Begonias Anonymous - Attention Addicts and Enablers

Its Super-gonia!
But what do you mean by babies?
BTW, the cuttings I rooted for you are looking great- this is the plant tho these are last year's cuttings

Wow, that looks great, Sally.

The babies are like whole little plants growing off of very long stems. I think it's a 720 degree begonia. The big old leaves seem to have lost their swirl, but the younger ones all have the ruffled double circle.

He had a few cane begonias that were over 6' tall. Didn't know they could get that big. Very few plants were for sale from those. I'm wondering if they don't have the help to do the propogating. I can't believe that people are all buying the giant ones. Take a look over on the Nov bloom thread at the Plumeria I posted from this greenhouse.

very nice!!!

stormy--

On the huge Begonia, the round leaves on top look just like the one I have--the Beefsteak Begonia.

Sally--your spotted begonia looks great. Mine never took off and is still struggling as tiny, skinny cuttings.
Maybe i am ignoring them too much??

G.

My enterpreneurial friend and I always joked that we'd never could be a success at sales cuz we never realize how much money some people are willing to spend on some special items, like maybe huge mature indoor plants. There must still be customers with big indoor spaces and not the patience or interest in growing a baby to that size them selves. Fewer customers than five years ago...maybe that's why they still have these huge ones!
(Great cartoon in New Yorker--Financial advisor to couple
"What should you do? Here's what you should do. Invent a time machine and go back five years and convert it all to cash!!" )

Oh, Hi, Gita--Mine slept awhile but have recently started to flourish on a shelf with artificial lighting.


This message was edited Nov 22, 2009 10:33 AM

Gita, The 720 degree begonia is a form of Beefsteak Begonias. It just has two layers of ruffled leaves growing on one stem.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/175256/

Verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting.......................

I kind of like that look!
Mine is now sitting on top of a small ladder (made for shoes) in front of my bedroom window.
It gets good light there and the ladder can support it's size and weight.....It really grew a lot this Summer!

Took a picture just now to show you.....

That is a 14" pot it is in.

Here is a close-up of some of the bigger surviving leaves.
I say "surviving" because it grows a lot of these HUGE leaves outside in the Summer--but they tend to yellow out and I have to remove them.

OK, Gita, I will bring you a piece when next we meet. I'm afraid it would get crushed in the mail.

Thanks, stormy--I can wait! I have NO room as it is for some more plants now.....
My house is full--all the upper window sashes have little pots on them--my seed-set-up shelves are holding all kinds of rooting things (good use of the lights this time of year--BTW! )...etc....

Here are my Coleus cuttings going gang-busters on my seed shelf....If it is not a sunny day--I turn on the lights.

Another shot------

I have pinched out the growing tips on all of them in an attempt to keep them from growing too tall.
Spring is a L-O-N-G way off!

The AV is the one I got from Doc at Hollies....Hasn't bloomed, but is OK otherwise.

I took my niece to that Greenhouse today and look what I found there. This one is about 4' across.

Gita, Look familiar? This one went all the way to the ceiling.

Another part of it.

My niece and another Angelwing.

I think this one is some kind of a Rex.

This friendly customer put his hand up there for me to show the size.

Looking good. The last one is brevirimosa (exotica). Very well grown!

Thanks, Butch. You would really like this place. There are all kinds of things there that I don't know what they are. Maybe I'll put them all together in a thread.

Stormy--

I have never let my Angel Wing begonia grow it's stalks that tall. They usually do grow a bit tall--over the Winter, but I will cut them all back in early Summer and start new plants....YEAH! I know it costs me some bloom--but I don't care!
In the house for the Winter--they usually drop all their leaves, slowly but surely, and only the tops of the canes keep their foliage. That's ALL I need for starting the new plants for the new season.

Of course--you have a Greenhouse--and so it stays, pretty much, in it's element.....Mine go semi-dormant every year.

Gita

Gita, I don't have a greenhouse. That was in a nursery that I visited.

Aw, what's prettier? The begonia, or the niece?!! Best of all, a pretty niece that will visit a nursery with you!!

Yes, Sally, We had a wonderful time together. Even took a hike! Look at this gorgeous thing they had. Wish I had room for it.

That reminds me that I need to dig my banana this weekend - we are starting to get some light frosts now. Just a few more pots to bring in as well.

WOW cool tropicals. My banana went in ground in a big nursery pot and never grew out of it! So it was very easy to pull out, and I'm sort of glad it stayed 'small' enough to bring in live (tho sort of messy with brownd leaves). Then while cleaning at Moms I found two really big plastic pots the neighbor had thrown out there a dozen year ago. One was the perfect size to hold the nursery pot. hcmcdole, do you cut the banana off and make it dormant for winter?

This will my first year for bringing in a banana (in the past I let them outdoors where they promptly died). I may cut the top of the mother plant since it has at least two pups coming up.

Here was a similar one two years ago in the garden with lots of sun.

That is really pretty Butch. I was fascinated by this place and took all sorts of photos.

I had one of those bananas too (Abyssinian Red banana). I found out they don't survive our winters though. I brought it in for one winter and then it got too big to bring in. That seems to be the problem with a lot of "house plants" - they get huge in no time.

The red leaf markings are striking.
stormyla, thanks for that pic of the resprouting banana--I wondered what it would look like when they're cut off and get going again.
I guess my banana will be too heavy to bring in next year too. Unless I chop it down and trim the roots etc. I might pile it up with leaves and mulch and just see if it makes it. If not, good excuse to get something different.

Lordy Lordy I did not know there were so many begonias. Santa....I want one of each and a couple of elves to take care of them.

Doc, Think this one will fit down your chimney??

The banana got over 7 feet tall which is one reason I didn't bring in the next year. Two years in a 18 inch pot.


Back to begonias - 'Caravan' is a great one to have.

I don't keep anything that big .....yet. :) Only have two begonia cuttings started from the one Gita gave me this spring. It got huge and bloomed it's heart out. I just did not want to mess with a huge hanger over winter. Both appear to have rooted nicely. I shall now pinch and build them for going out next spring.

That's a pretty one. I did buy one last week, but it was unnamed. I'll have to take it's photo. It looks a lot like the last one RCN purchased. They had a really nice Iron Cross, but I decided against it.

I'd really like to have a piece of that big one I posted on the 28th.

Butch hcmcdole, If you are still watching, can you please lend us your expertise? Yesterday, at our MidAtlantic Seed Swap, I gave some Begonia loving DGers stem and leaf cuttings from Marmaduke. They were asking me how to treat them for propagation, and alas, I am clueless. Can you please offer some advice? Thanks.

Forgot to include the photo. Marmaduke.

Stormy I just posted my Begonia pic on the growing for 2010 thread, asking for some help in rooting the ones you gave me. Forgot all about this thread. Here is it guys.

I find rooting in perlite or water works the best for me. With either method I use some kind of plastic cover (baggie, cup, lid, etc) to ensure high humidity. Single leaves do well in a small drinking cup covered with a larger cup. Use drainage holes (clip edges of bottom rim with scissors or knife or drill holes) if you use perlite or a potting mix. For many leaves my preferred method is the disposable aluminum pans with clear lids. Poke holes in the bottom of the pan, fill with perlite 2/3 or so, water well, and insert cuttings. Cover and place under lights. Use another pan for a drip tray.

Other media that may be used with limited success are potting mix, sand, moss, and even gravel. Experiment in other words but do use some kind of humidity cover indoors - I find this one of the most important things in rooting begonia leaves.

Thanks, Butch. Do you cut the stem and lay the leaf right on the soil, or do you keep part of the stem and bury it? Do you cut a slit in the leaf?