What causes brown spots on leaves? TIA
Patti
Begonia newbies question.
I'm having the same problem on a few of mine..I hope one of our pros comes to our rescue..We need help..
Loretta...
I'm going to say lack of humidity sense it happens to lots of other plants.
Or over watering.
Will have to see what others say. The few Begonia I've had for years do well. And the many cutting Laurie fave, me and plants and I mean many are all doing great knock on wood have not lost any :))
Other sources for spots can be fungus, water on the leaves (and when the light hits it it can act like a magnifying glass and burn the leaves)
bacteria, bugs etc.
If you can post a photo it might be easier to narrow it down. Powdery mildew leaves spots after I treat with neem.
edited to say the neem has nothing to do with the spots, but once I treat for PM, I often see where the damage was, especially if the PM was just a few 'spots' of it.
hope this helps.
This message was edited Mar 14, 2006 12:22 PM
Thanks Ladies for your help.
Patti
Patti~ I don't know if it is the same problem, but on mine I was having crispy brown edges and somtimes the brown would extend on into the leaf, like a spot. I think my problem was lack of humidity. I took several of my begonia's that were doing that and I put them in a terrarium. You would not believe the difference in just one week. No brown spots and actually now the leaves have tripled in size. They really have started growing in there. I keep it pretty humid, when I feel too much humidity is building up, I take the lid off for awhile. My house is pretty dry, and even though I have put humidity trays under all of my begonia's, I think I am still going to get a humidifier and put it in my begonia room. From what I understand, most begonia's really enjoy alot of humidity. I am slowly learning this. Hope this will help, If your problem isn't fungal. try giving them some humidity. You can take a glass fish bowl, put a begonia in it. You don't have to put too much water to it. I just misted my soil. Put a plate over the top or something to cover. Just watch and see your results. Good luck!!
~ Kristi
Thanks for the help Kristi.
Patti
Glad to hear you're learning about humidity, Kristi. Don't you wish you could have a room that was a giant terrarium? A huge greenhouse would fit the bill nicely but they have their own problems as well. That is another story though.
I was spritzing water to try and give begonias more humidity and then I saw spots on the leaves from the water droplets. Or so I think....could be wrong. Reading up on rexes, I realized I just don't have the humidity they need, so now after I shower, I put all the begonias in the tub and close the bathroom door. Today was the first day. I am hoping the spots disappear. Reading up on rex diseases....haven't a clue what I;m doing but I'm learning as I go. Maybe the spots are not from water damage but from a nasty fungus. ???? The spots are not brown but grey-ish. When I tried wiping the spots on one of the leaves the grey disappeared and a bare brown patch instead. The begonia is a gorgeous dark satiny green and I am just sick at heart at what a lousy job I am doing. Oh well, live and garden and learn. Somebody recently said to me, "be thrilled if 50% of your plants survive your first year of gardening." bye.
ruby