Begonia question?

Question

I have several large beautiful begonias in my front flower bed, which are thriving. I noticed a piece of one in a nearby bed which does not have begonias so I thought the wind blew a piece of my begonia that had broken off over there, however when I went to remove it, it was firmly attached into the soil (about four leaves and one flower). It seems the begonia somehow planted itself (surely the wind carried some part of it over there in order for that to happen). Anyway my question is what part of the begonia needs to be planted to grow more, because I would like to try to take some of the large ones and plant them in other areas. Do I bury the flower, is that where the seed are? Thanks for your answers, I am pretty clueless in the gardening department!

Answer 1

It's easier to grow new plants from cuttings. Choose a branch that you think is the excess of the plant as a whole. Cut just after the leaf node, remove the lower leaves then plant in the usual soil mix that you use. Dont overwater to prevent rot.

Answer 2

Cutting are the way to go regardless of the type of begonia. Any begonia that is nice and full and can spare a stem should be your target. Cut the stem right below where a leaf is growing and remove all of the flowers from that cutting (while it is rooting) – the flowers will use up energy the cutting should be using to make roots.

Remove one or two rows of the lower leaves (from the bottom up on the cutting - there is usually leaves – then a bit of a stem – and then more leaves and so on) Remove the two lowest sets or rows of leaves and plant the cutting deep enough to cover the area where you removed the leaves (although it is not necessary, they sell rooting hormone powder at most garden centers which you can apply to the part of the stem you have planted – to expedite rooting).

Do not let the soil where the cuttings are planted, dry out. When you see new growth at the top of the plant – it has rooted and you can leave it where it is or dig it up with it roots in tact and plant it somewhere else. You will have all the begonias you can handle if you continue to propagate them. Don't get discouraged if one or two cutting die. It happens sometimes. Just keep trying and have fun doing it!!!

Answer 3

i think begonias grow by tubers( the root looking part) so you would have to transfer the whole plant not the flower head portion

Answer 4

some begonias DO grow from tubers and for those kinds, cuttings may not succeed.... find out what kind of begonia you have first....

Answer 5

Do not plant the flower, it won't grow.

What you'll need to do is make a stem cutting.

Cut a 2-3" piece of stem, with leaves still on it.  Usually with begonias, you'll want to allow the cut to seal over before sticking it into soil.  You can sprinkle the cut end with rooting hormone if you want, but it's not usually necessary for begonias.

You'll probably have more luck if you plant your cuttings in a pot, so you'll have more control over it's growing conditions.

As long as the soil doesn't dry out too much, you'll have more begonias in no time.

Some of the cuttings will die, so just remove these.  The cuttings that still look alive several days after planting, are usually the successful ones.

One last thing, instead of making cuttings, another method you can use is called layering.  Bend one of the begonia stems over toward the ground, and partially cover the stem with soil.  Often, the part covered with soil will root, and once rooted, you can remove the rooted stem from the plant at that time.