Fuscia cuttings

I took some Fuscia cuttings a few months ago that are now only about 1" high but looking healthy. A few have developed flower buds. I think I should remove the buds but not sure. Any advice please?

 

Yes you're right Terrier take 'em off.

 

I take the flowers off all my cuttings - so they can concentrate on producing leaves and new growth.

 

anybody use Oasis (florists foam, not the pop group) for cuttings. I've used it successfully for fuschias but am intersted in what else might be successful

 

Thanks all, I'll snip them off.

 

Has Bean - what a good idea! I've never thought of that. I usually end up with jars filled with water, covered in silver paper with cuttings pushed through slits. Gonna give your idea a go.

 

"anybody use Oasis (florists foam, not the pop group) for cuttings"

I use an aeroponics propagator - the cutting stem pokes through a neoprene collar into an intermittent spray of nutrient - water will do to get them rooted, but they need some nutrients after that to get going enough to then be transplanted.

 

Never heard of an aeroponics propagator before and it doesn't costs an arm 'n leg either

http://www.growell.co.uk/p/9456/Aeroponic-Propagators.html

Interesting, thanks

 

I've got the "20 site" one. No heater. Its on an East facing windowsill (well, its too wide to be "on" the windowsill! its on a table by the window).

I have a 24 timer with "levers" every 15 minutes, and I have every other one set - so it comes on for 15 minutes, then off for 15. A timer that had 1 minute on, and between 2 and 5 minutes off, would be better, but I couldn't find a cost-effective one.

The nutrient I use is "Vita Link Bio-Plus" - I have no idea what a good brand is, I just took the advice of the hydroponics salesman at the end of the phone! It uses so little that the small bottle I have will last me a lifetime.

If you are not put off by the idea have a look on the Cannabis forums. They have Aeroponics down to a fine art, and its fascinating to read all their experiments. I stumbled over that on a Google mission for something else, and would up buying an Aeroponics propagator for my Fuchsias - honestly!

 

Hi terrier. One thing I would add (and I guess you know this already) is, pot them on only when they need it, and into pots the next size up. Years ago I made the mistake of putting rooted cuttings into a 4 inch pot ( I think it was) and they just stopped growing, completely stalled.
Cheers...freddy.

 

I potted them up to the next size pot when I saw roots coming out of the base of the pot. They seem to grow plenty of root with little top growth. Should I leave them more 'pot bound'? What does one feed rooted cuttings if they are staying in the same compost for a long time?

 

Sounds OK to me. Keep potting them on when the roots in the existing pot are making a decent mat around the outside of the root ball (you can knock the plant out of the pot, have a look, and put it back if "it isn't time yet" :thumb

I would suggest feeding them with Miracle-Gro, that is slightly high in Nitrogen, which will boost growth.