Rooting rex begonias

[lbfoss]

Yearly I snitch a few landscape-planted cuttings of begonias. It takes all summer for them to actually seem to root and then grow!! and then they die off wintering in the garage. Are they just slow growers or should I try some other way of rooting them?

I snap off a branch below the leaf, remove the first bottom leaf, take off the flowers and buds (usually there remain only 2 other leaves left) dip in rooting hormone, pot, cover with a coke bottle and set in light but not direct. Usually I get new growth about August....

I took 3 little cuttings last night, they are potted up. Wonder how long they will take??
Linda

[Rebecca]

Yearly I snitch a few landscape-planted cuttings of begonias. It takes all summer for them to actually seem to root and then grow!! and then they die off wintering in the garage. Are they just slow growers or should I try some other way of rooting them?

I snap off a branch below the leaf, remove the first bottom leaf, take off the flowers and buds (usually there remain only 2 other leaves left) dip in rooting hormone, pot, cover with a coke bottle and set in light but not direct. Usually I get new growth about August....

I took 3 little cuttings last night, they are potted up. Wonder how long they will take??
Linda

Linda,

the Rex Begonias are actually one of the easier forms to propagate and are grown for their colorful foliage. These are tropical plants and require a warm and humid environment year round,

To propagate the (true) Rex begonias all you need is a nice, firm leaf. Turn the leaf over and cut the veins on the back of the leaf, turn the leaf over again and pin it down onto a quality potting mix, high in organic matter. Water from the bottom, a heat mat helps, but I have used small fish tanks with covers (clear) to provide the warm and humid environment, and placed it under the lights. Eight weeks later there should be young plants at each cut on the leaf. there is another technique that calls for sectioning the leaf, but I never got very good at that.

The Wax Begonias, which are a fibrous root type Begonia and often used in mass planting. They come in several colors and in either green or red tinted foliage. The succulent stems should be re-cut with a very sharp knife and dipped in a rooting powder before inserting into moist sand or vermiculite. Roots is just a couple of weeks, and can be moved on to beds or pots with regular potting mix any time after that.

All of the fibrous Begonias can be rooted this way or in water.

The slow pokes are the rhyzomatus and Cane type Begonias. The former need the warmth and high humidity of the Rex Begonias and can be started in the same way as the Rex or by using stem cuttings. The cane type take the longest and seem to prefer rain water over tap water to be rooted in and then potted up in small pots (realitive to the size of the cutting).

All Begonias (with only a few exceptions) are from tripical areas and will not winter over in a garage or other unheated building/greenhouse.

Hope this helps.

Rebecca

[lbfoss]

Thank you, Rrebecca
Everyone here always says they are easy to root, but I don't seem to experience that. I am good at some things, just not begonias, and so this year I am determined to figure these cuties out!!

When you say "turn the leaf over and make cuts on the vein" I imagine that these are horizontal cuts across the vein? And so roots will grow from the cuts? Does this give you several plants you must then divide?? Or will just one plant come up from somewhere on the top of the leaf?? Hard to picture. guess I need to hunt around and see if I can find a step by step pictorial demonstration.

I will gather a few more up tomorrow and try your method. Heck, I have reference books somewhere, I will take a look....this sounds like a fun method. thank you!!

[Rebecca]

Thank you, Rrebecca
. . . . When you say "turn the leaf over and make cuts on the vein" I imagine that these are horizontal cuts across the vein? And so roots will grow from the cuts? Does this give you several plants you must then divide?? Or will just one plant come up from somewhere on the top of the leaf?? Hard to picture. guess I need to hunt around and see if I can find a step by step pictorial demonstration.

I will gather a few more up tomorrow and try your method. Heck, I have reference books somewhere, I will take a look....this sounds like a fun method. thank you!!

Linda,

Yes, cuts across the vein and then you get a new plant at every cut that would then be potted up individually. The new plantlets do come up through the cut in the vein and grow on top or above the leaf.

I first became aware of this technique some 40 years ago, before the Internet so it must have been in a book. I had a good sized reference library on Houseplants at one time. I no longer have most of them as I donated them to the Library years ago.

Go to Ask.com and type in "How do I grow Rex Begonias from leaf cuttings?" and see what they come up with. Some Search engines are better than Google for these things!


Rebecca

[Dazed_Lily]

Oh Linda ! I thought about you today when I took home pussy willow from a trash destined dead floral arrangment. I recalled how you can root roses and gerberas so well and figured the PW would root for you too(the key word being you not me ). They had no roots in the vase--not a good sign but when I scratched the bark there was green underneath--but not green in the 'center'; the 'center' looked dry. Who knows, they may be florist PW that is old, but I recut them and placed in water.

[Great-Full]

Hey, wait a minute...Linda's rooted Gerberas? I missed that...where?how?when? Would someone direct me? Just what I need...another project but they're (another) of my favorites I am so ready for this one I am already rolling up my sleeves.

[Ann B.]

Patsy,

Linda has grown Gerbera from seeds. I have heard that you can do basal cuttings with Gerbera, and I've always meant to try, but simply have not.

I have tried just about every type of propagation with Rex Begonias. Some are simply easier to root than others, and I think my favorite method is to simply cut the leaves into sections, dust with rooting hormone and stick in the light, moist soil mix.

Just like with bulbs, it is so much fun to see little babies start to spring up.

[Great-Full]

Thank you, Ann. Looks like the next 30 extra minutes I have will be spent slicing and dicing...oops planting...a few leaves to what new wonders will appear. I can hardly wait .