Hi friends!

Turns out I have hardy begonia growing in my garden. It's pretty! There are so many plants in my garden that I am absolutely clueless about (planted by original owners c1960s-?) and I just feel like I'm constantly trying to catch up.

Is it possible to take a cutting or something from it to propagate and grow it as an indoor plant?

Thanks!

Do you have a photo of it? I would love to see it! Most begonias propagate easily, even from a single leaf. I have a single leaf with roots growing right now! A single propagation isn't going to hurt an otherwise healthy plant so it's worth a try IMO. Worst case scenario, you find out that your begonia doesn't want to live indoors.

@Adriennevs thanks for your reply! I'm gonna try it!

It's just hard for me to properly tend to things outside in the garden cause my kids all just wanna run into traffic when I try to work out there. So, I have been trying to learn more about gardening by practicing indoors.

Let me know how it goes! I'm a huge begonia houseplant fanatic and I love to hear the experiences of others!

Here's a photo of the single leaf I had in gel beads, just for reference.


I just potted it today, actually.

I can relate to the kids/road situation. My son is like that.

I've been wanting to buy the begonias that are perennial in my area for a while, I just have to go to Michigan to get the exact plants I want and it takes 30+ min with the kid who likes to run, sooo

@Adriennevs awesome! Those are good roots! Maybe I should try rooting in water next time. How long did it take for them to grow that much?

I cut one stalk that was growing up into the carport and took some that my kids had trampled over 🤦‍♀️. I put some leaves in pots to try that way and some stems with the others.

Here's hoping!

Interesting. I am looking forward to seeing your results.
If it is Begonia grandis, as the plant dies down outside, you will notice little bubils on the stems along the nodes. Plant those outside. These will make new plants next year without any effort.

I don't think I would've used water, but I had it available and I was too lazy or busy with kids that day to concoct another method. My Hoya linearis grows like a weed and I usually have a glass of water with gel beads (to help the cuttings from touching the sides of the container) for those and strings of hearts because they're usually the only things I ever propagate. However, if I need to propagate a begonia again, I'll do exactly the same thing.

It was in there... maybe a month?

I had a begonia/orchid professional over to my house and he looked at it and rolled his eyes (in a friendly way) and told me he prefers potting mix but said he did see the roots starting to come in.

For what you have going on, I would definitely poke some holes in that plastic wrap to get some air flow. The begonia grower actually brought me three plants (we were trading). He gave me solimutata, chloroneura, and brevirimosa that were lightly rooted, and he suggested that I put them in a big clear plastic tub and cover them with plastic wrap and poke holes. I'd imagine what you're doing is similar, but on a smaller scale. The plants he gave me were already in nursery pots, so you could do that. Pot them up, put them in a big plastic tub and then cover and poke holes. I don't believe the rocks will be necessary in this instance. For sturdier vines like philos or hoya, I think it's valuable but the begonias are really fleshy and the weight can be a lot. Unless it's a cane begonia, in which case I've had luck just sticking it into the potting mix or water. I haven't handled the begonia you have in person, so the rock thing is just a guess.

How did you tag me? I can't figure out how to do that.

@LorettaNJ I'll be sure to update the thread if there's anything happening! I hope it's not anti-climactic. I've only had success propogating succulents and pothos, and a couple of the begonia cuttings are already losing leaves.
Yes, I did read about the little bulbs and see them on the plants.

@Adriennevs Haha! You just type "@" followed by the person's screen name. Thank you so much for your input and suggestions.

Wow, I had no idea how many begonias are available and the love that people have for them! I didn't know what they were until someone told me the "weed" I've been pulling in my garden is hardy begonia. I'm the worst.

Now, I think they're really pretty and interesting. So, the technique I used with the rocks and the plastic wrap I found in this video by this adorable Irish lady.

https://youtu.be/Y57BBnD0lpM

What a fun video! I enjoyed watching it. Thanks for sharing it!

I am quite obsessed with begonias! I think there's a pretty serious begonia following out there!

I'm excited to hear how your propagation goes! Please update!

Well, that didn't take long. My 22 month old and 3 year old got to both leaf cutting platters with the rocks and jumbled everything around.

Turns out they did me a favor cause all but one of the leaves had started to rot. So, I took it all apart, discarded leaves and started over. This time with leaf cutting petioles in soil, no cutting up the veins, a cover with holes.

Is there a forum called "Gardening with toddlers" just full of threads where people talk about all their projects gone awry?

Poor Bschumck.. I don't know what's worse, toddlers or cats.

Best defense against kids, my decision was, plant way more flowers than they can pick or destroy.

I would gladly join a gardening with toddlers forum. My four year old probably isn't a toddler anymore but he retains a toddler state of mind by choice. By that I mean that he enjoys destruction. His toy cars just love to "get dirty in Mommy's plants" and then get a car wash that soaks the entire kitchen.

Anyway, your new setup looks nice! I'm excited to see what happens with it!

Y'all, this experiment FAILED bad. Everything just rotted.

Welp, I guess I should just leave them to propagate naturally in the garden. Or maybe plant the bulblets indoors when I have more time and patience.

Thanks for your interest!

Keep your eyes open for some kind of cane begonia as potted houseplant. Much prettier leaves that the hardy garden one too.
Though with toddlers.. something tougher, unbreakable.. like snake plant.. would be more forgiving. One tumble of cane begonia, it would break.(But then if you'd have a piece of STEM to root.. easy..)

You'll have lots of time later for fussy plants. kids grow fast.

Well, I'm at it again, guys! I was finally doing some maintenance in the hardy begonia bed as English ivy is taking them over completely. I could just barely see a couple peeking out from the mess of vinca and ivy.

In all the hubbub I tore off a couple stems and leaves, so I'm trying to propagate them. I'm sure this is doomed to fail again, but here goes nothing.

Good luck! Mine hasn't come up yet.

So sad about the ivy. I hope you can get a handle on it, but it's a very tough weed to battle.

I have won against ivy using a pickaxe. Was I just lucky?

Maybe but I doubt it. You probably caught it early &/or worked really hard on it.

I think I just have soft soil. I moved into an old house and it was all over the side yard. Now I would like to get rid of some vinca and Lily of the Valley.