Still struggling after all these years

I've had this begonia "wightii" for at least 6 years and this is all it's done.(looks much better in the photo than in real life) Got it as 3 little cuttings, rooted them in water and potted them up. The leaves are either limp, falling off, pail in color, burning, or barely growing. I've given it in all kinds of condition, indirect light, late afternoon sun(winter), very early morning sun(winter). I've sprayed it and not sprayed. I've fed it and not fed it. Moved it to different rooms. I'm ready to give up and try a new variety. Should I cut it back?

Argh! DG has a bug on posting at times that is very frustrating.

I just wanted to say that your maculata looks quite nice but you probably wanted more than this after 6 years. I would just keep it happy until nice weather returns, repot it to the next size pot, move it to a location outdoors for bright, filtered light and high humidity, fertilize every time you water but at 1/4 to 1/2 strength, and keep your fingers crossed.

For polka dots, 'My Special Angel' is hard to beat for robust growth. There are plenty of other canes with dots as well (and I think they all get their traits from maculata). For more vigorous canes, you might want to check out 'Irene Nuss', 'Sophie Cecile', 'Silvermist', 'Lucerna', and 'Torch'. Oldies but goodies.

AWW looks good I'm sure it will do more in Spring.
Here in Florida were Blessed My Special Angel grows in our garden bed.
And speaking of 'Irene Nuss' I was given a cutting last Spring and told she is the Queen of Begonias and she is. She rooted rapidly and grew tall and bushy in our garden in a twinkle of our eyes :)) When we moved Nov 8th or so 2006 had her trans-planted. In case took a leaf as she might not have enjoyed her move. But Mom is doing great ! And new babt leaf is a real nice size baby plant !

Thank you for your info. Does anyone know where I can get some very large cane begonias with dots on them. 10 years ago I had one that grew to 5-6 feet, large leaves with spots and large strong canes. It had pink flowers in clusters. It grew like crazy and I cut it back almost to the ground every spring. They were popular in the 70's but now I can't find any.

Fancy Flea,
I have a unknown Cane Begonia that has white spots and Pink flowers. Its my favorite plant.
It grows long strong Cane-bambo like stems. They older stems darken.
It is a easy plant to grow and will bloom. I just cut her up this past November and sent cuttings out.
I would be glad to send you a cutting of her. I have deleted my picture of her. But I can snap one . Please Dmail me . Mabye this is the one you are looking for - Kathryn

Fancyflea: Don't ever throw her away ... a lot of people here on DG (like me) would gladly pay shipping for you to mail it to us!

Would it fill out and get bushier if you cut the long canes back? Could you root them?

Your maculata should look like this given all the right conditions.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=2697292

That's a beauty hcmcdole! I've gotta write down the name of this Begonia to see if I can find one somewhere!

Love It!

Lin check the sticky links, you'll find vendors in there. I think Logees, Kartuz are safe bets.

FFlea, I think yours looks great, although I can see that you might want it to look like Butch's photo above after all this time.

I concur with his recommendations, up-pot a size, perhaps refresh the soil with some new (adding perlite or micro orchid bark to create lots of pockets in the soil for the roots)
You might even consider pinching it back, rooting the cuttings and planting them all together to create a 'bushier' look.

I'd wait to repot until the days are a little longer.

Wow...my mine sure doen't look like that, Hcmcdole. BUT....with all the suggestions from you all, it could be a different story next year!!!! I'll do as Begoniacrazii suggests early this Spring and next year(maybe sooner) take another photo of "wightii". Plantladylin, I know you can get these at Logee's.

Oh, Thanks Fancyflea!

You can also get them at PHOE. I did get mine from Logee's and then got 3 cuttings on eBay as well (a little insurance).

What is PHOE?

PHOE is short for Palm Hammock Orchid Estates (it is in the sticky - I guess the sticky isn't used too much) and is located in Miami. If you have never been, then you need to make a trip down there. Miami has an annual begonia show and sale and PHOE is the biggest sponsor of this event. Last year the national convention was held in Miami so PHOE was one of the highlights on the tour list.

Here is the web site for PHOE:

http://members.tripod.com/~PalmHammockOrchidEst/phoe.html

Here are two more abbreviations: PDN is short for Plant Delights Nursery and GHW is short for Glass House Works.

And speaking of sticky's, I updated the sticky yesterday.

Thanks so much!


For some reason, I ALWAYS forget about looking at the stickies!

By the way. Maybe I'll try to also make some babies from my "wightii". But how do I do it?

To make more, take cuttings with 2 to 3 nodes, trim off the bottom leaves, and either stick in moistened medium, or water root. I water rooted my cuttings from eBay. Put a baggie over the cuttings either way you go. If you water root, check for roots every couple of days and pot up when they are 1/2 inch to 1 inch long. It would probably be a lot better when the weather warms. Check Brad's site for more directions (check the sticky).

Hcmcdole,,, what about from leaf cuttings like I've seen on this site? Can I stick a leaf stem in soil?

If water rooting, I would change the water every couple of days also.

I have never seen anyone actually start a cane from a leaf. I've read that some people can get a leaf to root, but then nothing ever comes from it. The recommendation from the experts is to start a cane from a stem cutting. Rhizomatous (and rexes) can be started from a leaf although some rhizos are notoriously hard to do this way, so you'd be better off with a stem cutting as well.

I read an old Begonian magazine where the ABS gave some grant money to Rutgers to see if starting canes from leaves could be done. I think the results were that most canes could not be started this way, although some did actually produce new plants but that these were hybrids and had some parentage from a rhizo. Don't quote me on this.

You should change water only if you don't have it covered (plastic baggie for example). I have never changed the water by keeping the plant (and container) covered and have had very good results.

Yes, Sorry .... I only meant if it was in water in an open container ... I root so many things in water in little jars & vases and I have to change the water on a regular basis to keep it from getting stagnant.

I know what you mean about water becoming stagnant. Water can quickly sour with plant stems in it. I just don't know why it stays "fresh" if it is covered. I can even have algae growing in it and most plants don't have a problem if it is covered. I just had a Persian Shield in a cup of water for months (mid-October until last week). It did run out of water about a month ago and I added more to it, but nothing else. It had long ago rooted so I finally felt sorry for it and potted it up. I have not tried covering brugmansias in water, but then I usually just stick them in soil instead of water rooting. Water quickly sours with brugmansias and woodier stems.