On Mon, 31 Dec 2018 14:55:10 Chris Hogg wrote:

On Mon, 31 Dec 2018 04:09:51 -0800 (PST), PuttPutt
wrote:

I have some hardy fuschia plants inherited from my neighbour.
I am trying to propogate from cuttings, I start them in a glass of
water till the roots show but on transfering them to a mixture of
peat, sharp sand and vermiculite they fail.
Could you please help this newby? Just love those fuschias.

Transferring cuttings rooted that way is often a bit difficult. It's
as if the roots in the water are in some way different to roots that
grow in the soil.

That's brought back some memories from what I learned at school some
seventy years ago. I was told by my primary school teacher that if you
try to grow anything in water, be it seed or cuttings, they produce what
she called water roots which were always somewhat less sturdy than roots
grown in soil. I tried growing runner beans by starting them off in a
jam jar and blotting paper (to wedge them to the side of the jar so that
they didn't rot in the water at the bottom - and I'm sure generations of
children have done the same). My experiments showed me that beans
started off thus were never grew as strongly when planted out as those
that were started in soil. Well, obviously they weren't getting the
nutrients they needed from the water. (I hadn't heard of hydroponics
that long ago!)

Therefore I've always simply stuck cuttings straight into the ground,
whether they be vines, roses or fuchsias. With vines I could get a good
80% of them taking, probably a bit less with other cuttings.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK