I am setting up a new plant stand this weekend and will have lots more room for plants inside. I have grown several of these wonderful plants and find that some of them are easier to grow than others. For example Begonia Erythophila (Beefsteak) is as easy as they come. I am just wondering what others you have found to be easy to grow. I also am interested in those with small leaves. I have Begonia 'Luzonensis' that I am growing from one leaf. Are there others out there that I should try?
Easy to grow?
For me, the rhizos are the easiest to grow inside. Canes get too big, rexes pout, but most of the rhizos keep growing and flowering.
River Nile is about as easy as they come. Black Velvet, Black Coffee are two nice dark begonias that aren't too fussy. Cowardly Lion (and/or Wild Pony) are a must for the begonia enthusiast.
Lots of interesting species and unknowns such as multistaminea, petadifida, staudtii, peltata, listada (I have found this one to be a bit fussy in the past), imperialis, rajah, heracleifolia, carolineifolia, U508, U501, U475, U357 are but a few.
Caravan is a nice medium sized fuzzy leaf. Flamboyant (not sure if this is the correct name but that is how I received it) is easy. Sierra Silver Mist is a nice pink star shaped leaf. Plum Gorgeous, Hugh McLaughlin (or McLaughlan) is a star performer - looks like a colorful rex but doesn't mildew or defoliate, Ginny (hairy shrub), Bashful Bandit (can get large), and too many others to name are fairly easy.
Canes are a bit more difficult in winter but shouldn't be omitted unless you don't have the space - go with the superba canes since they are the most easy to neglect and come back strong. Sophie Cecile, Lana, Irene Nuss, Silvermist are hard to beat. Polka dot canes seem to be more susceptible to mildew but still are worth having.
Small leaf - Peridot, Queen Olympus, Little Night Music, bowerae and its myriad crosses, Royal Lustre (strange spelling on luster), lots of unknown species (or cultivars), and you can "bonsai" your begonias too if you want to keep them on the small side. Check Rob's Violets for some small beauties but beware - not all are small. I bought a Shamus from them and it can get some pretty good size on it for example. Prismatocarpa is supposed to be one of the tiniest leaf begonias but I've never had it but the ones I've seen look very robust.
Rexes do go through a period of defoliation (most but not all) but are worth it for their colorful leaves.
You are right rexes do go through a period. My Escargot lost its beautiful leaves. I can't wait til spring again for it to come back and sit it outside. I just put very little water on it right now. I see one very small bright green life to it.
I like Art Hodes and Orococco, second the Black Coffee, Cowardly Lion, and River Nile. Sophie Cecile is smallish for a cane, and pretty darn tough, too. I think my award for toughest begonia goes to B. convolvulacea, most of it froze when my electricity was out last winter and it sprouted right back up within a week.
Canes are fairly tough such as Irene, Sophie, and Silvermist. I let a big pot out until mid December with several hard freezes and then decided to save them before it was too late. They are sitting in a pan downstairs and sending up new shoots - I don't think they would have survived the whole winter outdoors though.
Sophie probably is not as big as Irene (tall growing) or Silvermist but is not a small cane either.
Gorgeous canes Butch.
Belva Kusler used to say that she almost didn't release
Sophie Cecile. The reason, hers was 8 to 10 feet tall in a large pot.
She didn't know if people would want to grow one that grew
that large. So glad she did.
So am I Jackie - glad she released it. So many canes (and rhizos) look alike though. I got a cane from someone that has the name 'Pagoda' that looks like a dead ringer to Sophie. I also got a cutting from a club member who said it was 'Ida Mae' or something like that that looks very similar to Sophie.
By the way, those are not my canes. Those are canes growing at Discovery Cove (Swim with the dolphins) in Orlando. The place was very nicely landscaped.
Here is 'Lana' blooming in my basement (at least I think this is Lana) which I bought at Home Depot 3 years ago. Blooms a lot, roots easily, and gets big in no time (big being relative).
Butch, thought those were yours as I know you do grow some beautiful canes in the summer. Mine aren't anything to brag about in the winter, half dead looking. I;m not going to chuck them though as they will regain their looks when they go out for the summer.. lol
There are a few Sophie look alikes out
there. Your pic does look like Lana
Butch,
What is your opinion on the iron cross begonia? I have had one for probably 3 years, and it just doesn't grow. It survives is about all I can say.All the rest of my begonias grow like crazy. Do you have that one or know anything about it?
This is it about a year ago and it is still the same....
I have one also and while it is growing I am having the fits with brown leaves. I have increased humidity and mist it almost every day to no avail.
GAgirl, I gave up on the Iron Cross begonia just like Escargot. Both seem too difficult and fussy to keep. Yours looks pretty good. What I would do if I tried it again is keep it in a terrarium. I have vareigata (used to be masoniana maculata) which I've had in an big ice bucket with a big plastic cake lid for the past few years. It requires a dribble of water every couple of months and looks very good. It keeps mildew off which is a main culprit of both Escargot and iron cross.
Jackie, I know what you mean about not chucking anything because a lot of them come back strong in summer. I got to spraying mine this year with Milstop. I think that has helped a lot with mildew. It's just a shame I didn't know about it earlier since mildew probably took most of my mallet begonias (Lynda Dawn, Benigo, etc). Oh well, spring is almost here and I hope to buy some more this year even if I have to treat those as annuals.
Here is Irene Nuss. I gave a couple of cuttings to my mother a couple of years ago and this is how big it got last year (about five feet tall).
Oh it's a beautiful Irene Nuss Butch. Bold pretty leaves. My Irene Nuss
never reached potential. I need to cut her all the way down and
when she starts growing again, pot her up. I've cut a few of my canes back.
Butch where would a person find Milstop? Mail order?
I think you can mail order Milstop-- but it is expensive something like $55 a lb. I was fortunate enough that someone on the Yahoo Begonia group sold me a little, and a little goes a long way. 3/4 teaspoon to qt of water. A little OT-- Patootie are you going to the AR Flower and Garden Show next weekend?
Hillbilly is correct on ordering it on line and being expensive. With shipping, 5 lbs came to around $70 but does go a long way. I mix it 1 TBSP per gallon and it takes about 6 gallons to spray all of mine. I could just start concentrating on only the ones that get mildew now and save a lot of time and Milstop.
B. turrialbae is looking pretty good for being under lights and a plastic lid.
Butch, do you know the "shelf life"? I would contemplate ordering that large amount IF it would remain effective over a period of time. Some things like thuricide (used on my waterlilies for "taco worms" ) is only good for 1 season. I would hate to spend the money just to throw it away.
No idea on the shelf life. I plan on taking some of it to our club's next meeting next weekend and sharing. If they like it then they can buy some from me in the future or buy their own.
http://www.greenislanddistributors.com/productpdfs/149530MilStop_Product%20Info%20Sheet.pdf
http://www.greenislanddistributors.com/productpdfs/116092Millstop-MSDS2009.pdf
Most of it is potassium bicarbonate.
I've been able to go down from the curative dosage to the preventative dosage. But I mix with Cease, so the rate is lower -- .5 tablespoon of Milstop and 1.25 tablespoons of Cease per gallon.
Butch - do you think you will continue to spray in the summer? Or just start up in the fall? My tuberous begonias had a very hard time with the cold wet summer we had last year. I just planted them today and I'm hoping for a better show this summer.
You can always email Bioworks with questions about their products.
Butch, I haven't been to the Ar Flower and Garden show in yrs.
Probably won't make it this yr either. The last time I went, I saw an
award winning Poinsettia tree 3 feet tall, in full bloom.
It was spectacular.
I will probably pass on the expensive milstop and just use an
inexpensive spray.
I may spray in summer but not much. I probably will start spraying weekly in September until I bring them in late October.
A 3 foot poinsettia in a pot must be pretty nice. I've seen some six footers or bigger in the ground but not in a pot.
I think you might find a 1 lb container of Milstop for $10 or so. While it does seem very effective it doesn't seem to stop it completely. A good spraying program looks like it is a must for some begonias.
Cracklin' Rosie new leaf
I agree about Milstop not completely eradicating the mildew on everything. It seems to for some species-- but those are probably less susceptible to begin with. It does seem not to be as widespread or vigorous when it returns. The fall spraying sounds like a great idea-- especially if this fall is as cold and damp as last. A one lb container would be awesome-- any ideas on where to look?
I don't have any mildew issues in the greenhouse this year. I've been spraying every 7 days, a mixture of cease and milstop. Turns out the ratio that I was given was too high - it was burning some of the leaf tips. I've scaled it way back. Are you using the curative rate or the preventative rate? Here's the link to the chart:
http://www.bioworksinc.com/products/milstop/small-volume-spray-rates.pdf
I am using the preventative rate-- that is the measurement I was given-- will bump it up to the curative rate with my next spraying. Thanks for the link!!
Butch-
Would you post a picture of your Pink Freckles cane leaf? Thanks.
db, I don't have a good picture of Pink Freckles (that I could find).
Here is the only one that I have that was labeled. I will look at one other folder as well (where I bought it).
There are 3 canes in this pot - Maurice Amey in the back, Little Miss Mummey on the right, and Pink Freckles on the left.
This might be Pink Freckles too. I didn't label the picture so I'm not sure.
Maybe what I had as Pink Freckles was something else. The leaf was almost black with pink raised spots. A very vigorous grower (unlike Miss Mummy), until that one winter....
I got Pink Freckles from Harmony in person so either they have shipped hundreds of the wrong things or maybe you had something else. I will take some more pictures once mine puts on new leaves. I lost my first one due to poor indoor conditions. My canes suffer the most due to light conditions (too tall to put under lights for the most part).
some small canes (Snow Capped, Cracked Ice, Fabulous Tom, Jalissa Ma, and others
Butch, nice canes. Thanx for sending us some pics.
Snow Capped is a little beauty
I found some mildew in the g house. Looks like it started on one of my Sophie's.
I remember getting her lvs wet so I have brought this on myself.
I'm spraying today, picked up Garden Safe fungicide at Wallys
last night. I've had good luck with it, even more effective when a
person is brave enough to go ahead and cut all the stems down, less area to spray. This is the time of yr to prune hard anyway.
Wish I could id this one.
Jackie, that sure looks like Lucerna or her sister.
I sprayed today. I think I am ahead of the game now - just wished I had known about Milstop back in the fall. One thing I like about Milstop compared to Neem - no unpleasant smell. When I used Neem I would have a funny odor for a few days.
I'm fertilizing with Neptune's Harvest Hydrolyzed Fish. Talk about smell...think wharf, low tide. The begonias seem to like it though, and I don't get the salt buildup in the containers. What do others use as fertilizer?
Butch, I know it looks a little bit like Lucerna but I promise you it's
not. My original plant looked very dark, the lvs almost black. Hope I can grow this one to that point. I had cut it down very low and the white lvs are the new growth.
The neem is smelly but so good at getting rid of the spider mites. lol
I forget that's it's also an effective fungicide
DB, I seldom feed but when I do, it's an off-brand like Garden Safe.
db, I use MG water soluble and slow release. I like the advice given by a begonia expert. - whatever is on sale works just fine.
Jackie, I didn't think it was Lucerna - just looks like it or her sister (Lucidia, Loco, Lucy, etc). So you get spider mites on your begonias? I don't think I've seen them on mine. I do get them on alocasias though.
My newest Alocasia - A. 'Stingray' is kind of cool looking.
Patootie
Isn't the Garden Safe fungicide just sulfur? Doesn't it smell too?
tru, The active ingredient is Neem. I buy the concentrate and mix it in a 2 gallon sprayer. Neem has a funny odor. Some find it pleasant but I find it a bit obnoxious - not stinky but not something I want to be around for long.
http://www.gardensafe.com/ProductCategories/indoorinsecticide/Fungicide3/
I don't mind the smell so much. Neem has saved my canes and I have continually sprayed them weekly since the initial assault. Thanks for the info.
Butch, No spider mites on my Begonia's but they get on lots of
other plants like Brug's, M Glories, even on Banana's which of course are not soft leaved.
Spider Mites are my worst nightmare.
I didn't make it to the ghouse before dark last night to spray.
I picked up by mistake the Garden Safe fungicide that is 3 products in one,
Fungicide, Pesticide and Miticide. The main ingredient is neem extract
and I have a brand new bottle, concentrated, I could have used.
Oh well, this is the ready to spray, I can just take off down to
the ghouse and not mix up anything. A time saver for me and
time is what I don't have since I like to visit at DG. lol
The scent doesn't bother me.
Butch, love the Stingray.
Tru one time I purchased the spider mite spray having as a main ingrdient sea weed or kelp. It wasn't very effective, maybe just a
deterrent.
Have you tried predatory mites? I buy n. californicus and they keep the 2 spotted spider mites under control. I apply 2 times a year on my brugs and passionflowers.
Db, I let the bugs get too bad to use a predator. I know I need to be on a regular spraying schedule. :-)
I've used predatory mites in the past at our last house. They probably work but it's hard to say. So if I ever see a very tiny red mite that seems to be moving fairly quick, I let them alone and hope they are still part of the predatory mites I bought years ago.
Same for beneficial nematodes (how can you tell they work? I sure can't see them). At least lady bugs and lace wings I can see. Milky spore is another control for grubs but you have to go on blind faith. It takes a few years for it to spread to help keep the Japanese beetles down.
Usually keeping the mites washed off helps a lot.