I have a begonia given to me by a dear friend at least 7 years ago and that whole time it's been in the same pot. She called it a 'beefsteak begonia' which is a nice graphic name for the kind of leaves it has. I think it's beginning to show its age and sometime in the next 10 months it has to be moved to a new house. I'm afraid that some of the juicy stems will break off during that process and wanted to start a backup plant. How? Way back in the dusty corners of my mind I'm thinking leaf cutting......sort of the way I'd do an African violet. If you want a picture of it, someone has to explain how I imbed a photo on the forum. Thanks!

-ming

Reading your home page, I see you are building a log cabin in the N. GA mountains. I had a next door neighbor who did that last year. Maybe when I retire I will do the same. I also lived in PR as a kid for 3 years. Then for a couple of visits when I was in the Navy. Different views as we age.

Anyway, sounds like you have either 'Bunchii' (Lettuce leaf) or Erythrophylla (commonly known as Beefsteak). 'Bunchii' is fairly easy by leaf or rhizome. I'm not having the same luck with the Beefsteak leaf though. I've gotten one to root but no babies yet and it has been 5 or 6 months since I stuck it. It's still green as the day I put it in the soil though. Now I'm trying rhizomes in an aquarium.

To embed pictures visit this link. It's easier than explaining it.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/begonia/msg0618590321489.html

If you don't have a public host to put your pictures on you can go to the gallery section of this forum and upload one picture if you start a new post.

Here is my beefsteak

Here is my 'Bunchii'

I have a very large greenhouse here - 14'x20'and for the first winter ever, I've cleaned it out and shut it down to save on $$. So wouldn't you know it's been the mildest winter we've had in 6 years! The greenhouse had been used for orchids by the previous home owner and I inheirited 40 of his duplicate orchids. Also inheirited his severe epidemic of scale. Just about everything I brought into the greenhouse ended up with scale. Thank goodness I never put the Beefsteak out there! I've ditched all but 6 orchids,
rabbit's foot fern, powder puff, clivias, a weird tradescantia, Christmas cactus, an unidentified fern, 2 unidentified succulents, Christmas cactus, tropical vining
'bleeding heart' and my Russelia equisetiformis. All crammed into 4 windows in places where my leaf eating cat can't get to them.

hcmcdole, where in N. Georgia are you? I'm in Alpharetta.

Glad you identified your begonia.

I had a 14x18 greenhouse until I moved last year so all my plants are in the basement - a lot of my cacti and succulents resent it. The only problem with a greenhouse is you usually fill it in a year or so. Most people say they always buy it too small.

Most begonias are fairly tough for a very cool greenhouse (I let mine get to 28 one night last year and several nights down to 32 but then no frost). Calatheas, african violets, and some alocasias definitely cannot take that kind of cold. Brevirimosa, Exotica, and Serratipetala begonias also gave it up. Rexes, canes, and rhizomes came through fine. I lost some rex begonias but I think I overwatered them after repotting them. Almost all cacti and succulents came out fine as well. Except for the wren nest in one of my cactus pots. Most of the cacti in that pot were the hairy type (old man cactus) where 3 out of 5 bit the dust. I think too much nitrogen from the birds' waste.

I'm in Powder Springs now but wish I was in Ellijay or Blue Ridge. Too far for the commute.

Later,

Butch

It has been a long time that I have visited this Forum!

I have had Beefsteak Begonias for years now. They grow so big and beautiful! Mine are the kind with the smoother leaves--not the wavy ones.

I have rooted lots of them from just ONE leaf. Seems every time a leaf breaks off or I want to trim it off, I just cut he stem to about 2" and stick it in a glass of water. It may take a while, but it DOES root! When there are roots on the stem. I plant it in a 4" pot in loose potting mix. I keep it in a shaded place outside, or in a east window inside.

They LOVE to be outside! Mine grow succulent and full! However, the new ones may taks a year or so to start to look like real plants. Once they establish, though, they grow very quickly. In about 2 years (from starting from a leaf), you may be wanting to pot it up to a 6" pot. Don't rush the re-potting! A 4" pot is good for about 2 years.

My largest one is in a 14" ceramic pot. There are about 3-4 plants in there. It is HUGE!!!! About 2 1/2 feet across. Right now, inside, it is sending out it's long stems and "bloomong". It will bloom again outside in late Summer. Outside, the blooms last a long, long time.

I have also tried a leaf-layering method (with a really large leaf), and it did OK. I used a large salad bar container. Soil in the bottom. closed the lid and melted a few holes with a hot nail for air circulation. That is how I started the 14" pot--all of it was from the one leaf!

If one of your rhizomes break off, you can also try to root it in water and then plant it horizontally on the surface of a new pot. Don't sweat it if you loose a few of the original leaves! That is a given. Just DO NOT over water it and give it low-medium light. As soon as you can, put it outside and it will just take off!

Hope some of this encourages you to not give up!!!

Gitagal