It is possible to save it. I find canes in winter need less water until they start putting out new growth. Give it good light, warmth, and cut down on watering - let it dry out some or a lot. Watch out for mildew as well as the big polka dot canes are prone for this dreaded fungus. If mildew does occur, spray with a good fungicide - I use Orchard Spray these last few years (Sulfur and Pyrethrin) which is very effective at stopping mildew.

I keep most of mine under lights 12 hours a day, water sparingly every 2 to 3 days. When it is warm I move them outside for summer and fall (up to Halloween).

A few from yesterday morning in the basement

One of my Cracked or White Ice plants

Comte de Lesseps

Snow Capped

Sylvan Triumph

I can't remember the name of this (may be a new hybrid with a number only from Harmony Foliage) it might be Dotsy

a few other canes and large leaf begonias in a section of the basement.

Avalanche

You can do it but you have to cut back on watering on these types of plants until they are ready for more.

i dont believe any of us think misting is of any value to the plant ... but it doesnt have anything to do with whatever was going on ...

was this a florist plant ... is the media all peat ... i dont understand a pot that wont dry.. when i see heat register fins below it ... can you tip it out of the pot.. and look at the roots???

welcome to the forums.. where are you .. big city name.. how cold has winter been.. how much is the furnace running .. etc .. what kind of heat ... does the hosue temp kick down at night???

i see roses there.. they dont mind cooler temps ... but maybe this tropical doesnt like how cold it is near the window???

when you got it in Nov ... was it cold outside.. could there have been a significant cold event?? .. when you carried it from store to car.. and car to house???

take a look at a few of these.. and see if there are parts you might propagate:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Begonia+Maculata+propagation&t=ffcm&iax=videos&ia=videos

good luck

ken

Thanks hc for the advice! I'll take note to water it sparingly and give it as much light as possible. Ken, yes I got it from a local florist but it was only a 10min walk to my house and not very cold that day (maybe about 10 degrees).

I think the soil that it came with seemed to be quite dense compared to some of my other houseplants (it was heavier and seemed less "fluffy"). When I tipped it out of its pot about a month ago I saw that many of the old roots were brown and mushy, so I decided to remove them and repotted it in the same pot with new soil.

I live in North London and my room is kept at about 20 degrees, though at night it might drop down to 16. I'm a bit concerned that all my plants are sitting on the window ledge right above the radiator which is the brightest spot in my house, but there is a heated draft when it's turned on. Is it good enough to keep a towel over the radiator to try and break up the hot air flow or should I move it away from the window?

I agree with Dave on this being a fussy cane begonia. Root rot comes from too much watering as well.

I keep mine in the basement and have learned to keep them on the drier side in winter. Mildew is the one issue that can make these types quickly turn ugly.

I don't mist my canes but I do water by hose so if some of the leaves get wet, not a huge deal.

I have several I've grown from seeds collected off the mother plant that seem identical or slightly different. I wished I had known about watering back when I started getting canes.

Here was the mother plant back in Sep, 2009 in the same 18" pot of Encanto Bronze (the bigger cane), Mrs. Hashimoto (the plain green one with white blooms, and Morocco.

Here it was in bloom that year.

The seed grown ones last Sep in a slightly smaller pot (maybe 15") and blooming. The plant to the left is Begonia platanifolia (another good sized begonia)

This same pot the winter before had mildew so bad that I lost some stems and almost all the leaves before I did anything to remedy the situation.

Now if I had a big GH like at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, we could grow them to 12 to 14 feet tall.

I see there is no drip saucer under the pot. Does this mean there is no drain hole in the pot? If so repot into a container with a hole . Or does it mean that the soil is so dry the pot doesn’t mark the surface? In which case water it well, drain thoroughly and give it a saucer.

Thank you to everyone for the constructive advice! I actually keep the nursery pot (with a lot of holes at the bottom) in a bigger decorative pot, only that it isn't shown in pictures. It seems from the many comments that avoiding overwatering is key- this may have been the problem as I assumed that they should be watered like my other plants i.e. saturate the soil and wait till soil is dry in top inch. However it's winter in London now and the plant is on its last legs so it isn't really absorbing much water at all and the heavier soil stays wet for a loooong time. I think I might try only slightly watering it every now and then at least for winter.

As for mildew- there aren't any visible signs of mildew on the plant, but I'll take your advice and avoid misting it. Would a small 500ml humidifier near the plants do the job?

Thanks again to all

I'm the U.K. too and my plants need very little water at the moment. But don’t give sips. Give it a good soaking, drain thoroughly and then don't water again until the pot feels light. I haven't had that Begonia for a number of years but when I did I found it fairly easy. Every student room had one as they’re so easy to propagate. Mine was a pass along cutting. I honestly wouldn’t bother with a humidifier but if you can mitigate the updraft from the radiator it should help.

Hi all, here's a quick update on the begonia- it has suddenly shot out a ton of new growth (at least twelve new leaves!) and is looking much better than it did weeks ago! Just wanted to thank everyone on this thread for all of your suggestions which really helped :) Hope it keeps growing big and strong!

Good growing! Keep up the good work.

My canes are out of control but I hate to cut them now.