A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Rex Begonias anyone?...

I swear I didn't mean to buy a plant today, it just.. fell in my hands, yeah, that's what happened...

I've never owned a Rex Begonia before, never even seen one up close, and after an Internet search I'm more overwhelmed than educated about their care. It's quite small - a 4" pot and it doesn't look as if it needs anything bigger right now.

Would anyone have a few basic tips about light, humidity and temperature for me? And are there any special problems or pests I should watch out for? It's a pretty little thing and I wouldn't want to kill it through ignorance!

I compleatly understand. I go up to loblaws to get film developed and while I'm waiting I always tend to go over to the plant section and look around, it's so hard some times to stop myself. I now have 35 plant's in my room! )
I have a begonia lucerna, I looked in my house plant book and the requierments are pretty much the same. Their leaves burn eisily but they need bright light so they need to be maby right in a north facing window or something like that. also turn pot occasionaly. They need lots of humidity also but if you spray on their leaves they will burn. A pebble tray would work good or plant the pot in peat in a larger pot and keep that peat realy moist. Let the surface dry between watering to keep it moist and in winter water sparingly it says. Repot every year because leaves will lose colour if it's pot bound. In the special problems section of my book it sais their are quite a few. Bugs to keep watch for are aphids and red spider mites. Low light, and over watering can cause rotting or yellowing leaves and and along with poor ventilation disease is bound to strike, botrytis and powdery mildew look to be the most likely to strike but root rot will happen for shure if over watered for long enough.
P.S. I prefer the pebble tray because fungus gants tendlike moist peat better:p .

Thanks for the reply, apples!

Wow, sure looks as if I adopted a problem child this time! It seems to be doing fine so far, but searching for pests among those varigated, ruffled leaves wouldn't be easy. And yet, there seems to be something... so attractive about Rex Begonias... as I sit here typing this message, I'm wondering why I didn't also buy the hot pink one that was right beside it!

Lucernas a monster so I don't know if that makes a difference but they seem to be pretty tough plants. As long as optimum conditions are met their shouldn't be any problem. Insted of a problem childed I'd call it picky! It dose seem to have it's self in all the worst extreams thogh like humidity but no wet leaves, lots of light but leaves burn easily, and spider mites are discouraged to go on misted plants but again no wet leaves. I guess all it's problems are what make it tough! Ineresting note... If something does go compleatly wrong, you can take a 1-1/2" triangle cut out of the edge of the leaf, plant the point of the cut with the original edge facing up quarter of the cutting deep on a 45 degree angle and pyt a peice of wood on the same ange to hold it up.

By the way, which colour did you get?

Hmmm, color, let's see...

Well, the leaves are the "classic" begonia assymetrical shape with a ruffled edge. Center and veins are deep burgundy red, the leaf itself is silvery green with a thin burgundy border. The stalks are also burgundy, and slightly hairy.

Sounds nice. Their's so many hybrids they probably have every colour and mixture of colours imaginable.