Did you trim a little off the bottom when you brought it home before you put it in water? Was in wrapped in wet paper towels for the trip home? It looks to me like it isnt getting enough water. I always propagate directly in perlite and soil, it's hard for me to tell which one it is.

Yes, it was wrapped in wet paper towels with foil around it, but I had to put it in the overhead bin for over 3 hours. I will try to plant it in potting soil and maybe dip the ends in rooting mixture. Funny thing is that i too a leaf and rolled it up and placed it in a shallow bowl and the leaf came back to life! The smaller leaves/growth has also held on pretty good too. Thank you for your response. :)

Hope you also made a fresh cut on the end, so it can soak up water. I root my rexes in water first, until the roots show, then move them to soil.

Whenever I ship cuttings I never wrap in wet paper towels. I try to get them out the same day I cut. I wash any mud splash off and dry the leaves as dry as I can get them with a paper towel and still not totally happy with a little moisture on the leaves. I like to let big leaves on (if nice looking) to show the recipient what they are capable of becoming but would tell them to cut them off.

As for making another cut, that can be risky too. It makes sense that a fresh cut would absorb more water but also more germs. Some plants (and canes are similar) do a lot better by allowing some time to callus over just like a scab keeping germs out. Cut off the bottom leaves, leaving the top two (or one). If the leaves are oversized then they can be trimmed in half as well. Put a baggie over the plant to keep humidity high or put the plant and vase in a fish tank or other humidity chamber.

I sent some stem cuttings to a lady in Sweden last year. She cut the one she really wanted and they didn't take. The other one took and as far as I know she did not cut it again. It took at least two weeks to go from Atlanta to Sweden. I tried sending her some replacements but the post office does not allow it. I put that package behind my recliner in a bubble wrap envelope for at least 2 to 3 weeks. I finally opened it and put them in some fresh soil and under lights. They are doing quite well today.

Personally I would go with a good potting mix or a big Jiffy pellet. Take advantage of humidity covers if indoors but outdoors should be humid enough to not use a humidity cover (unless you live in an arid region).

Go to Brad Thompson's World of Begonias web site for his expert advice on propagation. A node that flowers (for example) will not root which I didn't know before reading that. I also like to cut the stem closer to a node than having excess stem but then I do this the same day I take cuttings.