You don't need rooting hormones for canes but that is up to you. A good potting mix is all that is needed. Water rooting is okay too but iffy at times.

Wow! If you are getting nighttime temps in the 60's in Chicago, maybe I should move there. Just Kidding! We are hitting low 50's in Atlanta but get in the low 80's during the day.

I like to keep cuttings on the warmer side but it sounds like your weather is almost perfect - not super hot and not cold either. You typically won't need high humidity with canes but again, it won't hurt.

Here is some I did this winter indoors:

This cane is unknown and a favorite but a bit fussy. I decided to cut it back in late January.

Cut to the ground and fresh mix added to cover the stumps.

Canes cut and ready to pot up.

Wow! Thanks for the complete tutorial! The clear cups really make it easy for you to see the roots. That’s a good idea. I’ll have to get some.

I see you have some pots sitting on a bed of sand. To help with humidity? Indoors, I am concerned about mildew. That's what's killed off my rhizomatous ones before.

I didn’t know you could do stems and tops too. The cuttings I got from my new acquaintance are pretty short. But I have a rather leggy, cascading cane that’s been outside all year in a basket, that I’d love to have more of. Leaves are nothing special but the flowers are.

Thank you again! I didn’t know that about flowering branches not rooting. I tried to take non-flowering ones but maybe I’d better go check. If I remove the flower stalk does that make a difference?

Does it make a difference which potting soil I use? I have cheap generic potting soil plus moisture control Miracle Grow. Both are already open and outside so they can’t be considered sterile any more. I’ll go buy fresh if that will give me better results.

How do you control the mildew should it show up?

Your photos are very inspiring!

Any good potting mix will or should work. Do not use soaking wet soil though. I use Miracle-Gro all the time these days. I leave my bags of soil outdoors for most of the warmer months but sometimes ants take up residence (ARGH!)

Any good fungicide will control mildew. Neem oil (pungent smell), Milstop (kind of expensive), baking soda supposedly works as well as diluted milk (yes, milk), but this year I am using Orchard Spray on houseplants and anything in the mallow family to control Mallow sawfly (they have made lace of my rose of Sharon and hardy hibiscus this year). Orchard spray is pyrethrin (pesticide) and sulfur (fungicide).

I hope I can help begonia lovers avoid mistakes I made over the decades and I've made a lot. Still lose some here and there but the successes is much greater than failures which causes other problems - like what to do with them all in winter.

I think gardening and photography just go hand in hand

Nope still 10 photos and they dropped the last two.

mcdole, you have the magic touch with begonias!

what is the name of that black leaves and dainty pink flowers?

and what do you recommend for an easy white flowering begonia?

They are gorgeous, to be sure! That spiral one is so eye catching. They are ALL so different and wonderful. I have a couple of rexes I bought but have yet to figure out how to make them stay compact and not get leggy.

I joined a garden club recently and just bought one from a member who says she has too many. It is a very large leafed one I have never seen. Typical color combo : just big. Leggy, too, just like my own. I'll have to take a photo of it.

hc mcdole, I got my new cuttings potted up last night. I used rooting hormone and some normal potting soil that seems to have more fiber in it than I am used to. I didn't have clear cups and felt I couldn't delay any longer, so just used smallish nursery pots. I have them all together in a tray so I can bottom water if need be. Thank you very much for your expertise.

Statice12, the black leaf begonia with pink flowers is Taconite. Very easy grower and easy to propagate.

I have a cane with no name that has white blooms. I'm sure it is from the coccinea hybrids. I just call it white bloomer.

I'm glad you got around to repotting and using garden pots is probably better than clear cups anyway due to drain holes. Clear plastic may allow you to see roots and new shoots coming up but also helps algae grow as well.

hc, those seedling canes are gorgeous. I want to do some crossing myself this winter, that is if enough of mine bloom.

I am excited to report I have 2 sikkimensis seedlings. Almost microscopic. Have you grown this species?

edit: Oh, yeah. To the subject. I root all my canes (and even Mallets) in plain old water. Rarely ever lose one.

Hi Kyle,

That sounds good on trying to cross your begonias. You just never know what you might get. I have a lot of begonias blooming right now but it will soon be time to bring them back indoors. UGH!

I just picked up some seedlings of sikkimensis from our youngest member in our begonia club at the September 30 meeting. There is another begonia that has been confused with sikki for years but I hope most followers have got it all shook out now - it is U614 that I want to get my mitts on.

Canes root pretty easy in water and is always a back up plan (for me) if I don't have the time, pot, soil to start it that way. The only problem I've had with water rooting is letting it sit too long in water where it eventually gets some kind of germs and dies, but that is due to my procrastination.

platanifolia has HUGE leaves and is blooming right now.

aconitifolia is blooming but will it start producing female flowers in time to be germinated by insects?

sorry to get off topic here linnea. I can't figure out how to direct msg.

hcmcdole, the next time you trim that white flowering cane, or any cane, would you keep me in mind?

S

At one time on GW, we used to be able to message other folks but I do not see that option here. Contact me on FB if you are on it.

Just curious, hc. Are you on Garden.org? Will I get in trouble for that? They have DMs there. I don't use FB.

I guess I am. Just checked it out and they said I was already a member. Just don't remember it though. Was it a different name at one time?

Why not FB? Check out Planet Begonia on FB if you are interested.

Not sure. I just joined this year. Love their database.

I guess it's silly but I despise Zuckerberg and FB's PC thuggery. And if 'everyone's doing it' I usually won't. And even beside all that I find it clunky, chaotic, indecipherable and very user-unfriendly. And maybe worst of all are all the strangers I have no wish to know that they constantly stick in your face.

Just re-read this post. You can private message on this forum. BUT you both have to be "following" each other. Once you do that, you can click on each others name and it will take you to the page and you can chat all you want.

McDole, I just checked and I am following you, but you are not following me. If you click on my name it will drop a box down and just click on follow. That way people won't have to worry about Big Brother not approving a post! I don't like to publish my email addy in the forum. If someone is following me, I can give it to them privately.

Just trying to help here. Rosie

Rosie,

You and I don't have to worry about that since we do have each other's email and can go private when we want to.

I guess when GW came under the Houzz umbrella, some things changed. It didn't used to be difficult in the good old days. HAHA!

At least we can post up to 10 photos on each post which is a good thing. In the past only one photo and that was from the thread starter. The only other way was to put in a link using HTML to where you stored any pictures on another web site which was okay until the pictures were scrubbed from the other web site(s).

True about you and I emailing, but a lot of people don't understand the "following" thing. It is useful to private message others. I use it a lot. But you are right,,,,ahhhhh, the good old days! Rosie

Follow-up:

It’s been a few weeks. They are still alive. I think! No growth
seen yet. The largest leaves are dying from the tips in, wilting and getting
soft.

I wish I’d taken longer cuttings to improve their chances,
but as I said, I didn’t want to be greedy and spoil her plants. I will be happy
if any make it, but I am not too confident right now. Watch and wait…..

Seems like 3 weeks would've been enough to see some evidence of roots or growth. When you said that she gave you a lot of cuttings, how many? None of them are doing good? I know I've lost a few canes over the years but overall they are usually quite easy and forgiving. The biggest thing is never put them in soggy soil. I am not sure longer cuttings would make a huge difference but having 3 nodes is better than 2 which is better than 1.

You may have to see if she has some more to give for experiment #2.

I was just reviewing my old post. All the cuttings I made before died except for one: which is doing spectacularly well, a year and a half later. Very slow grower but beautiful. I took a second cutting of that one a few months back and just stuck it in the pot. With a few years (LOL) maybe I'll have a small pot full.

I have a new cutting. I was at a public greenhouse a few days back. A school group came in and prostate plants hanging over the brick walk got mashed by the running hordes. I helped myself to one just ahead of the sighing staff member hauling the trash can.

Tip and maybe 5 leaves are intact. I trimmed off the mashed part and bottom leaves and put it in water. It's a cane but that's all I know. I saw no flowers on any part of the parent plant so I hope it will root. About to pot it up.

Good luck on your lucky "find"! I really like those leaves. Maybe HC McDole knows what it is! Rosie

That might be a Pellionia - some spell it Pellonia (sometimes called watermelon begonia but is neither - kind of like strawberry begonia is a Saxifraga). There aren't many different types sold mainstream that I can see by doing a web search. Mine is P. pulchra and usually sold by Costa Farms (Exotic Angels) at Lowe's and Walmart. By carefully watering and filtered light, it grows very well.

The blooms are tiny but clustered and resemble Pilea somewhat.

I couldn't quite match up what you show with any samples on-line though. It could be in an entirely different plant family.

I think you are on the right track. I googled it also and came up with Pellionia. It will make a nice plant! Rosie

So it's not actually a begonia, hc mcdole? ? The way the tip grows, I was sure it was. But I still like it. With no flowers I don't have that as an identifier.

I would be greatly surprised if it is a begonia but then I like surprises. Let us know if and when it blooms as this will help ID it.