Propagating fuchsias: cuttings, sowing, etc.
Fuchsias are popular summer bloomers. Let us show you how to easily propagate your beloved fuchsias for the next season.
Fuchsias (Fuchsia) enchant their viewers with their delicate flowers and quickly become a garden favourite. Fortunately, there are many ways to increase the number of these exotic perennials in the garden or even indoors. Whether by sowing, sinkers, runners or cuttings, let us show you how to successfully propagate your fuchsias.
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Many roads lead to Rome. It’s the same with fuchsia propagation. These exotic flowering plants can be wonderfully propagated using not one, but four methods. No matter how you want to propagate your fuchsias – with a few of our tips, propagation is guaranteed to work for the next garden season.
Propagating fuchsias by sowing
Sowing fuchsias is possible, but it requires some skill. This is because the germination period of fuchsia seeds is very limited. In addition, young seedlings are especially prone to fungal infections. Therefore, it is important to sow in a clean environment and provide the seedlings with the right amount of water.
Harvest or buy fuchsia seeds?
Whether the seeds are bought or harvested for sowing depends on what you expect from the seedlings. If you do not have any fuchsias yet or if you want to grow a certain variety, it is usually necessary to buy new seeds. However, with store-bought seeds, you can expect that very few of the seeds will actually germinate. If you want to save some money, have better chances of germination and be surprised at the outcome of the sowing, you can easily harvest fuchsia seeds yourself. To do this, do not remove the dead flower heads of your fuchsia. After flowering, the flowers will then develop seeding fruit. Inside them are the much sought-after seeds. The appearance of the seeds can vary greatly depending on the species and variety. There are fuchsias with green to almost black seeds, with oblong, round, small or almost plum-sized seeds. However, this makes no difference to the harvest:
- Only fully mature (juicy, soft, plump) fruits can be harvested
- Cut open the fruit with sharp knife
- Carefully remove the seeds from the fruit with a toothpick or similar tool
- Completely remove any other fruit flesh from the seeds
- Dry seeds on kitchen roll or other absorbent paper
Alternatively, the whole fruit can be crushed and the seeds rinsed with water and dried. After that, the seeds should be sown directly.
Note: Germinable seeds can be distinguished from non-germinable seeds by placing the seeds in water. The “good” seeds sink, the “bad” ones float to the top and can be removed.
Sowing fuchsias: when and how?
It is advisable to sow the seeds immediately after harvesting, as fuchsia seeds lose their ability to germinate very quickly. Sowing fuchsias is done as follows:
- Fill a clean sowing tray with high-quality growing soil such as our peat-free Plantura Organic Herb & Seeding Soil.
- Water the potting soil from below until the soil is well saturated
- Sow the seeds
- Spread a thin layer of soil over the seed (dark germination)
- Moisten soil with water using a spray bottle
- Cover the seed tray with a sheet of foil or something similar
- Temperature: 12 – 16 °C
- After germination (3 – 4 weeks) remove the foil cover once a day for ventilation and acclimatisation.
- Replant in small pots from the second pair of leaves
- Cover pot with foil
- Perfect for herbs as well as sowing, propagating & transplanting
- For aromatic herbs & healthy seedlings with strong roots
- Peat-free & organic soil: CO2-saving composition
After about three weeks, enough roots will have formed for repotting into a larger pot. The seedlings need warm temperatures (about 20 °C) and light to grow big and strong. However, direct sunlight should be avoided. The young plants should also be placed under a warm foil cover, which is removed once a day to allow the little plants to get used to outside temperatures. Increase the time for which the foil is uncovered every day until the foil can finally be removed completely.
Note: Young seedlings are prone to fungal diseases. Therefore, you can spray the seedlings with a fungicide from time to time to prevent infection. Another precautionary measure is to sterilise the seed tray used and the soil for about two hours at 200 °C in the oven.
Propagating fuchsias from cuttings
Propagating your fuchsias via head cuttings has two advantages over sowing: Firstly, the chances of success are greater and the whole process is methodically easier. You can also guarantee that your fuchsias are true to variety, because cuttings always carry the same genetic information as the mother plant.
When to take fuchsia cuttings
Cuttings should be taken whenever the fuchsia needs to go under the knife for pruning. Therefore, use the spring or autumn pruning to take cuttings for propagation. However, if the cuttings are taken in the spring, they will root faster.
How to take fuchsia cuttings
First, select a suitable shoot. The cuttings should be taken from shoots that are not yet woody and healthy – but the selected shoots should also not be too young or soft. In addition, at least two pairs of leaves should already be formed. Once a suitable shoot is found, it is time to take the cuttings:
- Use a clean, sharp knife
- Cut off the shoot below the last pair of leaves
- Fill the pot with growing soil
- Remove the lower leaves, leaving only the top two pairs of leaves
- Stick the cutting halfway into the potting soil
- Place a plastic bag or foil cover over the pot
- Location: Bright and warm; roughly 20 °C
- Keep the soil loose and moist at all times
The small growing pots should always have a drainage hole so that the cuttings do not get too damp. The foil cover will provide sufficient humidity. It takes about two to three weeks until enough roots are formed to replant in a slightly larger pot. They can then also be repotted in pots with normal potting soil. Once the pot becomes too small, it should be transferred to a larger one. The cutting’s propagation can be deemed successful as soon as new pairs of leaves develop on the cutting. The cuttings can be planted outside from mid-May onwards. Shorten the shoots a little beforehand, this promotes well-branched growth.
Propagating fuchsias: sinkers or division
Another method of propagation of fuchsias is that of sinkers. However, this only works for planted or potted fuchsias, which are placed directly into soil. For this purpose, a shoot is carefully bent down to the ground without breaking. Stabilise the shoot so that one bud touches the ground. With a bit of luck, new roots will sprout from this bud. Once it is large enough, the shoot can be cut off from the mother plant. After that, the cuttings can be moved to their own pot and cared for in the same way as young plants from seeds or cuttings. One last method is the division of large plants. When propagating fuchsias by division, proceed as follows:
- Dig up the fuchsia plant
- Clean soil from the root ball and remove diseased, injured and dead roots.
- Carefully divide the root ball into two parts vertically with a spade
- Plant fuchsias in the desired location or in new pots
Fuchsias tend to develop a considerable root system, which can become a hindrance when dividing. This is because the roots should not be damaged too much if possible so that further growth of the plant is not impaired.
Fuchsias: care after propagation
If the propagation worked, you could proudly call yourself master of a whole arsenal of young fuchsias. But even though successful propagation is a great achievement in itself, there is still a lot to do afterwards, so that the small plants grow into floriferous fuchsias. Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about caring for fuchsias after propagation so that your new fuchsias can show off their colourful flowers.
