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GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
There are many species of fuchsias, and these, like other species that occur naturally, will reproduce themselves faithfully from seed. But most fuchsias that you buy in the shops and garden centres are not species but are varieties - or more accurately 'cultivars'- which have been produced by crossing different species or cultivars, one with another. If the seeds from these cultivars are sown then their progeny will be unlike the parent fuchsias but will develop into dissimilar plants, many of which will be disappointing, particularly with respect to the quality of the blooms.
The only way of producing cultivars that are faithful reproductions of their parents is by taking cuttings. Fortunately the fuchsia obliges by producing new plants readily in this way, and indeed there are several methods that can be employed to root cuttings successfully.
Fuchsia cuttings can be taken throughout the year, provided that the correct conditions of fight and temperature are provided. But for most people, the season for cuttings extends from spring to early autumn. During this time sufficient light and heat will usually be available, although a little extra heat might be needed at the extremes of the period.
In choosing stems for cuttings you should try to select growths that have short distances between the nodes (i.e. the points where the leaves join the main stem), because cuttings obtained from such growths have a better chance of developing into well-shaped plants. Some cultivars are by nature less compact than others, but often spindly growth results from growing the plants in conditions where there is insufficient light - the sort of conditions that can occur if you have given the parent plant too much heat during the short daylight hours that occur in winter or early spring.
It is also worth looking out for shoots that support three leaves at each node instead of two, and using these for cuttings. It is often possible to obtain better symmetry in plants developed from such cuttings, a feature that can be very useful (for example) in producing nicely balanced heads on standards. Some cultivars produce three-leaved shoots quite readily, while others produce none at all.
THE TRADITIONAL METHOD
The traditional method of taking fuchsia cuttings is to select a fresh, green and healthy stem and sever it from the plant just below the third or fourth node (as measured from the growing tip). The bottom pair, or maybe two pairs, of leaves are then removed (see illustration on left). The reason that the cut is made immediately below the node is that this point is considered to be a region of high hormone activity, and hence one from which rapid growth of roots will occur.
To plant the cutting a hole is made in the compost with a small dibber or piece of split cane, and the cutting inserted so that the node or nodes from which the leaves have been removed are buried, and the lower pair of leaves are just resting on the surface.
In fact good root growth will occur if the fuchsia cutting is severed above a node. This is useful for it means that the growing shoots that are pinched from the plant immediately above a node during training operations can be used as cuttings without shortening them further. Indeed, quite small shoots of fuchsias can be used as cuttings, although the smaller they are the more care that is needed in nursing them through the rooting stage. Some growers prefer small cuttings because they believe that ultimately better rooted plants result.
HEEL METHOD
In the early spring, fresh shoots grow out from the previous years wood, and if these are allowed to grow to about one inch in length they can be removed from the wood by gently pulling them backwards and downwards, so that a small 'heel' of the old stem comes with them. If necessary, discard the bottom pair of leaves from these 'cuttings' and then plant them without further trimming into the rooting medium.
AXIL BUD METHOD
A further way of obtaining cuttings is by the so-called 'axil bud' method. This is not used very often because the production of a plant from such a cutting is a slower process. But the method has advantages if many plants are required from a relatively small amount of growth from the main plant. The method is illustrated to the left, and the procedure is as follows:
(a) The pairs of leaves of a freshly-cut stem of the fuchsia plant are separated by cutting the stem about a quarter of an inch above and below each node.
(b) The pairs of leaves so formed are then severed from each other by carefully cutting with a sharp knife along the length of the short piece of stem that joins them. Thus numerous cuttings are obtained, 0each consisting of a leaf joined to a short sliver of stem. These are then inserted and firmed into the compost so that the sliver of stem is just buried. If the leaves are large, some support may be required by resting them on short lengths of split cane or matchsticks. Alternatively, in operation (a) about one inch or so of stem can be left below each node and the leaf separation process described in (b) not proceeded with. Instead, each leaf pair is inserted in the compost up to the node, and rooting allowed to proceed in the normal way. In this way there is a good chance that two shoots will develop from each cutting - one from each axil. The success of this alternative illustrates that inter-nodal cuttings can also be taken from the plant - a testimony to the ease with which fuchsia cuttings will root.
ROOTING CHEMICALS
Many growers of fuchsias do not use hormone rooting powder or liquid when planting cuttings. The view often taken is that such rooting aids are not necessary for striking fuchsia cuttings. Indeed, there are growers who consider that, with fuchsias, the use of hormone rooting chemicals actually retards the rooting process. Here again the advice is to use common sense. If you are striking fuchsia cuttings successfully with the aid of a hormone rooting product then by all means continue to use it. But it might be useful to try a batch of cuttings without the chemical, to assess for yourself if it really makes a difference.
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