Begonia rex

Hello house plant growers. And more particuarly those new to house plant growing.

One small 20watt seed tray sized propagator from Focus DIY store UK; some JI seed compost from my supermarket and a Begonia rex leaf from my sister-in-law.

A leaf from a plant that I brought from work to give to my Mother whilst visiting - that was in 1990.

The leaf was wounded on the underside across four veins near to the stalk. It was then laid underside down and gently pressed into the soft compost and sprayed with tepid water. The lid was replaced and the propagator plugged in. Attempting to keep a temp of 70-75F was almost impossible but fluctuations did not seem to be detrimental.

The second pic shows the growths emerging after 5 weeks.

Peter.

Hi Peter,

Lovely plants and nice work. I'm working on begonias now too. I just finished lots of African violets, Persian violets and Gloxinias. Its nice to create these little treasures isn't it.

Joydie

Lovely plants and nice work. I'm working on begonias now too. I just finished lots of African violets, Persian violets and Gloxinias. Its nice to create these little treasures isn't it.
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It certainly is joydie, and especially when we do it in the dwelling house without the ideal conditions of a heated glasshouse. Seems to be a lot of people dealing with African Viiolets these days. I must get myself a few leaves. I also like the Streptocarpus; especially the beautiful blue of 'Constant Nymph'.
If you are propagating begonia Reg Coltrum group, have a go at leaf patches as well as whole leaf. More plants from a leaf that way.

Peter.

Hi Peter,
I've never tried propagating Streptocarpus before have you. I have just a couple of plants in the front border. They were put in last year and are just flowering now. They also multiplied so I have leaf material to work with. I searched the web and found a site explaining how to propagated them...Now I have something else to try while I wait for the warm weather to come.
Joydie

Hello Joydie,

Yes, I've propagated them in the closed case in the heated glasshouse. Where I live UK we cannot grow them outdoors so they are cultivated as a pot plant or in a showhouse bed. To get a reasonable quantity I cut the leaves into sections and inserted them vertically just as you would a rex leaf patch. As I recall, there was usually no problem getting a 90+% take in a temp of 75F/24C from spring to late summer.
I see you like Passifloras. That is a nice one on your Jodie1s Page. We only have a couple that are commonly seen outdoors, but many are to be found in public glasshouses such as botaical gardens.

Thought that you might find this part of my site interesting. All relates to my climate of course. And what requires heated glass here, you might do without.

http://www.dwsn.fsnet.co.uk/PLANT%20PROPAGATION.HTM

Peter.

Peter,
I found that pic on a forum that I joined regarding passifloras...unfortunately its on my old hard drive and I could never find the forum again. Each month different people would post pictures of their passifloras and some were absolutely stunning. I had very little success sprouting passifloras so I would just go to the forum and drool over the pictures. They were a group of hybridizers from all over the world...remarkable plants!!

I'm surprised that you can't grow them outdoors in England. Here in winter our temperatures drop to zero degrees and colder with the wind chill factor off the lake. I went out this morning and cut leaves to try. I noted on the web site that the plants do not mind having their leaves trimmed so I just had a ball snipping away.

Peter I must confess your Web site is AMAZING. I've booked marked your page and I can see I will have lots to do this year throughout the summer...there will never be another boring moment for me.

Two years ago I had all the windows replaced in my century old house. I saved the windows to make cold frames. I have a little hidden area just outside of my dining room between myself and my neighbour. Its an ugly concrete patio I'm going to use this space for my cold frames. I'm also having that dining room window removed and I've bought a door to replace it. I thought it would the perfect little area for my cold frames.

A local nursery has 80 L bags of compressed peat moss on sale and I can pick up sand inexpensively. I'm going to get busy and have the cold frames made. I bought a repeat blooming climbing yellow rose called "Golden Showers", but they only had one of them. I'd like a pair to cover a trellised gateway to the rear section of my garden. Since its still too cold here to plant the rose out into the garden I have it indoors in a huge 5 gallon pot and its now over 3 feet tall. I guess I better get busy and take a couple of cuttings.

Peter thanks for sending the webpage link. I'll let you know how I make out with things.

Joydie

Hello again Joydie,

I don't want you to think that we can't grow any Passifloras outdoors here in the UK. They certainly can down south of the country, but up here in Yorkshire and further north P.caerulea is the one hardy enough to be found as a wall climber in sheltered areas. It is often the type of cold that determines winter hardiness. A dry cold can be more acceptable to many plants than prolonged dampness combined with freezing conditions. I'm sure you will be aware that this is particularly so with alpines.

Perhaps I have missed it somewhere but I don't seem to have any info as to whereabouts you are

It would be interesting to see some Passiflora names and I could see what conditions are recommended for them in my part of the UK.
That lost web site seems to have been just the thing for info. Such people would certainly know more than I do about that genus.

Interesting reading your plans for your cold frame... Ihave always regarded the cold frame to be a most valuable asset to the gardener. It can be put to so many uses when one has no other glass. I understand what you write about using removed windows. The garden frame you can see on one of my web site pages 'The Vegetable Garden' was constructed from second hand roofing beams and discarded secondary double glazing.
When you use sand in the garden be sure it is not builders sand (fine mortar sand); that is too fine. Get some grit sand or fine grit.

Peter.

Peter,
I'm in zone 6b along the southern border of Lake Ontario. Winters here are cold and damp yet we seem to be in a sheltered area. Out temperatures are much milder than Buffalo, New York which receives 3-6 times the amount of snow that we do.

I looked at the images of the gardens on your web site. very beautiful indeed. You would love a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens here. They have the world's largest collection of Lilacs. The Lilac Dell will be open soon as yesterday I noticed my own Lilacs have flower buds starting to open.

Joydie