Propagating Rexes

I have started trying to propagate begonia's from leaf. There are several different techniques that I have been trying. Placing a leaf on top of a growing medium, making cuts across the large veins on the underside of the leaf before placing it on the growing medium and a technique that I read about where you roll the leaf then stick the stem into dirt. I am using a large, shallow aluminum and plastic trays to propagate in. So far I have had great success, that is with my Rhizo's only. For some reason my rex leaves just decenegrate within a couple of days of starting them. I know that I will never get 100% yield from propagation, but It would be nice to get something . I have been covering the trays with plastic wrap, They are not direcly in the sunlight and the room they are propagating in has flourescent lighting. I don't water them directly but I do keep the soil moist by misting with a water bottle. I have always thought that begonia's could not be propagated using the technique that AV are propagated from, that is inserting tip of leaf stem in water. However, I learned the other day from a begonia grower that you could propagate begonia's from leaf using this method. Is there any validity to that?? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated ! Right now I just can't seem to get propagating rexes right! Im hoping to get some good advice that will help me grow some baby rexes to share with others!! Isn't that the fun part! Not just growing them for me to look at, but the feeling of sharing something beautiful that I have grown with someone else? Thanks ~ Kristi

Hi Kristi,

I usually do my rexes by leaf cutting. The whole leaf. I cut the whole stem off, them cut that down to where I only have about 3-4 inches of stem attached to the leaf. I then insert the stem in potting soil with peat up to the pencil mark. I make sure the leaf itself does not touch the soil by letting the leaf rest on the rim of the pot. With large leaves like this one of B. Lalomie the leaf will hang over the pot. I then keep it moist in shade. The little begonias will emerge from the stem.

Enjoy,

Daisy

Kristi,

Make sure the leaf you use is a mature leaf. If you take young ones, they will probably rot. Sounds like you are doing everything else right.

You can also use the rhizome as well if you have enough to cut. I like this method better because it usually always works.

As for water rooting a leaf, I have not done it for rex but it would probably work. I finally had to use this method with 'Martin's Mystery' because I could not get it to take in soil.

Also for 'Snoopy' I had to keep the soil fairly dry to get it to root. So you may have to experiment with different types.

Humidity seems key for rooting leaves.

Butch

I keep a high top humidity lid on these rexes I started last fall by leaf cuttings.

Daisy and Butch, Thank you both! I will take your advice and see what I come up with. Keeping my fingers crossed. Daisy, I never thought not to lay the leaf part directly on the soil. It is hard to mist the soil without getting the leafs wet and I know begonia leaves do not like water to sit on them. Butch, your tray of propagating begonia's look great! After just a few days for me all of the rex leaves turn black and just wither away! Maybe with practice I will get better!! Thanks again! ~ Kristi

Hi Kristi... I have the same problem with my leaves they just shrivel up and nutta..I'm trying to water root a few now,it looks like their getting little hairy roots..I sure hope so I will let you know if they survive..Keeping fingers,toes and eyes crossed to see what happens.. ;o)))

Loretta..

Loretta ~ A few days ago, after throwing out a whole tray of shriveled up rex leaves I was TRYING to propagate, I started a few in water as well. Guess what the leaves haven't shriveled up yet, they look the same as when I put them in. You and I must be kindred spirits!!! Maybe with each others support, one day we will finally master the technique of growing begonia's!!! `-) My fingers, eyes and toes have been crossed, I think they are permanently stuck that way!!! ~ K

Yeah Kristi we must be kindred spirits..Mine that I thought was getting roots that I put in water,no deal they died..Now on to my next experiment to see what happens..Hows yours doing?Good I hope..I ain't giving up just yet,but it sure is a challenge..LMK..

Loretta...

Kristi, have you tried this method yet? (this is the 'other' garden web site, not sure if you can see the photos without a membership)
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/begonia/msg1022105325400.html?17

I tried and lost all to rot. Quickly too. If I do it again, I'll bake my soil first. Now I just do this method but use perlite only.

I am going to try to start some. This is a bad path I am going down.

Hey Kell, try some like this method. whole leaf (looked like the petiole might be 2" or so) into the pot like a cone.
this was at PHOE

Lauri~ I have tried that way of propagating before. I read it in a old book of my mothers on house plants. Anyway, it was called the rolling method. You roll the leaf and it form a cone once inserted into dirt. My rhizo's did great this way but my rexes as always just shriveled up to nothing. Mine definately looked nothing like the ones in your pics. Butch sent me a pic of some of his rexes propagating in a tray and all of his leaves looked brand new. I am soooo frustrated!!! I am hoping that this is a humidity problem. I am trying the perlite like you suggested. Also, I have a couple in water with some of my AV's. Actually, the rex leaf I have in water looks very good. I got a fish aquarium and am going to dedicate it to propagation only. How important is humidity for begonia's? I mean I know it is important but could humidity, or the lack of, which is the case in my house,be the sole reason for all my problems? Would it help if I put a humidifier in my begonia room? I have good soil and I am not overwatering, if anything I would be underwatering. Some of my symptoms on my rexes are yellowing leaves and brown crispy edges. They are sitting in front of a northern window. I have mounted a flourescent light about 1 foot up above and the room is also lighted with flourescent lights. My house is extremely dry due to running the heater to warm the house. Could humidity be the culprate in all of my problems?
Thanks to anyone who can give some advice. ~ Kristi

Kristi,
I am trying to propagate in perlite. Saw somewhere to trim leaf edges and then cut them into pie shapes, so that's what I did. Put all the little pots in a flat, and put it in a big plastic bag. (Still trying to figure out where the big bag came from - walked out in the garage and there it was. LOL) So far so good, I suppose. No results yet, but the little leaf pieces are still sitting there looking the same :-)
Sharon

I'm trying the perilite too,and gonna see what happens..I hope that Kristi and Sharon get good results,because I'm ready to give up.. :o(((

Loretta...

Sharon~ I think the way I might be goning wrong with this technique is- I haven't been covering the pan with a bag or plastic wrap. I have just been lightly misting the dirt around the leaves with a spray bottle. I think this is where I am going wrong. I probably should just water 1 time then enclose in a bag and depend on the humidity to keep moisture in the soil. I am hopefull, it just takes time. My thumb is slowly but surely turning green (lol). Thanks~ Kristi

Kristi,
I started my leaf cuttings about 10 days ago. I looked at them this evening and the leaves looked justf fine, but the bamboo skewers I am using to hold up the plastic are molding, so I let everyone air out for a couple hours and then put the bag back on. Looked real close and didn't see a sign of a problerm with the cuttings.

Sharon~ When you started the tray of begonia wedges, how much did you water. Also, are you watering any more, other than the first time when you started propagation. Does the bag and humidity take care of all the watering needs? I hope that is the only thing I am doing wrong. Not covering the tray. I have been misting the leaves with a water bottle. The fact that the leaves are also getting water on them when I mist may be the reason that they are shriveling up to nothing? I am going to start another tray today. I am going to try some in just 100% perlite and the other in 1part peat moss and 1 part perlite. I am gonig to bag the tray to see if it helps. Surely one day I will find something that works for me. Thanks for the input. Let me know if you get any results from your leaf cuttings. I am interested to know what works for different people. Actually, I have one begonia leaf rooting in water and it is the only one that looks good. There isn't any rotting or shriveling so far and it has been about 2 weeks since I put it in the water? What type of lighting are you giving your begonia's that you are propagating? Also, someone told me when you put your tray in the bag to blow air into the bag, Like a balloon? Do you do this? Thanks again for the tips! ~ Kristi

Kristi,

Humidity is very important for propagating by leaves especially INDOORS!!!! If you don't have a clear lid, then use Saran wrap. You can use a baggie if you like. Misting isn't going to get it unless you have a misting system (that sprays every so many minutes). You can buy the seed trays with lids at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. although a high top lid is better if and when the little plantlets start coming up.

Here is a picture back in late September. Note the humidity build up. I used lasagna disposable pans with included plastic lids. The 3 leaves are 'Mikado'. You would still be better off with rhizomes to begin with.

Butch

I have finally found something that is working for me. I have two bags with leaf wedges that are in 100% vermiculite and two bags that are in Jiffy Mix seed starter. The first bag with the vermiculite has three cuttings that have roots from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch long - many of them!!!
I put that bag together about 2 1/2 weeks ago. The others were started later. After years of trying to get a rooted cutting, this is very exciting for me!!!!! I have them under a light for 12 hours a day.

Louise

I will be buying more vermiculite!

Louise~ Thanks for the tip!!! I think there are many different ways of rooting from leaf, I just haven't found the way that is successful for me. I have no problems rooting rhizo cuttings just rex? I will have to try the vermiculite. Thanks again!! ~ Kristi

Kristi,
I have the mother plants in a 30 gallon aquarium with the light on for 12 hours a day. It is amazing how many new leaves are on both plants. They are sitting on a layer of aquarium charcoal with a 2 inch layer of gravel. I water them with filtered water with H202 and Superthrive.

I think I will have more luck with the plants than I had with fish!
I also filled a 20 gallon tank on the bottom shelf with several small ferns and one small croton, very colorful, toward the back of the tank.

Louise

Louise~ Funny that you mentioned the aquarium. I have thought for a long time that lack of humidity could be the reason for all my woes. Not just with my propagation but with my begonias in general. I have been trying to figure out a way to remedy this. I decided to try an aquarium. My parents had one but when I went to get it the glass was broken. So, about a week ago, I decided to try an experiement. I had a good size fish bowl and several little glass containers with lids. I took some of my begonias that all the leaves had fallen off, the rhizome basically was the only thing left. I had two with 3-4 new leaves growing on them. What I did was make little terrariums out of the fish bowl and other glass containers. I didn't want to spend more money on humidity trays or an aquarium until I knew that humidity is the problem. Finally, I think I have made a huge break through!!! The begonias in the small terrariums are just doing great!! I couldn't believe what one week of correct environment conditions would make!! The leaves on them are sooo subtle and the colors are so much more vivid. I will definately be getting an aquarium and a humidifier for the room!!! Since I began coming to DG everyone has told me humidity, humidity, humidity. Well now I completely get it!!!! I know it has only been a week, but I really feel that this is the answer. I can't put all my plants in an aquarium but I will doing my best to get humidity to them. I do feel that I may need to add a little something to my soil for nutrients. I am new at this and do not know about fertlizing. Is superthrive just a basic fertilizer or is it like a rooting hormone? ~ Kristi

Krissti,
I read so many posts on different threads about the benefits of Superthrive that I bought a bottle at Lowe's for $7.99. It only calls for a few drops in a gallon of water. It has Vitamin B1 and some kind of acetic acid. It really makes a noticeable difference in the foilage almost immediately. My begonia leaves just become wavy and glisten.

At the recommendation of some DGer who seemed to be having great success, I have bought a can of Lysol disinfectant spray to use on my plants to deter disease and flying gnats. It hasn't hurt any yet.

It's almost overwhelming the amount of information on this site. I have learned so much about gardening that it would take a lifetime to find out by trial and error.

Louise

Louise do you ever mist your plants with the Superthrive and distilled water?I was at a garden seminar and as far as the lysol spray they had a disinfiectant spray they use it was only $1.00 from the Dollar Store and works just as good as the lysol..

Loretta..

Loretta,
That is one way I water them - a spray bottle with 1T. H202 and a drop or two of ST to a quart. I also poured a little water on the gravel that the pots are sitting on. When I lift the lid of the aquarium, I can feel and smell the warm moist air. Sometimes, I leave it open for a while.

I have an Amway big water purifier hooked to a kitchen sink dispenser. It supposed to remove 99.9999% of everything from city water. It kinda spoils you for having really good tasting water. I don't buy distilled water.

Louise

I did'nt mean if you drank it I meant did you use the distilled water in your spray bottle?I have a water purifer too,but I still buy the bottled water to drink..
I have 3 different methods going on here with my begonias if I don't get good results at least with one of them,I give up.

Loretta..

Lorette,
I can't count the times that I have tried to root a leaf cutting from a begonia and failed. I have also lost many Rexes in years past because I just didn't know what they needed, but I continued to buy new each spring because I'm fascinated with the beauty of the leaves.
I only have three varieties now. I just bought one that is a large satiny
dark red leaf. I have three leaf cuttings from it that are in plastic bags now. I hope I have found a way to keep them alive. I'm having better results since being on DG.
I love this place!

Louise

I'm just bumping this thread up so it's easier to find...lol

I am going to be trying to do my first leaf cutting soon....boy am I nervous...lol.

~Julie =0)

Here are 3 different types of begonias that have been water rooted (cane 'Cracked Ice' which was broken off the mother plant when being moved indoors recently, a leaf of the rhizo 'Martin's Mystery', and a leaf of an unknown rex which has been in the water for weeks as an experiment).

The cane was broken off about a week or more ago and 'Martin's Mystery' was started about the same time. The rex has been in water for 4 to 6 weeks. What is really interesting is seeing all the growth of the rex underwater (no light and no air). The other two just have roots. Two smaller leaves of 'Martin's Mystery' did not root and neither did some old leaves of 'Shamus'.

Here is a close up of the roots from the collage above.

That's pretty amazing - I would have expected the rex leaf to rot! Were you careful to just let the stem be in water?

That's right, just the stem was in water (the aluminum foil was used for this purpose). I'm using plastic wrap as well to keep the leaves out of water but then I have some cups that have no barrier and therefore the leaves are somewhat submerged and still root. Most leaves form roots on the end of the petiole though.

Here are some of my recent transplants from water to soil.

First is 'Hee-Haw' and its roots in a plastic cup (no plantlets yet).

'Challenger' roots and the start of some new leaves.

Taliensis showing lots of new growth.

Another taliensis showing new growth at soil line and on top of the leaf.

Two 'Caribbean King' starts. One mother leaf is dried up and should be cut away.

'Black Coffee' is a very fast starter.

'Comtesse de Montesquieu' has sent up a lot of new sprouts.

A rex and some other hairy leaf begonia ('Spanish Moss' or 'November Frost'?)

Serratipetala was started as a stem cutting.