Propagation Month, Day 6: Rooting Fuchsia Cuttings

One of my gardening goals is to someday soon have my deck in the back yard filled with fuchsias. All kinds of fuchsias. I'd also like to try creating some of my own crosses, and for that, I need to have a lot of plants to play with. That's fairly easy to accomplish by taking cuttings to root.

I began by taking about a half dozen cuttings about 4-5 inches in length. I stripped all but the top few leaves, dipped the ends in Dip 'N Grow rooting hormone and stuck them in a container of moist perlite. That container then went into a 2-liter soda bottle that I'd cut in two. By making a few cuts along the bottom edge of the top part of the bottle, you can squeeze the top half into the bottom half so the whole thing holds together. The plastic bottle keeps a bit of humidity around the cuttings. It's certainly not as good as having a mist-house, but it will do.

I'll have to keep checking it to make sure it doesn't dry out and that it doesn't get some kind of mildew or fungus. Bottom heat from a heating mat would be helpful, but since I don't have that, I've stashed the bottle of cuttings in a warm closet.

In a few weeks, I should have six rooted cuttings to pot up.