LOVE the purpley one on the left.
Begonias Anonymous - Attention Addicts and Enablers
Passing Storm is the pinkish/purplish one on the left. The dark maroon palmate one is Bashful Bandit and the bigger leaf one is Black Cauldron. The cane is a volunteer but no blooms (so far).
My sole Benitochiba is in this pot of Art Hodes (grown from leaf cuttings). Boomer is behind and grows more erect than Art Hodes. Tiger stripe fern on the side.
Everyone's begonias look great, so many different kinds.
I managed to successfully propagate my Rex, Capricorn from a leaf. I cut a leaf from the mother plant and made a few slits in the veins, then dusted the dampen underside with rooting hormone, laid the leaf on damp potting soil in a closed container. I took all summer but, I think it has a good chance of survival.
Next attempt I plan on using a 4inch nursery pot an tenting it with a plastic bag and rubber band. This should eliminate the need to more to a pot from the container.
From past attempts the move of the young plants seem to be very stressful for them.
Here is a pic of mom and baby.
Rcmcdole, I love that Passing Storm. Well, it's so hard to decide that Benitochiba and Art Hodes are really nice too. We addicts are a greedy lot.
Lady, I LOVE your Capricorn. What a great job you did. Thanks for the tips. Did you use regular potting soil?
Greedy? Nah, just a small case of OCD. Not an addict - just like them a lot and can't live without them.
Good looking Capricorn ladygardener. Don't you find rexes some of the easiest to propagate?
Here are three 18" pots of begonias leading up to my front door. The top pot is Redington Shores which is big by itself but it looks small compared to Lotusland (the biggest leaf one I think I have).
hcm, I'm a novice with Rex propagation, learning as I go. I am not a fan of rooting in water, I like to go the direct route.
stormy, I am a fan of Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting
mix I always have that on hand.
I use that potting mix, also, Chris.
I gave up on the moisture control but do buy the regular Miracle Gro potting soil (8 of the biggest bags of it this year). Occasionally I find a big piece of gravel or wood in it but I suppose that is okay.
hcmcdole, Oh what a beautiful sight that is!!! Love your stash.
The pots on your steps look really nice too. Is there much sun there? I found that I had to keep moving some of them as the sun or the wind was too hard on the leaves.
I usually mix my own soil, don't use anything commercially prepared. But I do use the Watersorb crystals in most of my pots. I don't use synthetic fertilizers.
I use watersorb as well... good stuff
Well, I've entered into the next phase of this addiction.. The fall cleanse. Here is some of my stash enjoying their fall sudsing. I followed Gemini's advice and added some Neem to the bath.
I decided to wash all of the pots in the Neem and soap too in case there were any insect eggs in them. Here's the stash drip drying.
wow... pretty intense .. but I bet worth it
Wow - I would say intense too! I used that trick (no soap) before to bring slugs and snails to the surface. Ants can be problematic too and drowning them worked fairly well. The worst thing I can think of is a yellow jacket nest set up in one of the pots (happened years ago in a pot of jade plant).
I tried the Bayer's Complete insect control (hose end sprayer) earlier this year - kills on contact and protects for 3 months (systemic). I think I will give it another shot before I bring them indoors. Plus spray the mildew prone ones with Neem.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Complete-Insect-Killer-For-Soil-and-Turf/ready-to-spray.html
As the summer wanes I move a lot of my pots out from filtered shade to a sunnier location to get as much growing in as possible before moving indoors.
The flood (torrential rains) we just had showed no ill effects on any begonia except two in the same pot due to the drainage hole being stopped up. All the leaves fell off from standing in water for several days.
The big pots on the front porch do receive a lot of sun but no direct overhead sun. Wind doesn't seem to do any harm but falling debris from the trees and torrential rain has ripped a lot of leaves and lots of mud splash back.
Wow that's some major league cleaning.
Well, I brought in what I could, sprayed things with Insectacidel soap with Neem mixed in. That's the best I could do one handed. All my begonias were brought in before my slip & fall. Got in as many coleus and OSP vines as I could.
If i can keep going what i have, I'll take cutting when my wrist is better.
Poor lady. Got to get that arm better for cookie baking!! Will DSO drive you to work?
I got all but one Begonia inside today. Can start on the coleus in the AM. If it goes down to 30F on Wed nite, all will be lost. I still have to bring Gita's big Angelwing in. It needs to go into a larger pot as the weight of the branches makes it tilt to one side. I'd like to cut some of the branches down to give it a better shape, but it has some lovely large blooms on it right now, that I'd like to enjoy for a few more days.
If I cut the branches down, can I start new plants from the cut branches? If so, would it be best to root the branches in water or soil?
I'll start a new thread for my wrist so we don't hijack this or other threads .
Chris
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1047335/
This message was edited Oct 12, 2009 9:00 AM
stormy--
Do you plan to put the AW begonia in a sunny spot for the Winter? Like--just let it grow?
IF it gets good light--and you plan to use it as a houseplant--I suppose you could cut it down now....
I just think it re-grows better outside in Summer...
I normally just let it go semi-dormant...Mostly, I forget to water it....as it's place is in my extra bedroom on the floor.
Then in the Spring--I take the tip-cuttings (where the growth is) and root those. Either water or soil;---both will work.
I usually do the water--so I know which pieces have the better roots.
Discard the bare stems between the cut-off tops and the soil in the pot. The orig. plant will re-grow from the stubs--and the tip cuttings will grow into a lush, new plant.
This is my Mama plant that I cut back last Summer.....Hasn't bloomed, but it sure grew! The tip-cuttings will bloom better.....and sooner.
G.
edited to say that I think I re-potted it completely as well this past summer..That means fresh soil and only the viable roots getting re-potted. It always does magnificently on the years I do this.
This message was edited Oct 12, 2009 3:02 PM
You can lay the discarded stems horizontally (just wiggle them in to the top of the medium) in a pan of potting mix and get new shoots at most of the nodes as well. Just in case you want to have even more canes.
WOW--hc!
I have done that with Brugmansia stems---they sprouted, but did not really progress fast enough for me....
Don't really reemember what happened with them???
I know that even the bare stems would root in water....I just don't need that many AW begonias....might be fun to try next Spring, though.
Thanks, Gita
Came across this old post---it is from 2006. have NO idea WHY it popped up????
Must be magical!
Should have EVERYTHING you begonia addicts need to know! It was started by "Beginiacrazy".....
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/626497
Gita
Gita, That's the one, I said was so overwhelming. It needs to be studied over a period of time.
Hcmcdole, that's a really neat way of propagating them. I brought the Angelwing inside today, but still haven't cut it. The blooms are too pretty. I will tackle it as soon as the blooms fade.
Talk about addicted. Today, I even brought the market pack begonias in and potted them. It will be neat to see if they overwinter. I didn't bring all of them in, just 6. Planted them in all one big pot.
Gita, Your Beefsteak leaves came today and I put them in a glass of water to root. Thank You!!!!
When is the best time to divide and transplant begonias... ? I have five begonias that I brought in that are in dire need of new shoes LOL Help....
orchid--
IMHO--I think dividing is best done in the late Spring when the plant is going in a growth mode anyway.
It helps with the trauma of the "surgery"....to have natural humidity--fresh air--etc.
Begonias can stay pot-bound and be OK.
Others may think differently. Gita
Gita, I agree with Spring also.
i did goggled for the Rex and a web site also said spring.
Gita & Butch, I decided to take both of your advice on the cane Begonia. I cut the unusually long canes off of the dragonwing that Gita gave me. Two went into a jar of water and two went into some soil. We will see how they fare!
Had to bump this thread to show you the beauty I picked up last weekend :) Begonia soli-mutata http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/113473/ I had this one a couple of years ago and when looking for photos to post realized how much I miss it. Stopped by a nursery on Saturday and they had several sickly looking plants on their benches but found this one in their display area and grabbed it!
love it!
NICE!!!
I love the colors on that Begonia. Also, I think the leaf texture is very in teresting. A very nice find, RCN.
I thought so! The smaller pots were on sale for $4.00 but even at that price they weren't worth it. That beauty was on sale for $9.00 and it's busting out of the pot! Figure I should be able to make babies next spring because I have pretty good luck with the rhizomatous ones :)
Good luck with the babies!
Give your soli-mutata lots of humidity in winter and watch it grow!
Here was one of mine from last winter after growing under a plastic dome for a couple of months. It made a huge difference.
The lid is 16 inches and the bowl is probably 14 inches. The plant is pushing the lid up and off.
Wow Butch, that's one vigorous plant! Thank you, you've actually given me an idea :) I have a large glass globe that this Begonia might look nice in. The opening at the top might not be large enough to squeeze it through but I may have to experiment!
If the humidity level is too low, will they drop leaves? So far mine all look OK.
More than likely if the humidity is too low the leaves will just start drying up at the edges and eventually turn ugly (at which point you may want to cut them off).
Same plant with lid off. The color doesn't look right because of fluorescent lights.
Thanks, Butch. What a pretty begonia that is. I love the leaf shape.
Hey guys, how's this for a Begonia? It's about 3' high and 4 to 5' wide. There are hundreds of babies on it. The owner of the greenhouse gave me 2 babies from it as they didn't have any potted up for sale!!
