Begonia bogneri: Propagation and Giveaway

[RandyS]

I've actually posted many times here on this plant in the past, however that was about 8 years ago.

A couple things have changed:

I lost the plant, but just got it back today from a friend.

I have found out that the plant has become, once again, hard to find and expensive. The numbers I've seen, if it can be found, are about $50-$140. So it's roughly as much as plants like Nepenthes lowii or hamata. Ouch.

This is in spite of the fact that (in my opinion) it's ridiculously easy and quick to propagate, and easy to grow. It's a terrarium plant, or at least that's how I've grown it. It doesn't look like a Begonia at all--with lots of grasslike leaves, and small white or light pink flowers. Here's a medium sized plant I grew (I grew this with a makeshift lid to up the humidity)



I've grown hundreds of these. This is one I gave my mom, in a cramped "terrarium". It received zero care for years, and bloomed like crazy in a Southwest facing window, no supplementary light.



Here's a fantastic article on the plant from the guy who described it and named the species:

B. bogneri | The American Begonia Society

Ann Salisbury in this issue writes about strolling through The Begonian pages of the past...

www.begonias.org

Anyway, propagation, as I said, is simple. Just chop up leaves into fragments 1+ cm in length, lay on top of soil, incubate in a humid environment under lights. Plants appear in a couple months or so....

Here's a description I posted:

Begonia bogneri leaf propagation (and free things for postage)

Generally when I propagate Begonias from leaves I get too many plantlets. Begonia bogneri is no exception. Back in December I decided to follow up on some observations that broken off leaves of Begonia bogneri were constantly rooting in my pots. I had previously been propagating the plant in...

www.houzz.com

And here's the plant I got today, from my friend Jose:



I removed 5 leaves and chopped them up. I counted 50 cuttings.



I put these in a tupperware container on top of microwaved soil. Soil is very roughly, 2:2:1 Peat: perlite:Miracle Grow potting soil.



I put this in a gallon ziploc bag, and then under lights (on 24/7).

The contest:

Guess how many plants I get from these 50 cuttings, after 5 months. Post your guess on this thread.

I'll send the person who is closest a plant for free (probably in small container, first class). If they want to pay for Priority Mail they can. US only. No restrictions/requirements.

If I get more than 25 plants, I'll send plants to the two people who get closest.

Even if you don't want to grow it long term, you could always grow it up to a size that can be sold (usually about 6 months plus), sell it, and buy an expensive CP...

 

[Tigerscott79]

47 plants from the 50 sections cut. (wishing you best luck with them )

 

[Camden M]

33 of 50. ^Dido

 

[Blackfeather666]

43

 

[adnedarn]

I was going to go high, but your mention of "if I get more than 25" makes me want to go lower. haha 29

 

[0floral0]

Imma hop in and guess maybe 39

 

[RandyS]

Update at 9 days. A minor accident: I was pulling the container out to check the progress, and I tipped it a little too much. Soil and cuttings went to one side.

I did my best to quickly sort through things, but i think I lost a few. At this point I count 42. They still look good. I moved them mostly to one side of the container, because the buried ones seem to be mostly on the other side. No signs of roots yet. In a post on a different forum 5 years ago, I commented that many had roots after 3 weeks. So I'll cautiously check them again.



i actually started a second set of cuttings on March 3rd. From 3 leaves, 32 cuttings. So I should have plenty.



Finally I ordered, but haven't received, a closely related species, also from Madagascar, that I've always wanted to grow and propagate: Begonia pteridoides. Superficially, it seems almost identical, except the leaves, which are grasslike in Begonia bogneri are branched in Begonia pteridoides.

[Botany • 2017] <i>Begonia nosymangabensis </i>&<i> B. pteridoides</i> • Two New Species of <i>Begonia<small></i> sect. <i>Erminea</i> (Begoniaceae) </small>from Nosy Mangabe in Madagascar

Begonia pteridoides & Begonia nosymangabensis DOI: 10.15553/c2017v722a3 Abstract Begonia nosymangabensis Scher...

novataxa.blogspot.com

 

[Pittsy]

Neat plant. I’ll say 21

 

[RandyS]

Progress at 3 weeks:

On Friday (20 days) I was reasonably certain I saw a root on one of the cuttings (on left). I wasn't sure about the one on the right, I was concerned it might be fungus:



Today I checked again (2 days later). It's clear both are roots (with root hairs on the right).



Hopefully they'll get a lot more interesting in the next few weeks.

I'm expecting Begonia pteridoides in the mail in the next few days, so I'm excited about that.

 

[Tigerscott79]

looking great congratulations

 

[RandyS]

I received my Begoni pteridoides in the mail yesterday. Again, this is the plant essentially identical to B. bogneri, but with branched leaves. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it made it. Presumably it froze at some point? Strangely, the seller (without asking) went to a lot of trouble to protect plants from the cold--styrofoam packing and a heat pack. I saw a post of someone I know in Pennsylvania, who got his in perfect condition. Same for someone in Minnesota (my mom's hometown in Southern Minnesota) who added his picture to the post.

I emailed the nursery owner, and by morning I got a message that he would send a replacement at the end of April (they import periodically from Canada), at no charge. So I'm happy.

There is a remote chance that something will emerge from the tuber of the frozen plant I received. This is from a fully tropical area, so the tuber has nothing to do with cold survival. Or possibly some cuttings I took could survive. I'll be surprised, but I'll keep an eye on them.



"Cuttings"



I suspect these will very quickly lose any green color. We'll see.

 

[RandyS]

Most of the Begonia pteridoides cuttings I took a couple days ago have deteriorated and will clearly not survive. However, I see clear candidates for survivors (arrows). Some of these look better than others, for example the 2-3 in the lower right. I'll be watching the cuttings over the next few days.



The leaves which I left attached to the tuber were completely mushy, so I removed them. The tuber seems firm, and I have hopes that the reddish feature could be alive. I transferred the tuber from soil to sphagnum. I should be able to easily observe it, and see whether it shows root and/or shoot growth. I'm cautiously optimistic.