In September I took a leaf from my Begonia 'Freddie' cut it up into wedges and inserted them into moist vermiculite which was enclosed in a clear shoe box container. I had them in my greenhouse and they did nothing except root. There were no new babies. On January 1 I decided to bring them into the house and put them under my lights. On the 8th I noticed a new baby plant attached to one of the wedges. Yesterday I noticed a second one. I guess it pays to never give up.
Freddie has reproduced.
Dude you are right. I have set pots aside that look like soil tops. Then when I think to use the pot time and time again there is life. Sometimes I am pleased to see that happen if the tag was still with the pot. Other than that it is a mystery plant I nuture from that point. At least I know it is a begonia coming up. What surprises me the soil is bone dry, so I just spritz it.
Same here Dude. I rooted 3 wedges of Freddie a few months ago and still no pups but the wedges are as green as the day I put them in perlite. That happened to me before with a beefsteak - rooted in fall and did not pup until spring. Patience is sometimes rewarded - good job by the way!
Perlite hasn't worked as well for me.
Why do you think that is? Dry out too fast?
I know it is elementary now, but until I realized it to put a drip pan under the Perlite pan. I wasn't having success either. I had not made any holes in the Perlite pan. My plants were always drying out. The plants just crashed and burned. I have lost some really unusal begonias that way. It would be luck to have them again. I am having much better success with propagating with Perlite. Don't know if that is your issue but it solved alot of mine.
Seems like that would lead to rot with no drain holes unless you are very careful on not overwatering which could lead to it being too dry or too wet depending on how heavy or light your watering hand is.
Yes I couldn't keep it wet enough. It would dry out too fast. In an enclosed environment the vermiculite seems to consistantly hold moisture.
Put a lid on it to keep the humidity high. I checked my Freddie cuttings again and found one has sprouted 3 babies.
Here is another method: a vinyl sheet tucked in around the tray. A large plastic cup is used to create a tent pole.
