Rinse your begonia plant under running water to remove the pests. Mealybugs cause slow growth and leaf damage. Prevent mealybugs by keeping your begonia well watered and healthy. Remove mealybugs by spraying your plant with water. Thrips puncture the soft tissues of your begonia plant and suck out moisture and nutrients.
This causes discoloration and distortion of your begonia plant. Eliminate thrips from your begonias by spraying with an insecticide. Sara Ipatenco has taught writing, health and nutrition. She started writing in and has been published in Teaching Tolerance magazine.
Clean your garden tools and pots well to avoid cross-contamination and get rid of any soil that adheres to these. When buying new plants, inspect them carefully for yellow, wilted lower leaves, and make sure the surface of the soil looks healthy no odd lumps that might be fungus. Consider going back to the place you purchased the begonias to ask if fungal infections have been a concern this season — you may have purchased contaminated plants. Do not water the plants from overhead, as you should avoid wetting the leaves which would promote fungal growth.
And avoid overwatering — permit the top layer of soil to dry between waterings, so that the plants are not constantly in contact with wet soil. Keep on the look out for insects as this may be a secondary problem as you report some leaf damage. If you spot something, send us a photo and we can help you with identification. If you would like to do some research on Begonia diseases I have included some good resources, just follow the link:.
I've only grown them inside, but many many reputable sites state that temp range for rexes is F. Most houseplants tolerate the temps and humidity inside our houses else they would be compost in no time as a lot of seasonal plants end up after a couple of months or weeks.
A greenhouse with higher temps, very bright light, and high humidity with proper watering and fertilizer yields very large beautiful rexes. Here is an example of Harmony nursery in the Orlando area. It feels like a sauna whenever I go there. I don't buy it. Not saying you can't grow rexes in cool temps but also saying heat is not a killer like you think it is. From my observations over the years they seem to do well in high temps and humidity. I also found sev. Is there much difference in caring for one rhizomatous Begonia vs.
It seems more important to me that a Begonia is rhizomatous, rather than if it could be called a Rex or not. But, as I've said around here before, I have no interest in trying to sort out this whole giant Begonia mystery that every plant seems to be. Without genetically testing every plant, it's really just supposition unless there is an unbroken chain of certainty back to the breeder.
With the utmost respect to those who are interested for whatever reason, and to those who create all of the great and wonderful Begonias for everyone to enjoy with or without names, debating these names just seem like so much fru-fru nonsense to me.
So knowing what type a Begonia is should give one the necessary info to know the proper conditions for it. Since I started caring for my plants much more similarly than differently, success for all types has sky-rocketed. The similarity being well-drained soil.
I have recently acquired a Rex with about a dozen fairly large leaves and immediately removed it from the "regular shaped" 3" pot it was in. As I suspected, there were no roots deeper than an inch.
That was in solid nursery peat. It didn't have much roots at all and was just a few live chunks among masses of dead rhizome. Neither plant had any live rhizome below the soil. That is why I put these in such shallow containers, and left the rhizomes on the surface, not buried.
So yes, they get as dry as the desert dry is dry, but watered often, and it's definitely humid here. The new Rex has finally managed to grow enough roots in mix that is dry most of the time to stop pulling loose when the wind gusts and has made a few new leaves. I don't know of any plant that will do well in a pot with excessive amounts of "unrooted soil" below it, especially a plant that seems incapable of producing such. Rot is inevitable.
I've killed many in regular pots, and never saw a bloom until I used these shallow containers and stopped keeping the plants moist. Going by discussions here and looking at images periodically, it seems like the ones called Rex are not as inclined to bloom as other rhizomatous types like the one I have, so I wouldn't come close to saying that a Rex that has never bloomed isn't happy.
Very few people have the luxury of controlling their humidity, so the fact that people grow these things all over the country successfully points to other factors being much more crucial to survival and even success. There are certain plants that will die I only wish mine looked as beautiful as yours!! What I don't understand is if they are so difficult to grow Then why are they so popular?
If I hv to give them their own greenhouse I might just give up. In New England we have very humid summers but dry cold air in the winter. I'm going to try save them But it sounds like they are very finicky What I have taken from this is that they need to be in shallow pots Not over watered but not under watered Not in direct sunlight but in a sunny spot Warm but not cold So this what I did. I repotted them all in their own containers.
I have them all quarantined Individually with bags on the top to keep in the humidity. The one that still had a leave left seems to be doing the best it has already sprouted to More leaves. The others two r still just stumps They are firm and hv roots. The little one actually has the most roots.
I put them I'm a peat soil mix because that is what I hv available at the moment very loosely and not deep. Think I'm on the right track?? I might put them in a peat perlite mix but not sure how often I can repot. And I think I might still hv fungus :. I see small grey spots on the big leaf - that's mildew. I have used this: 1tb of baking soda and 2 or 3 drops of insecticidal soap in a gallon of tepid water - for non-stop begonias against powdery mildew.
I don't think anyone is paying me much attention, but I'm worried about almost every aspect of what I see in your new pics, Lisa. Unless I was having trouble propagating, I would not put any Begonia in a plastic bag. That peat is very dense, slow to dry, without any tiny air pockets throughout. Since I quit using that stuff, so very few plants have died, none of them Begonias. The only reason to have a plastic baggie is to increase humidity to either revive a plant, help a plant grow, or aid in propagation but you should not need it outdoors.
I have 3 special plants in baggies indoors a terrarium would look a lot better but baggies are as effective. A good potting mix that is quick draining helps make all the difference in the world. Very hard to rot a plant this way. Rexes are not difficult to grow. They just have a few quirks such as mildew outbreaks and that is when the conditions are ripe usually when the temps start getting colder and there is a lot of moisture.
The other quirk is they often defoliate indoors and most folks think they need more water and end up rotting them. They go semi dormant and watering must be cut back during these times.
When they start putting out new leaves then go back to watering and feeding. Your two pots look much too big for the plants inside. The reason people grow them is because of their fancy leaf patterns and beautiful colors. Most begonias are going to go through some stages from looking great to looking so ugly you want to hide them away.
Keep at it until you find your groove. I've killed many begonias in search of how to grow them without too many issues. Totally agree, that was the primary point I was trying to make yesterday and that's why my aversion to peat is so strong and I haven't used any in over a decade. Peat particles will lodge into any available spaces in the pot, ruining the drainage. I freely admit, I'm a classic "over-waterer" of the highest degree.
Although I know one's not supposed to do that, I've not been able to curb that much, if at all, and don't really want to. I like watering plants. But altering what's in the pots has made the difference in keeping the less stalwart-of-abuse plants alive and doing well, in conjunction with letting them drip out, not sitting in wet drip saucers.
When I see signs of symptoms of the same condition in other plant owners, I feel the info is especially pertinent since they are also unlikely to change their ways. A well-drained soil The way stuff to use, amounts of it to achieve that is the worthy subject of debate, but about the principle, there is a huge confluence of agreement.
Any organic ingredients will degrade and change in texture over time, so when using those, one must monitor for that and be ready to repot as necessary. They are worth the effort of figuring them out. Didn't have any issues even inside this winter with ugliness with rhizomatous, wax, canes, except one cane in a pot too big to put close enough to a window.
That one is back to looking great at this point also. It sounds like Hcmc, Petruska, and I have quite different methods, which is common when discussing most kinds of plants, although there is definite agreement that the rhizomes can easily rot.
I think that's wonderful and fascinating, and highlights, IMO, that these plants are not the fussy prima donnas of their reputation. Otherwise, these wildly different methods would not all yield beautiful plants. There are so many reasons one person does something differently from another, but most of them are valid.
One can only use what they can get, afford, believe is "good. Even if I can't then practically apply the info, it may come in handy sometime, usually does, and generally bolsters confidence and attitude.
I should add to this discussion to read Brad's comments on growing and showing begonias. I know I've posted the address many times on this forum. One point in particular he makes is what does well for you may not for me due to different climates, different pots, different philosophies maybe he didn't say that but you get the point.
Here is his web site again:. Brad's Begonia World. I've searched for more info and you are a member of local begonia club, no? I know many people grow great plants with tons of peat.
Thanks for explaining the flip-side so eloquently. People can adapt all of this info to their style and schedule. I might have to replace it and act like nothing has happened. It is extra stressful because the plant is a symbol of our love, I don't want my girlfriend to be convinced our love is rotting away Green Patches - Mediterranean Gardening.
Home Almost Famous Menu. Sunday, September 18, Begonia lost to stem rot! Stem Rot Here is how I lost my poor Begonia to stem rot. I only had it for a couple of weeks and here are all of the things I did wrong in hindsight which ended up killing the plant. Here's a post on what to do , if you plant is affected by stem rot.
Since this is not the only plant I lost I learnt a couple of things. Hope this helps. When I purchased the Begonia I left it outside and I noticed that the soil was constantly dry, I thought this was a good sign, that the plant was in good health so I watered it every other day and left a small container underneath the pot so the access was not removed but eventually absorbed as well.
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