Hi woollady, Those are just common shop lights - some of the cheapest I could find. I am close to swapping out all my T12 fixtures to T8 so I am paying for everything twice. The fixtures are two bulb 48" T8. I buy the 25 or 30 bulb packs to get the price as cheap as possible. Nothing special about the bulbs either. I hang one fixture per shelf but I did hang two fixtures per shelf for tall canes last year - there are only 4 shelves that I did this. You will find that you should rotate your plants every few weeks to get stronger light on the "dark" side. Any light beats no light. Here is an example of a shelf with light above it.

Joan, I think they will require some rest period, but they will show that on their own. 'Fireworks' is one of the best rexes in my opinion. So I bought four of them and propagated several more. Sure you can post pictures of NOID's. Look at the gallery for ideas on what is being posted. That is how a lot of NOID's get identified. Butch

linnea, It sounds like your rexes aren't getting enough light if they have real long petioles but then it may be the nature of the plant too. Pinching is the best method to induce branching in most plants and that includes begonias. Adding more plants to the same pot always helps make it fuller too. The tray of begonia starts is in a layer of potting soil on the bottom and perlite on the top. It can be straight perlite or straight potting soil but be careful with water when using potting soil (too much water will keep the soil soggy and lead to rot). I like to use cake or roasting pans with a clear lid. Poke holes in the aluminum pans, add medium, water (if using potting soil you may not even have to water if the soil seems damp), stick cuttings, cover with lid, and place under lights. They should root in a week or two. ispahan, I've grown most you asked about and find most very easy to grow during the summer. Here are ones that I cannot keep through winter for one reason or another. 'Marmaduke' and 'Snoopy' are notorious for doing the swan dive late winter or early spring but are beautiful through summer. I would grow this again but take more precautions in winter such as a humidity dome. I have not grown 'Sakai' or 'Small Change' so I cannot comment on those. 'Cowardly Lion' is a beauty and while it seems to have fits like 'Marmaduke' in winter I have been able to keep it for several years now. It is fairly easy to propagate too while 'Marmaduke' can be a bit difficult to start (water rooting works well on it). Try 'Wild Pony' instead of 'Cowardly Lion' since it looks very similar and the one I bought this year has grown like gangbusters. Now to get it through winter may be another story. 'Midnight Twist' is a similar story to 'Marmaduke' but I keep trying. I have a huge one now but winter will tell if this one is a keeper or not. These are of Midnight Twist and Wild Pony together: I am trying 'Aquamarine' that I got from a begonia dig in September and it has grown quite well since I got it. Sorry no pictures to date. I highly recommend 'Shamus' but it may take a while to get it going. I got a very small plant from Rob's Violets (2nd or 3rd time) and I put it in a small round glass bowl with a plastic wrap over the top. Over several months it started to grow and pushed the top off and spilled over the edge. I have since made many, many starts out of it. Here is an example of how easy they start from leaf cuttings: Full size (doesn't look like that any more - been cut back significantly) 'Black Raspberry' is another small start from Lauray of Salisbury and is a very slow grower for me in a BIG aquarium. Maybe I should move it to a much smaller pot and see if it will start growing. 'Boyfriend' is iffy. I have tried it a couple of times from eBay. I've finally kept the last one where it is touch and go in a small bubble. It seems to be finally growing but in August I went to a nursery in Orlando and bought a big hanging basket of it. It is in my kitchen and doing very good. And it is fairly easy to start by leaf cuttings too. I've gotten each leaf I've put down to root and send up several plantlets. All that being said, it appears that having a big plant to start with helps a lot (except for 'Marmaduke'/'Snoopy' since I've had small and large and they always crash before the next summer perhaps from neglect or some other malady). 'Fireflush' is finally growing very good for me but I do have a cover over it. It is in a 12 inch salad bowl (you can order these on line or pick them up at Party City) and has a 12 inch cake cover over it (Sam's Clubs sells some big cakes) but the leaves are pushing the lid up several inches. I cannot find any pictures of my current 'Fireflush' but here is one of 'Midnight Sun' and 'Curly Fireflush' in a ten gallon aquarium (lost both when they dried out). 'Black Coffee' is easy to propagate and grows well if you find the right conditions. I've lost many and grown many. I've got one growing in a Solo rinse cup for the last 4 years to keep it small and a good sized one in a lettuce container. I recommend it highly. Here is one my mother grew from a start I gave her: My Solo cup project:

Looks very good for the end of December. You have a rex that can completely defoliate in winter. Continue watering as long as it has leaves but if it drops all its leaves cut back on watering but don't let it dry out completely either. You can remove the older leaves which often encourages the plant to produce new ones. If the older leaves have some green you may be able to use them for propagation as well (if they are yellowing they may be too old to effectively use for propagation).