Monday, January 25, 2010

Beefsteak Begonia starts

My neighbor across the street gave me four cuttings of her large Beefsteak Begonia (Begonia ‘Erythrophylla’) for me to root.  Begonias are generally pretty easy to root from leaf cuttings.  These cuttings took about a month to produce a nice set of roots.

begonia_roots
Roots began to form after just about a week in water
The beefsteak Begonia has very large, waxy and thick leaves.  They are dark green on top and purple underneath.

begonia_under
Underside of the Begonia leaves
The petioles are rough with small hairs.  It is a very attractive plant, that is usually pretty dense with leaves that droop down to the soil surface, or over the edge of the pot.  You couldn't even see the pot buried  underneath my neighbor's plant.  I'm hoping to have as much luck with my cuttings.

5 comments:

  1. Nice! Good luck with it!

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  2. Looks like your propagation comes out fine.... A month?... I have been doing that with begonia, but never really realise that it takes a month! ~bangchik

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  3. Good set of roots. A fascinating plant, so well oe to have the patience.

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  4. Do you know how I can get a start of this plant? My sis was just diagnosed with breast cancer and my son broke and killed her plant. I would like to replace it.

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  5. Had this plant before, am now looking to get another one but we rarely see them here in Canada. if you were any where near me I could buy a few leafs from you.

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