “ripe” enough to resist rapid infection, and may not be mature enough to have root initials inside the stem.
Select shoots that are not growing vertically and are closer to the base of the plant. Even pegging shoots down helps them initiate roots internally before you make the cutting.
Use a rooting hormone (auxin) that is soluble (dissolved in liquid) rather than powder. If you use a hormone like Dip ‘n’ Grow™, which uses an acetone solvent, dilute it not with water, but with 91% rubbing alcohol. The diluted hormone will be much more stable and effective than it is when dissolved in water. The cutting is sensitive to hormones for a brief period after you make the cutting. The faster you deliver the hormone to the tissue, the more effective it is.
If your cutting is made from a plant grown in heavy shade, or off-season (late fall, early spring) give the cutting a little “sugar boost” before the hormone treatment. Soak the base of the cutting in a dilute pure cane sugar solution, about as sweet as you would drink your coffee or tea. Too much sugar will dry out the cutting. Let it soak for about 1/2 hour, then wash off the base very briefly in clear tap water.
Cuttings that wilt are easily penetrated by fungi. Keep cuttings firm. I recommend fine vermiculite because it provides ample air, but excellent contact (surface area exposure) with the cutting to transfer moisture. Adding a little peat moss can increase acidity and increase moisture, which may help inhibit rotting. This is useful mostly for woodier cuttings that take longer to root. Strip off all but the small, upper young leaves, so the cutting loses little water. Before it develops roots, the cutting needs very little leaf area to be healthy.
I recommend rooting cuttings under regular cool white fluorescent lights, held slightly above the foliage, 24 hours or as long as is convenient. Drape clear polyethylene plastic over a simple fluorescent shop light to create a humidity tent, and you have a very simple and effective propagation chamber. The slight heat form the tubes can help maintain good temperatures in the 70’s. Bottom heat (heating cables, heating mats) are very helpful at speeding rooting, especially in cool areas. Regulate them so that they do not exceed 78°F.
Seeds:
Most fuchsia seeds will germinate from fresh berries. Berries that have been allowed to dry into a prune-like condition can also preserve viable seed. Remove seeds from berries and wash them. If plump, rounded, darker ones can be distinguished from lighter, flatter, smaller ones, assume the plump large ones are viable and the others are aborted (not viable). Sow them on the surface of a light mix of fine vermiculite and finely screened peat moss. Then dust them with a fine cover of fine vermiculite or peat moss, but do not bury them. Keep the surface moist. Germinate them under fluorescent lights as you would cuttings. Temperatures in the mid-70’s are ideal. They take only a week or two to emerge.
Transplanting young seedlings or cuttings:
Make sure that roots are kept constantly moist as you handle them. Handle them in shade, away from wind, sun or dry air. Mist them if you need. Lift, do not pull, roots out. Place light soil mix around them as you pot them gently. But once they are surrounded by the soil, press firmly to ensure that the roots have full contact with the soil. Moisture cannot move effectively across pores. I prefer to harden off immediate transplants in shade or fluorescent lights before moving them to semi-shade. Of the two options, fluorescent lights for a few days probably strengthen the transplants more.