photoshop and begonias

The above image can be cropped, background erased, remaining background selected with the lasso tool and deleted, and a text box added.

WOW Butch, healthy babies!!

No, I just held the plant up to the sky and clicked. LOL. So all natural. Though I did patch up parts of the leaf for show. I love doing it. It reminds me of being in kindergarten and coloring.

This is the original photo.

Looks like you worked your magic then, Kell. I must say your first picture does look a lot better than the original. What begonia is it?

I'd hate to hold some of my plants up to the sky due to their weight and my weak muscles (old age?). Then I have the weight of the big camera in my other hand to think about too. I got a Stroboframe and flash cord from my daughter and son in law so now I can help minimize shadows from the flash. I have been using higher ISOs and white balance recently to avoid flash pictures.

Here is an old picture I scanned last week and tried to get rid of faded colors, coke spills, and other defects. I blurred the background as well. The picture is over 25 years old when our daughters were flower girls at their aunt's wedding. Digital has certainly enabled everyone to take any picture they want, save them for eternity (at least a lifetime), and spruce them up the way they see it in their mind.

I momentarily lost sight of all the begonias with those precious little girls who look just alike!! Just an older and younger version of one child. Do they look alike as adults now? Just curious.
gail

You did such a great job on that old picture. How cute!! They look like you too! Just so much prettier. LOL

It is B. U201, the one I promised you. I killed the one I had for you so I must root another. My mother plant is about to flower in my dining room.

Gessie, no they really don't look alike now that they are young women. The oldest is thin as a rail with short hair while the youngest is just right with long hair. The grandchildren get the limelight for picture taking now - how about you?

Kell,

Not sure they look like me but I was hoping they'd get my smarts. (Just kidding).

That is a very nice pic of that begonia. I think I am going to have to keep my eyes open for U201. It reminds me of valida but with a lot more color.

They are indeed beautiful children!
And they did get half their genes from you!

Thank goodness my children (adults now) got their smarts from someone in the family and it wasn't me.......I am being quite serious as I went to college to play and find a husband. They went for an education and on to graduate schools.

LOL Butch, lets hope your wife doesn't go on Daves. LOL

kell, this is going over my head. Why are you saying that Butch's wife doesn't go on Dave's?

Because Butch was so funny.

Where is everybody's pictures?

Here is B. incisa with a solitary seed pod. I wonder if it will have any viable seed?

B. peltata in bloom.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2008 4:44 PM

B. rajah surrounded by an episcia.

B. goegoensis with seed pods.

B. sizemorea with some very long hair.

B. 'Mumtaz' (or 'George Fewkes' - I have both but they look alike - is this a way to sell more?)

You are getting so fancy, Butch! Very nice. When I get home I will look for some pics of mine. As I recall my last batch was not great and I do not think photoshop will help either. LOL

I hear from my husband my whole tall rack of begonias fell in my hoophouse during our last storm. I need to go out and face the music. Shoot.

Oh no! I hate to hear that about your rack falling over. I don't have to worry about storms knocking mine over since they are in the basement but I do have concerns of pulling one over on myself especially when I'm on top of the small ladder watering plants on the top shelves.

Here is either U308 or U309. I've seen pictures of it as U309 for the last few years on the web and got it 3 years ago at the first begonia dig as the same number but recently the a couple of experts on the Yahoo begonia group say it is U308. Hmmmm? Anyway it is blooming as well as well as a lot of other begonias the past few weeks.

I just realized that this thread is still going strong and wow for the pictures! I need to join the begonia society just to get seeds. Do you need to belong to order seeds? I ordered some from Mauro from Brazil last time but I am loving your pics!

Gessie, Yes you do need to join to purchase seeds. A privilege for
members only.

sounds good to me and thanks. I already belong to the Gersneriad and AVSA to get the privileges......thanks

I would love to try growing Begonia's from seed again. Don't really have the time or patience. Maybe one day. I did grow Johnstonnii and aconitifolia from seed a
few yrs ago.
Butch, my Begonia's look too bad for pics except my new ones, all waiting for
bigger pots. Yours all look great. Why don't you try a few of the seeds?
You might have an interesting chance seedling.

Jackie, a lot of my canes and rexes are looking poor now but that seems typical this time of year. I'm not much for growing by seed but I do have a few canes that have germinated so maybe I will try some of the exotics later.

Here is 'Chantilly Lace' in an ice bucket (from Party City). I removed the salad bowl top (again from Party City) to take the picture but had a time tucking all the leaves back in. I think it is getting too big for this container.

Butch, You have the right touch for growing gorgeous Rhizomatous
I know by this summer, your Canes and Rexes will look great too.
Love the Chantilly Lace.

Thanks Jackie. I've been busy repotting most of my canes (still have a few to go) and then on to the rexes. I am only repotting the worst rhizomatous since most are doing very well.

Here is one tray of rhizomatous that are doing fairly well.

I love your trays! Went to the dollar store yesterday and really bought them out! They work well for a lot of propagation.

Butch, This is the perfect time to repot. Hope I can get started soon.
My Don Miller looks awful as does my Phantom.
Some of my canes have such huge root systems, I need to start cutting back
the roots when I top prune. One way to avoid needing a 25 gal pot. LOL

Gessie,

All my aluminum pans came from Sam's Club. You can get 15 big trays for around $10 or 30 half size ones for about the same price. The bad thing is there are no lids but the good thing is they are heavier duty than the ones you get at the grocery store. Being heavy duty means you can add gravel and pots and lift the whole thing without too much fear of it collapsing (be careful though because it can give if too heavy).

Jackie,

Show us some of your canes. I have found a lot of mine that I repotted didn't have a good root ball - maybe that is why they are so poor. The ones with lots of leaves had a good root ball so I put them back in the pot and added some soil to the top along with a touch of fertilizer. I'm hoping that by repotting will encourage lots of roots.

One thing I think I'm learning is to cut away most of the old potting mix from the roots so that whatever I use for the new mix is homogeneous from top to bottom. In the past I would just stick the plant with the old root ball (maybe tease the older roots) into a bigger pot with new potting soil. Later on I found that the plant's roots never went anywhere other than stay in place in the old soil. I knew that from planting in the ground but never thought about it for container plants.

Here is amphioxus (got this at the LA convention). An old fish bowl came in handy but it wasn't tall enough so I added the salad bowl lid to the top. This begonia can be propagated from a leaf - one leaf has already sent up a couple of new plantlets so I put a couple more leaves down in hopes they will do the same thing.

Butch, that's an amazing Begonia. Great photo. Love the leaf shape and the dots.
I had a few good pics on my old computer. I uploaded? the pics to what my
DSILcalls a stick mule. LOL Will need DH to plug it in, I can't see.
Butch, the potting mix I use allows the roots to just run rampant down thru the mix
in no time flat. So I end up with the same problem; a rootball like concrete
encased in the old, dried potting mix. By the time I lift it out and break it loose,
the plant can now fit in a 6 inch pot. LOl.
If you don't end up with some good root systems, then try the Fertilome Potting Mix
I'm going to eventually switch all my canes to the Baccto light potting SOIL.
I don't remember it ever drying up or hardening around the plant roots like the
potting mix does. I used the Baccto yrs ago and then lost my source. So happy
to have found a new source. I don't think the roots will run rampant in the Baccto lite soil.

Which Baccto mix are you buying? Here is their page:

http://www.michiganpeat.com/retail/potting.htm

Potting up is not my favorite thing to do but it does go with the territory. I guess I should repot more often but I don't want to repot every year as some people advocate. I think 3 years sounds good. That way I could repot just 1/3 of the plants each year.

If I can't grow begonias in the pot, then I can easily grow ferns. Here is a pot that had a nice rex begonia in it at one time (I took out the last little rhizome) and let these 3 different volunteer ferns grow instead.

i already have all the necessary ingredients that Tapla discussed on the container and Indoor Gardening forums.
I have my:
Pine Bark fine (soil conditioner is small bits of pine)
Peat
Perlite
Lime (only I don't need lime here)
Controlled Release Fertilizer
STEM or trace elements in powder form.

I am not using this on my gesneriads but I am using it for everything, including begonias, when I repot this spring.

Let us know how it goes Gessie. I read his post too. I've been heading in his direction for the past 3 years or so but it's been through trial and error. I started using straight Nature's Helper (lots of pine bark) this summer and for the most part I am very pleased with it. I probably should amend it with some peat moss because it drains so fast. That's good for the plant because it doesn't seem possible to drown it (unless you clog the drain hole) but it sure is a chore to water practically all the time. Maybe hydroponics is the way to go in the future?



Freddie in the back of some rhizomatous. The wide angle lens puts a bend in the the light fixture.

I do love the water hose but I will let you know! (LOL)

Butch, This is the one I'm using. 10.95 for 40 dry quarts

http://www.michiganpeat.com/retail/lite.htm

Gessie, I know what you mean about watering. It is one big fault of mine - too heavy handed at times. I've gotten better at it but still haven't got it down to a fine art.

Jackie , what is the shipping cost for your soil mix? I'm not sure I could afford to repot all of my plants with it.

Nature's Helper is $2.77 a bag (1.5 Cubic Feet) at HD. Let's see a CF is about 7.5 gallons so 1.5 CF is over 11 gallons which is over 44 quarts. Great drainage, cheap price. My concern is how fast it will break down. Another local begonia club member thinks it may be too acidic but I haven't measured the pH and haven't seen any problems either. I did try Bayer's Tree and Shrub granules in almost all my pots and haven't seen any detriment to the health of the plants. I have a couple of pots that are starting to get mealybugs so I wonder if I treated them earlier in the fall or not.


'Cachuma' is still putting out.

Butch, I purchase local at a garden center.
Check their website to see it's available in your area when you get a chance.

Butch, I don't see any listing on their website of where their products
are available. I just lucked out and found mine at a local nursery.

Here's a pic of my Begonia Greg Ostaffe purchased
several yrs ago. I cut it back and it put on new growth last fall.
It will lose the markings when the lvs mature and be all green

My Phantom Begonia right before I returned it to the g house last fall.
Getting ready to cut it back and hopefully I can root the cuttings. I have one
back up plant rooted a few months ago. One baby plant died, can't overwater
this one while it's small. It will croak everytime. Maybe due to one of it's
parents being rhizomatous.
Why oh why do I have to be such a coward with this one? Greg Sytch told
me to be brave and cut it all the way back. Easy for him to say. LOL

Juanita Jewell, same time frame last Fall. I need to remember not to take pics
on the grass. Too much green on green.
At least I think this is Juanita. Now I've got
to look for the tag.