This plant was my mother’s favorite, and I’ve kept it as a reminder of her since she passed away. It means a lot to me, so I’m really worried that it’s not doing well.
I used to keep it in a window with very strong morning sun, but I suspect that was too much for it. Now, I’ve moved it to the other side of the window where it only gets shaded evening light to avoid burning the leaves. I water it frequently, but only in small amounts, and I recently added two fertilizer sticks to give it some extra strength.
A while ago, I also pruned the bad leaves to help the plant focus on new growth, but unfortunately, the new leaves start looking bad almost as soon as they appear. I really don't want to lose this plant, does anyone know how I can save it?
by kraxxkraxx
6 Comments
The full sun is better for them. I have mine in a bay window that gets sun all day. Maybe look at the roots and maybe a bigger pot is needed? Would you be able to post more photos of the pot and set up?
i’m by no means a begonia expert, but my general plant knowledge and little begonia experience makes me believe your watering may be the issue. how often is “frequently?” I would water when the soil is try to your second knuckle, and water DEEPLY. my guess is that in full sun (depending on pot and plant size!) it would need about a week and a half to two weeks between watering — but don’t water on a schedule! without more info on your substrate, plant size, or pot size, I can’t give much better advice other than frequent small amounts is not it, and you’re better off with less frequent large amounts.
What kind of soil do you have it in?
The morning light could be ok but you have to add more light extremely gradually.
Crispy edges to leaves doesn’t always mean burn with these, it’s likely a humidity issue as well. What’s the humidity like where she is?
What kind of fertilizer did you use? Too much fertilizer can burn the fine fragile roots and cause problems. If it’s not properly balanced fertilizer that can also cause problems.
It’s always best to water throughly each time and then wait for the soil to dry out some. If the soil doesn’t have any drying out period at all it causes an aerobic environment and the roots suffocate and rot. If you’re not watering deeply and the bottom soil is straying dry the roots there will die from dry rot.
The soil needs to be well draining because they are very sensitive to rot. Too big of a pot can cause rot because the root system is too small to uptake all the water in the soil causing it to stay too wet too long.
I would definitely take a cutting from this plant and root it in water to have a back up. Just have sure you get a node or two, that’s where the main stem meets the petiole. Make sure the bottom node is under water. If there is a leaf on that node and it is submerged cut it off. This is where new roots will form. The top node not in water is where new growth will form.
If you can answer the above questions I can help more.
I’m not an expert by any means, but I do have this plant myself & many, many other begonias/plants… Watering frequently but in small amounts is not good, you want to really give em a water then let it start to feel dry, like top 1-1/2 to 2 inches…they like to be slightly damp (as google puts it lol) but not soaked or completely dry of course, but roots also need oxygen so they need to dry out some of that makes sense. So don’t water as often, but maybe more at once when you do.
First, gently take the begonia out of the pot like a cake out of its pan. See if the roots look mushy or smell bad. If so, cut off those parts and put it in a pot the size of the root ball. If not just slide it back in its pot.
Wait till the soil is medium dry, like a slightly moist cookie, and then sit the pot (I’m assuming it has at least one drainage hole) in room temp water till the top is moist.
Let it drain till it’s done. It can always be watered this way.
I strongly recommend taking the plant sticks out till you get some new growth. The way it is now, it can’t use the food.
I rehabbed one that was very similar, but to do it properly is a big leap of faith. Your best bet right now is probably chopping it up for propagating, which is scary at first. But right now with a few leaves as it has and as tall as it is, that’s really the only way you’re going to be able to make it really nice again.
The good news is they are really easy to propagate and you can make a lot of cuttings so there’s a lot of chances to have success. I can walk you through exactly how to do that with pictures if you’d like.
Aside from that, it sounds like you’re not watering it in the best way. They don’t like to completely dry out, but they also don’t like to stay really wet all the time. When you do water it, you should make sure everything gets wet. Water it until you have it draining well out the bottom of the pot. You want to make sure all of the roots have access to water, so just giving it a little bits at a time isn’t a guarantee that it’s getting enough. You can also bottom water it by setting it in a bowl of water and letting it soak for an hour or more. Either way, the goal is to make sure all of the water in the pot gets wet. Then you need to drain it really well and wait until the top of the soil just starts to feel a little dry to the touch and repeat. For me that’s about once a week, but it really depends on temperature and humidity in your environment.
Also, I use a little bit of diluted hydroponic fertilizer every time I water. I really hate fertilizer sticks for any plant, but I especially don’t think they’re great for begonias. Liquid is a much better bet.
As far as lighting goes, mine sits under a plant light for 12 hours everyday, because I have terrible windows in my apartment. Crispy leaves don’t always mean they’re getting burned from the light. It could be that there’s not enough humidity or that they’re not getting watered properly. Also, when they are getting a decent amount of light, they will need more water so you have to be mindful of that as well.