D. M. Napier
M. J. McMahon
A difficulty in meeting market demand for some fuchsia (Fuchsia x hybrida [Hort.]) cultivars has been low production of cuttings. Grafting was investigated as a means to improve cutting production and performance.
Tip cuttings of the poor producer 'Little Beauty' were grafted as scions to unrooted cuttings from the more vigorous cultivars 'Beacon' and 'Dollar Princess,' which have well-developed root systems. 'Black Prince,' another poor producer with a weak root system, was grafted to unrooted cuttings of the cultivar 'Gartenmeister,' another cultivar with a vigorous root system. The grafted cuttings were placed in a white polyethylene tent on a greenhouse bench for seven to 10 days to allow the graft union to form and then placed under mist with bottom heat until roots formed. Controls were cuttings from ungrafted plants of the poor producers and from autografts of the poor producers.
Cuttings grown from grafted plants of 'Little Beauty' on 'Beacon' or 'Dollar Princess' were approximately 40% larger than cuttings from autografted or nongrafted plants. In the case of 'Black Prince,' the resulting cuttings were double the size of cuttings from autografted or nongrafted plants. The root systems of cuttings from grafted plants developed better than those cuttings from controls, resulting in greater successful propagation percentage.