What great suggestions! I would think it is nerve wrecking to pack them but people seem to do anyway. Then again, I love road trips and the ABS convention just gives me an excuse to explore the west. Judging from the patterns of the last 2 conventions, I suspect the 2011 ABS convention would be held in the midwest, closer to me. But I can't wait until then. :)
Help with begonias ID please
I was hoping for Amsterdam in 2011. New York, that is.
We were going to WPB, had the free Southwest tickets burning a hole in our pocket...then I hurt my back and ended up confined to the house until I had surgery. And had to let DH take care of the begonias!
I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a no go as well - I'll probably have to pack off my son for his first year of college. But if it's near Taylor's or Logee's....
Speaking of starting new plants, I have sweater boxes of vermiculite filled with cane begonia cuttings. Should I turn on the propogation mats?
Yes, if history is an indicator it would probably be the midwest for the 2011 convention. Long road trips can be fun if you have the time.
dbsmith, If you have a cold space, then propagation mats would probably be good.
Here is my truck packed from bringing plants back from FL this summer for our club's annual sale. The back seat was packed as well.
I'd need to hijack that truck. The cuttings are in the greenhouse - minimum temp is 60. I wish we had a club around here.
Wow! Maybe I should fly to SF for the convention and rent a van!
Minimum temp of 60 is probably fine although warmer temps might speed up the rooting.
That was 164 plants in the bed of the truck plus 80 or so in the back seat. Most plants were six or eight inch hanging baskets. I thought I was going to have to go to U-haul and rent a trailer to get them all home.
Fly in and rent a van one way? That's a thought.
Here are most of the boxes that went into the truck. I had to make 6 trips with a luggage dolly (4 boxes at a time) to get it all packed the night before I headed back home.
Tru-
We don't have to go to California. All we need is a van and directions to Powder Springs. I hear they have a wonderful selection!
What's Powder Springs? I've never heard of it as a begonia supplier.
It's a place in Georgia. Where a whole truckload of begonias were headed to. Do you think we could also ask hcmc for a tour to make sure we get the best begonias from her stash?
Come on down and I will put you to work. Best time is Sep.
You guys are too funny! Of course a trip to Georgia is far shorter than SF. Watch out, I may very well take you up on this!
Do either of you have Pink Freckles? Or Pink Sparkles? It's a cane. I'm willing to trade lots of begonias to get that one.
I have Pink Freckles but I don't know how much I have. It isn't the most robust grower.
Is it a dark leaf with small pink bumpy spots?
Sorry no named Pink Freckles but I posted a picture of Arabian Sunset on the greenhouse question thread but here it is again. It's the middle plant top row. It has maroon leaves and pink bumpy spots.
Nice begonias. How warm is your greenhouse?
I have to go through old pictures and find it Pink. I'm rooting Elizabeth Lahn, Nokomis, Josephine, Texas Tea Sipper, Honeysuckle, Sweet Shirley, Alma Swisher, Winning Way, Silver Mist, Cracklin Rosie, and others. I'm willing to trade or pay for Pink Freckles, which was wonderfully robust for me, until the winter that powdery mildew took it. Now I use Cease and Milstop.
How's Milstop working for you? I heard it is all you will ever need for mildew control.
I will check on Pink Freckles today or this weekend and see how it is doing. I potted it with Little Miss Mummey and Maurice Amey and Little Miss Mummey was winning that war on taking over the pot.
A couple of favorite canes are Texas Lone Star and Flamingo Queen.
When I spoke to the expert at Griffins Greenhouse supply, he recommended that I use Cease and Milstop together. I just started last weekend (I should have started when they came in the greenhouse, but DH kept forgetting to pick up the chemicals), and I see no evidence of mildew on the plants that were infected. I have to repeat application every 7 days, but that's easy - I just mix up a gallon of spray, put on the respirator and go.
One of my favorites, I can't remember if it's Eliz. Lahn or Nokomis. Thank goodness I tagged them all.
Very nice. Great looking show of blooms.
It reminds me of Lana. Lana didn't start blooming for me until late - Sept or later. Here it is back in July.
I just got a baby Lana this year. Have you tried Josephine?
That looks real nice. So many canes - not enough time (or space).
Here is a great one for summer growing but absolutely terrible indoors.
Sinbad with a few others that got crowded out.
Clap clap! Beautiful show of begonias both of you. Db, I have an indoor greenhouse set up for now until I can afford the real thing. I don't know yet what temp it will be...
We're on for the roadtrip tru - I'll bring the truck so many of the plants can find their way into the back. The real greenhouse is death to any sense of restraint you may have. I have a 20' x 36' and it's so full I have overflow into the house.
Hcmc - name the red one! Sinbad is always a one season plant for me, so I dropped it from my list. Of course, I forget that and order it, only to watch it die.
db, tell me about your greenhouse. Does it have its own water, electric, and gas supply? Where did you get it from? Other than increasing the size, what would you differently if you had to redo one?
I've had Sinbad for three years now and it always seems to come back for me
It sounds like any size GH will be eventually filled - just like a house.
I think you are talking about the reddish blooming one - I think the closest I got to naming it is 'Mary Ann Flunker' but it is another NOID. I got that on one of the keys coming back from Key West 7 years ago at a mom and pop nursery along with 'Bunchii' and Cissus discolor (the rex begonia vine).
I finally got a name for this begonia this summer that I bought at the Key West Botanical Garden on the same trip - 'Black Cauldron'. It can get quite large.
It's the Rimol Matterhorn. We piped water in from the house (only cold, huge mistake - but we're putting a mixer in the basement). They put electric in the same trench as the water. We put in the gas from the street - another mistake because the power company considers it a business, and upcharges, even though I don't sell. But it's on a separate lot, and since it's not a residence, the only other category is a business. The heat is an overhead Reznoir hot air. We are looking at putting some type of heat under the benches, with a hot water system. Much more efficient, but difficult to manage with large pots (up to 32") and moving benches. I should have gotten a heat curtain, but it was expensive (6,000) and it would interfere with the fan system (3 huge industrial fans at the peak). To do over, I would put a masonry wall at the bottom because part of it is below grade, I would do a nice looking solid wall at the north end (we put in insulation this year over the polycarbonate), and I would try to find some way to keep the heating bills down. I love the concrete floor, even though others advised doing rock - I can clean it and I don't slip in mud. And I would make it at least a 20 x 48 (I bought the major pieces of steel in case we ever expand). I would like it wider, but the lot is only 36 feet wide.
Sinbad always fell victim to the fungus among us. Maybe my new spraying routine will help.
And that's the start of the conifer garden in front of it.
db thanks for the info. I have major investigation to do. I notice there is no natural shade over your gh. Doesn't it get hot in the summer? Do you move ALL your plants out in the spring?
I actually do move 99% of the plants outside. But the greenhouse has a roof vent and a side vent, as well as a door, so it's not plant killing hot. Plus, the shadow of the house falls on it in the afternoon. Picture of plants outside, you can see the roof vent in the background.
Truongr, that #1 also looks like "Wild Pony" with that spiral look. Cowardly Lion & Wild Pony look so similar. Beautiful plant you have there. I have one but not quite that big yet.
Wild Pony and Cowardly Lion (and Northern Lites/Lights? - one is the rhizo and the other is a rex) do look a lot a like.
Here was my Wild Pony from last year. I lost the mother plant but have a couple of young plants that look a lot different.
And here is one of the juvenile plants.
I purchased a real Cowardly Lion so I am confident the first is indeed Cowardly Lion. Wild Pony looks like it has more dark veins than CL.
Hi hcm
Trouble with new plants! I placed them in my aquarium under fluorescent lights to recover from shipping but a couple had developed brown edges on their leaves and one died of rot. Is it too humid or too much light?
The pic below shows them after arrival.
The ones in the pic below are under an incandescent light.
They just have to adjust to their new home. Remove or trim damaged leaves. If the leaf is in good condition try starting new plants for a bit of insurance. I wished someone had told me this when I got started (I try to start my favorites for fall back but not every begonia is prop'ed).
One thing about growing in an aquarium - most plants will grow like weeds if they aren't overwatered but watch out for fungal growth and remedy ASAP (do as I say and not as I do - I have seen fungal outbreaks and mean to get around to it but sometimes when I come back a few days later it is too late).
The bad thing about growing in an tank/terrarium is weaning them out of that environment - if you take them out after they have been growing in Eden then they may go into a tailspin so fast that you won't have time to respond.
Here is an experiment I did a few years ago and I was just getting started. These grew well until the tank was overflowing. I removed them all and they all died within a couple of weeks. Lesson learned the hard way. Also make sure if you want to keep them in an aquarium that you give them enough space - some can grow bigger in this kind of environment than in "normal' conditions.
Thanks for the advice on the tank readjustment. I remember reading on one thread that begonaicrazi had the same problem. She just vented the aquarium tank lid a little and let the plants get used to the new air. For my part, I did the same last spring but I was so slow to take them out that by the time I did, it was pretty darn humid in st. louis. The plants didn't mind a bit. I kept them crowded under my oakleaf hydrangeas.
One of my plants from PHOE lost all its leaves. The rhizome is pretty big. I hope it will grow back. I did start some (though not all) leaf propagation on the leaves that had fallen off during transport for extra security...
As long as the rhizome stays plump you should be okay. The game is to keep it plump yet not rot it. I find a plastic cover helps these kind of iffy begonias limp through winter.
Here is my PHOE's Cleo Feb 2007 - no leaves but blooming in the basement.
Here is the same plant at the end of Sept this year under an elderberry shrub.
