[cissie]

I took some fuchia cuttings and put them in the propagator about three day's ago, iv'e just noticed that a few of them have tiny flower buds on, should i pinch these off or leave them? thank's in advance

[granjan]

I'd take them off if I was you.  That's what I do anyway.

[Runwell-Steve]

second that, I take all flower buds off of any fuchsia cuttings. I don't let them flower until I want them too.

[DavidT]

I agree, you don`t want flowers, you want roots.

[cissie]

Thank's peep's iv'e pinched them out 

[Goosegirl]

Also, pinch out the growing tips as the plants get bigger. It does delay flowering but you get more branches so more flowers!

[hamstergbert]

Some years ago Mother in Law took some fuchsia trimmings (from an admittedly pretty tough and mega-hardy border variety), stripped off all the leaves, flower buds, everything and stuck them into newly dug earth to truy and dissuade the local cats from using it as a latrine until such time as she had obtained a new permanent resident for the spot.   Almost all of the 'sticks' rooted and started sprouting new leaves within a couple of weeks.  

We still have some of those 'cat dissuader' fuchsia bushes flourishing in the garden.   They should do fine in your propogater with or without clearing down!

Incidentally, waiting until later in the year and rooting pretty large cuttings can get your new plants off to a cracking start - but if you refrain from pinching out the tip until they are about three feet tall you can make smashing standard fuchsias out of them (right until the blotty woodpigeons try and land on top and snap the ruddy head growth off)....

[mumofstig]

I always take some cutting at the end of the year as insurance, and just stick them in a jar of water till they have rooted. Sometimes the water starts to look grotty and the stems appear rotten, but 95% root