Question(s) about propagating Fuchsia and plants called Fuchsia

14 years ago

Hi,

I picked up a Fuchsia boliviana Alba plant (at a Bay Area nursery, an Annie's Annuals plant that cost $6). I want to both trim it to be more upright and generate some rooted cuttings. Here it is:

My question on this guy: I'm going to cut off the 3 least vertical shoots. I seem to remember reading that short tip cuttings are ideal for Fuchsias in general. Will the next cutting in (of two nodes or more) also root easily? Do I have a good shot at getting 5-6 or only 3 cuttings in the immediate future? My only experience with Fuchsias is Fuchsia splendens, which I found to be pretty easy.

I've grown and bloomed F. boliviana Alba for a short while, but for some reason never propagated it. For those who are not familiar with it is pretty stunning. I've seen it bloom in a 4 inch pot or also as 15 foot big shrubs/small trees at Strybing Arboretum:

The next guy is not a Fuchsia at all, but a Correa. Correas are sometimes called "Australian fuchsias", even though there is no close relationship.

This guy goes by the nickname "chef's hat". As far as I am aware it is not really grown/sold much in the U.S. I bought my plant at UCSC Arboretum, I believe for $9/1 gallon pot.

This is Correa bauerlenii 'Lemon Drop'. Have any Fuchsia growers grown and propagated Correas? If anyone here who lives outside Australia has grown this guy I will be surprised. So any experiences/tricks/tips with propagating Correas of any sort would be appreciated.

The next one I already know how to propagate, and it's pretty easy. It's also a "Fuchsia" but not a true Fuchsia or even a close relative. Deppea splendens, the "Golden Fuchsia". The reason I mention it is that I will be propagating it when it finally stops blooming.

My plant lives at my mom's. These are actually bad pictures from Sunday.

My plant was $40 in a 5 gallon pot from Sloat Nursery (wholesaler San Marcos Growers). If you are really looking for this plant and live in California or have friends there, that is the way to go. Many local nurseries can special order the plant from San Marcos Growers.

It's easy to propagate:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/propa/msg0620253629886.html

It like to send a set of all 3 to someone if anyone is interested in growing all of them, assuming I can assemble rooted cuttings of all 3 at once. I may not be able to start Deppea cuttings for a month or two. I have no experience with the Correa. So in terms of time it might be as long as 3-5 months. I might trade for a few things, such as Nepenthes, Stanhopeas, Angrecoid or other orchids, big or unusual Hoyas, etc. Or if nobody has anything I really want, I will consider trading for postage. These are all moderate to fast growing plants that I got for good prices and I assume all are easy to propagate.

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Comments (4)

mytime
14 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I would love to try growing these! I'm presently starting some Hoya calycina, and it looks like at least one cutting is going to take...would you be interested in that for a trade?
adahlberg
14 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I am a fuchsia grower in Crescent City, Ca. Yes you can get several cuttings from your F. boliviana 'Alba'. The cutting you will use just below the tip cutting is called an internodal cutting. They root just fine. You can even do split internodal cuttings if cutting material is limited. You just slice it in two from top to bottom, vertically. They can also easily be grown from seed. If you'd like more info on growing fuchsias go to www.ccfuchsia.net this is my local fuchsia club website and it has lots of good info on growing and propagting fuchsias. The plants you have look great. Happy growing to you!

Andrea
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mark4321_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
mytime,

Sorry to not follow up. Gardenweb was not forwarding responses to this post (and for a while all my posts) so I was not aware that anyone had responded to it.

I had some bad luck propagating earlier this year and then got sidetracked. Fuchsia boliviana Alba cuttings started to root but some sort of fungus caused problems and killed them. The Correa cuttings I first tried did not root. I will start some new ones now, with bottom heat (which I did not use before). Pretty commonly even without bottom heat factored in a lot of plants propagate poorly in winter. So we'll see. I started a bunch of Deppea cuttings a week ago. That plant had some bug problems earlier in the year and I was reluctant to take a lot of cuttings until it fully recovered.

I may or may not start new cuttings of the F. boliviana Alba soon; I'm not sure where that ranks on the list of things that I need/want to propagate. However, that plant has done really well and should produce a steady crop of berries in the near future. Here's a photo of the plant from about 10 days ago:

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And here's a closeup of the berries on one inflorescence:

I find it amusing how the berries get long, and then get fat.

So mytime, maybe I should contact you when things start to root.

As far as the berries, I might try one batch of seeds, but in general I don't have a use for them. I guess I could eat them... If anyone wants a berry for postage (then they can clean out the seeds) I can send one for postage. They can get a bit soft when ripe, and the berry may end up smushed. I'm guessing that's not a problem.

Andrea, thanks for the propagation advice. I do enjoy trying to see how many cuttings I can get from limited material. I didn't realize the stems can be split like that. If the seeds are easy, maybe I'll try some. I generally don't like growing things from tiny seeds, especially if they are easy to root. However I've never tried Fuchsias.

I see the Fuchsia forum has no exchange site, so I'll mention it here. I'm looking for the variegated F. procumbens, which I believe goes by the name 'Mary Miller'. In trade, I have a lot of things, but only a few Fuchsias and none of them propagated at the moment. The other Fuchsias I have are the regular procumbens, denticulata, 'First Success' (F. paniculata x F. splendens'), F. x baccillaris and of course F. boliviana Alba. I may have access to F. splendens as well; my old plant went to a friends house in the area.

Perhaps I'll try start a F. procumbens thread when my new F. procumbens opens another flower and repeat the question about the variegated cultivar.

I thought I'd mention that an interesting source I've found locally for small inexpensive plants is Lone Pine Gardens, which is a wholesaler for succulents and bonsai plants. Their little Fuchsias are just a few dollars, and are often found in the bonsai section of nurseries (in N. California at least). I got 'First Success', procumbens, and x bacillaris from them.

The plant on the right, of course, is Fuchsia 'First Success', which seems to be a really nice hybrid.
mark4321_gw
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Correction: on the left is Fuchsia 'First Success'. On the right is Heterocentron floribundum, also known as Centradenia floribunda.

Heterocentron/Centradenia is a close relative of Tibouchina, and indeed, they are sometimes called "Trailing Tibouchinas". I started a thread on the Tropicals thread and an hoping to get input and more pictures from others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heterocentron (Centradenia) thread on GW Tropical forum