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 I have grown mulit fuchsias before and you can have a marvellous display growing this method.
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I love fuschias so I think I will give Al's cuttings method a go as I have tried in the past to take cuttings but sometimes these have not been very successful.
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By the way what is perlite? is it like vermiculite?
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Works same way its powdery white like a chalk only way to describ I much prefer vermiculite with my fuchsias.
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 I have to disagree with Scotkat on his preference for vermiculite. I have always had much better results using Perlite, although the roots tnd to be a little more brittle so be careful when potting on.
Perlite is a naturally occurring non-toxic neutral volcanic rock that has been crushed and heated to a high temperature to produce a lightweight, micro-porous material with a high surface area.
It is great for rooting cuttings or adding to potting compost to increase aeration, moisture retention and drainage.
Available at all good garden centres.
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Thanks for your replies - I have vermiculte in my greenhouse already so I will give that a go first of all. Jannie
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Jannie vermiculite works well for me. 
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If its good enough for you then its good enough for me - I will let you know how I get on. I think the weather forecast isnt that great for this weekend (unlike last weekend when it was sweltering hot!) so I will spend some time in the greenhouse. Jannie
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I am just a few mile in Angus from you very cold and overcast looking like rain here this morning.
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Weather turned out fine yesterday - apart from a heavy shower that decided to come on as my friend and I were out walking - we had to take shelter in a wood for a wee while - then the sun came out and it was fine for a walk. It has been nice to-day also (apart from the downpour we had a few minutes ago) - At least I wont have to water the garden tonight. I have been watering the garden every night now for the past about 3 or 4 weeks. Got the last of my petunias planted out in the border to-day so garden is looking not too bad. Do you have a big garden, Scotkat? Jannie
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Yes Jannie in back garden and a fair size in front although last yr landscaped front as grass was full of moss and damp so containers and shrubs and skye marble chips and plum slate in front ,and with my containers can move around and renew plants or containers with bulbs always colour.
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I have fair size garden at the back and I put gravel down at the front and planted box hedge which seems to be growing away fine. My back grass was full of moss too but I bought a cheap scarifyer and it seems to have removed a lot of it. Jannie
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I tried al's method for fuchsia cuttings and it worked very well,i could never seem to master cuttings before jules
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Hi Jules
great to hear my method worked.
I can imagine your fuchsias are now well into flower, in fact, it won't be long until we are all thinking of preparing our little treasures for winter storage.
I'll be posting a few hints on I Love Fuchsias, so look out for them!
Al
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 Hi Al I am new to this forum been reading all the different ways of taking cuttings from fuchsias. has anyone used a heated propagater to get cuttings of fuchsias going? if so has anyone had any success? Regards Linda
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In theory, using a heated propagator should help speed up the rooting process at a time when there may not be enough natural heat. (65-75 degrees F)
If this is done now, at the end of the season, there may not be a lot of suitable cutting material and then when they have rooted, say, in November, there is the problem of where to store rooted cuttings at a suitable temperature (45 degrees) to just keep them ticking over until spring.
If you use one in early spring the problem will definitely be a lack of suitable cutting material until the first shoots from your old plants are big enough to take cuttings. If they have reached this stage then there will be enough natural heat to root cuttings without a propagator.
I did try it a couple of years ago and the results were just OK.
If you use my method explained elsewhere on the forum, simply place your container of perlite and cuttings in a sand lined propagator and hope for the best.
Nothing ventured, as they say!
Al
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 Hi Al, Cheers for all your great advice and encouragement! I acquired a rooted cutting of F. x 'Genii' last spring and planted it out in the garden once it was up to speed. It performed wonderfully, but I'm having some trouble with cuttings rotting in the propagator (unheated/indoors) the past 3 weeks - I neglected to take any earlier in the season during more vigorous growth, first because the plant started so small, then later because I selfishly hated to remove the blossom-bearing tips. I'm thinking of potting up the young plant to overwinter it indoors rather than risk losing it completely to a zone 6 winter, but of course it would be most reassuring to have a few back-up copies rooted as well (also for multi-planting in the spring), so I'm trying your pure-perlite method, keeping fingers crossed. (I suspect my failure may have been due to 'septic' compost combined with rooting hormone overkill.) My question: once these new cuttings have rooted at this time of year, do you think they could be treated as houseplants over the winter on an east windowsill? (At room temperature? Or rather cool and bright, like cactus/citrus/etc.?) Once they're past the cutting stage I'm afraid I won't be able to offer much more humidity than a small pebble tray and occasional hand misting. Thanks - Paul
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| Edited: 29/10/08 15:32 |
Paul,
The cooler the better for overwintering your fuchsias (between 5 and 10 celsius) is ideal and keep out of direct sunlight especially in the morning. A greenhouse with minimal heating is ideal.
I think your diagnosis on rotting cuttings is correct so once you have a batch rooted in perilte be careful not to overwater when you pot them up.
Winter cuttings are never as good as spring cuttings so hopefully your Genii will survive the winter to provide cuttings in April.
Al
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Great stuff, Al, thanks -
Once they're well rooted I'll put them on a north-facing windowsill of an unheated room - alongside the mother plant and a geranium to stink things up a bit for those pesky white flies...
Paul
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