Method of Propagating Begonias

Begonias are flowering perennials that come in a variety of colors. The several forms of begonia differ in reproductive and rooting practices. Begonias can be started from seed, but the plants yielded will grow slower and take longer to bloom than begonias propagated by other means. Taking a tip cutting is one of the most popular and most successful means of propagating begonias. The most common forms of begonias, including rexes, rhizomatous, and tuberous types, can be all propagated by rooting cuttings, by essentially creating a clone.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Small pot
• Perlite
• Soil
• Begonia plant
• Rooting hormone
• Knife

Tip Cutting

1. Select a parent plant. Parent plants should be healthy, disease-free plants with good growth and bloom habits. Cuttings taken from a weak parent plant are not typically hardy enough to root.
2. Take a cutting from the tip of a stem, 2 to 4 inches long. It is important that the cutting have buds that have never bloomed. These will be visible just above the leaf node. Use a sterile knife or scissors to take the cutting to prevent the spread of disease from the knife to the open wound on the plant.
3. Remove any blooms that are on the cutting and all but the top two to four leaves. This allows the cutting to use all of its energy toward rooting.
4. Dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone. This will help the cutting to root more quickly.
5. Place the cutting as deep in the rooting medium as possible, burying half to two-thirds of the stem. It is important that a least one bud be below the surface of the soil. A good rooting medium is 4 parts perlite and 1 part potting soil.
6. Transplant the cutting after the shoots have emerged and grown leaves.