Better Homes and Gardens Australia — December 2017

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 6

STEP 7

STEPS

Words and photography Brent Wilson. For more information on begonias, visit shadeplants.com.au

HOW TO PROPAGATE

BEGONIAS

If you have a hard-to-get variety, or you

just want more plants to keep or give

to friends, you’ll be thrilled to know

that most begonias can be propagated

from leaf cuttings. As long as you keep

your potting medium and equipment

clean, you should have little trouble

producing healthy plants. There are a

few different ways to take begonia leaf

cuttings, but the wedge method is one

of the easiest and you can propagate

many plants from a single leaf.

Gather your supplies

• Begonia leaf


• Sharp sterilised scissors


• Perlite and vermiculite


• Clean, sterilised plastic pot


• Small saucer


• Plant cutting (hormone) powder


• Chopstick


• Plant label


• Marking (wax) pencil or
  permanent marker


• Plastic bag

Here’s how

STEP 1 Choose a healthy mature

leaf and cut off with scissors.

STEP 2 Cut off the leaf stalk

with scissors. Make a 50/50

mix of perlite and vermiculite

and transfer to plastic pot.

STEP 3 Cut leaf into wedges,

making sure a prominent vein runs

along the centre of the cutting.

STEP 4 Dip cut end of each

wedge into plant cutting powder,

shaking off any excess.

STEP 5 Use chopstick to make a

hole in the moist potting medium.

STEP 6 Insert cutting into the hole

and firm down the potting medium

to keep leaf wedge as upright

as possible. Insert plant label.

STEP 7 Put a plastic bag over the

pot and place in a brightly lit area

but out of direct sun. Remove

bag to mist occasionally, if the

potting medium dries out.

STEP 8 Once the plantlets come up,

transfer them to individual pots.

Begonia masoniana

Rex begonia

PLANT PROFILE

66 BHG DECEMBER 2017