help with bella rosella fuchsia

We received a bella rosella fuchsia plant a few years ago. The flowers have been beautiful, but now I think it's getting old and a bit "long in the tooth". The branches are fairly long and are barren except for near the ends which still have leaves. It hasn't flowered for a while.
Here's my question... I'd love to reproduce this plant. I know it doesn't have seeds, and must be regrown from cuttings. I don't know how to do cuttings, but gave it a try last year with no success. Can someone point me in the right direction on how to grow successful cuttings for the bella rosella fuchsia? Thanks!
PS. I would have posted this in a specific forum category under gardenting, but I didn't see a category for FLOWERS or FUCHSIA. Where should this normally go?

This message was edited Apr 14, 2016 11:14 AM

I've always found fuchsias easy to root in water. You can take 3 or 4-inch cuttings from the tips of the plants. Remove the lower leaves, and place those cuttings in a transparent container--such as a jelly jar or juice glass--which contains about 1 inch of water. The glass should then be placed on a windowsill where it receives bright, indirect light. You do need to remember to keep the water at about the same level for the full time the cuttings are rooting.

Audrey,
Thanks! I will make a cutting this weekend and give it a try. I think I was putting the cutting in dirt before. I'll try water. So I cut off about 3-4" at the end of a stem, and then strip the lower leaves and put it in an inch of water in indirect sunlight. Do I add anything to the water, or is regular tap water ok?
And how long do I wait until I should see some roots appear? At what point do I move it to soil?

I used our tap water with nothing added to it. Rainwater actually might be better, as it would be less alkaline. I never kept track of how long it took the cuttings to root, but I'd guess it was probably two or three weeks. You probably should wait until the roots are about an inch long before potting up the cuttings.

Some people don't think "water roots" are as good as those on cuttings rooted in soil, but I've never seen much difference. Other plants, such as impatiens, mums, and abutilons, will root this way too.

Thanks! One more question... the plant seems pretty old (3 or 4 years if I remember right). If the cutting works and I get a new plant going, is it really a "new" plant that will last another 3 or 4 years, or is it an old plant that won't live as long? Does this question make sense?

Yes, it will be a new plant. Most new fuchsia plants are propagated from cuttings, as the hybrids don't come true from seeds.

I would not give up on the old plant yet. Many people grow fuschsia "trees" (called standards) where they let one stem get tall and woody, then prune the top in a ball. They will live for a very long time if cared for well. Fuschsia experts also will be quite aggressive in spring care for a fuschia plant in a pot. It is possible yours can be resurrected:

After you take lots of cuttings, cut the branches down to short stubs, with just two sets of leaf nodes on each branch. Then take it out of the pot, rinse off the "soil" by swilling it in a bucket of water, or using a stick to poke it out, cut out big woody roots, and even trim the smaller ones a bit. Repot in new fresh potting soil (soak and wash the old pot first, or use new pot), and see what happens. What have you got to lose, you might as well try.

Fuschias are considered "gross feeders" which means they really thrive when fertilized a lot. Over time, the potting soil in the pot gets depleted of nutrients, and waste products will build up. Repotting could give you a wonderful plant again.

Make sure to fertilize regularly while it is growing. People are also very aggressive in "pinching" the tips as they grow, to make them branch and flower. You describe yours as long branches now, but if you cut it back hard and pinch it back as it grows it may surprise you this summer!

Pistil,
Thanks for the info. I made one cutting 2 days ago and put it in water to see if it will grow roots. Nothing yet. If it works, I'll make more.
The original plant has one big branch growing through a metal grid, so I can't move the plant. The first two feet of the branch are bare, then it splits and starts having leaves and more branches. So if I cut it back, there would be no leaf nodes.
I'm hoping the cuttings work. I'll also do more fertilizing. Maybe the plant will give me one more burst of flowers before the cuttings grow up to replace it (if the cuttings work). I sure appreciate the responses here!

It's been six days since I started my cutting in water, and I don't have any roots yet...
When should I see roots starting?

Lots of cuttings take longer than that. If it is not wilted or turning brown it is just fine.

Please let me know if you can explain this one!
So I think my cutting is about 4 and a half weeks old now. Nothing much happened for at least three weeks. Now it's finally starting to do something, but...
Instead of sprouting roots at the bottom nodes that are underwater, it looks like it's sprouting leaves! Little green leaves!
Why am I getting leaves instead of roots???

I've attached a picture of the cutting. As you can see, it's sprouting leaves instead of roots!

I've seen them do that occasionally. I would just remove those sprouting leaves and return the cutting to the container. You might want to look closely at the base of the cutting and see whether you can find any small white dots there. That's what the roots look like when they just are beginning.

I forgot to mention that I usually only keep two leaves on each cutting, the ones at the tip, though I don't know whether that makes a difference or not. But I figure that the less foliage the cutting has to support the more it can concentrate on rooting.

Silly plant. Well at least it's alive. I wonder whether rooting hormone would help at this late date. Jak if you are a member you might want to post this photo in the Propagation forum, there are several people there who do a lot of cuttings. I would be inclined to scrape off some of the skin/ And I agree with Audrey, bark at the bottom of the cutting, dip in rooting hormone, and put in perlite or vermiculite or something solid.
And I agree with Audrey about removing the new leaves at the bottom.

update: I decided to just leave the cutting alone, and I'd start new cuttings later. Well, it continued to grow leaves, but now it is also growing roots! It's also trying to flower.
I'm attaching a new picture. I'm going to cut off the flower buds at the top. I'm not sure whether or not to cut off the bottom leaves and stems. Will it grow leaves from the top? I'd also like to leave it in water for another month or so since I'll be traveling, and it seems to do ok in the water.
So would you cut off those bottom stems and leaves?

I cut off the flower buds at the top, and all the leaves and stems at the bottom. I've only left the three large leaves at the top. I'll be interested to see what happens. I'm assuming the roots will continue to grow, but I'm wondering where the new leaves and stems will come from?

Just to update this, I did get some roots on the cutting and then put it in dirt. It grew a few small leaves but then died. That was a while ago, and I gave up for the time being. Getting a cutting going is much harder than I thought. I'll have to try again...

How is the original plant?
I think cuttings can be hard. I had some that got fungus, now I spray fungicide and that helps a lot.
I love a challenge sometimes.