Hey, Howard! I'm glad I stopped by on this beautiful Sunday morning... a question for me? :) Funny, I was just outside taking pictures and killed my camera battery. I've made some very good progress with recent attempts at sowing Echeveria, I'll come back with some pictures a bit later. As far as pollination goes, I find it very easily done. Honestly, I just take a fluffy brush and dip into each flower that's available. If I want to have any say-so about parentage, it's my job to get to the flowers before the bees do. I find almost every bloom produces seed, some obviously healthier than others. The nectar is very sticky and the pollen is usually overabundant - no reason for failure. As soon as the pod is dry, the seed is ready - not a moment before and maybe a few weeks of viability before they become crispy in the sun. That probably depends on the weather. You'll get used to the feel of a ripe pod - just gotta get in the rhythm of checking in on them. I'll share my new improved sowing method later when I can add some photos.

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: 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.

Ok...let's start a campaign...let's all collect hummingbird eggs and I'll take them to Kath in the UK...she can solicit help to incubate the eggs and raise the young...then the U.K. can have hummers too! Maybe this will be the sequel to "Calendar Girls"?! lol (I AM kidding!) Patrick

I'm not sure how to answer your questions. You asked how to propagate your plants but looks like you already did it, successfully, too. You asked if your environment is OK but didn't tell us anything about it like your humidity or amount of light. However, again, so far the sprouts on the ends of the leaves suggest your current environment is OK. If they were mine I'd keep them in the tray until the roots are about 1 cm and then start planting them in pots and gradually increase the light to keep them from etiolating.