Let's see if I can remember everything you asked without looking back. I'm too tired to scroll! I think it's safe to say you can't root cane begonia leaves like you can with rhizomatous begonias. There may be some exceptions (they'd have to be of mixed ancestry I think) but I don't know of any. Cane begonias are called that because they have stems with nodes, supposedly like bamboo (not sure I see the resemblance myself.) They will root at those nodes, or they may branch there, and they will grow new leaves and flowers there the first time around. Not after that. So it's fine to cut them back to the soil when you have new growth coming up, and you can root the whole stem or cut it into several if it's long enough. Cane begonias like a lot more light than rhizomatous ones, even some direct sun especially in the morning. I heard recently that once a node has had a leaf and a flower it won't grow roots. I haven't really paid attention to that when I cut stems for rooting and I'm not sure it's true, but it does make some sense. After all, after you've gone to that much work you might be too tired to grow roots too! But I'm pretty sure I've rooted cuttings that have bloomed without problems. Anyway--good growing! Nancy

Heythere, Vintage. Good to hear from you! You can absolutely use a wine bottle, or BBQ sauce bottle, coffee can, whatever you have that is clean and will hold water. I quit using glass I want to keep because our water is so full of lime. After a few weeks, glass items are etched with lime deposits, a caveat to others who might have lime-y water. Brandon has some excellent info (gleaned from experience) to share about propagating in general. I don't blame him for sticking to his general view that water propagation is the red-headed step-child of propagation. His objections inspired me to share more of what I've experienced and I look forward to doing a better job with taking more pictures this coming spring. His warnings that most plants won't yield the same results with this method are valid, and his contributions to this discussion are appreciated, at least by me. I don't know if the person who started this discussion imagined it becoming so "big." My description of my last picture added did prove to be true. There are at least 4x as many cuttings as what is pictured Nov. 19. Some have been separated more, other jars with large openings still have up to 10 cuttings in them. Ken, you might be interested to know that the accumulation of your comments about the size of cuttings in general inspired me to stick the tiny tip of a Coleus plant next to the mama when I accidentally broke it off. It's been at least 3 weeks so I think it's safe to say that it's going to live since it's not crispy brown yet. You have to look closely at the very bottom of the pic to see that it's a separate, tiny piece, just a couple leaves. (The mama is a cutting I appropriated from a giant overgrown planter in Sept.) It was already well-rooted by the time "panic night" rolled around, and partly due to this discussion, and partly due to testimonials I've read from others who do have success keeping potted Coleus alive for winter, I potted it up at the same time as taking the other cuttings. Don't know if the soil purists will consider this a good comparison since it had "water roots" before going into a pot. Someone above mentioned newer style windows with UV protections and that definitely could have and probably did contribute to my failures in OH. My dwellings all had at least double-pane windows and at my last one, where I really went nuts and failed miserably the last winter I tried, I had the windows replaced in January with all of those fancy options. Great for furniture and carpet, really can have disastrous effects on plants. Become more honest with myself about the vast difference in light for a plant right on a windowsill vs. one 4 ft. from the window also.

I just started today some mexican bush sage, pineapple sage and B&B. It's a salvia day for me. All of these have no problems just poking a hole with a pencil and sticking it in the ground to grow but I'm potting these so they will be nice and strong by fall for a new area. Monarda does the same, just sticking it in the ground with my handy dandy pencil. Setcreasea is also very easy. All of these are plants that even I can propogate and that says a lot. LOL.

Your post hit home for me. For amateur propagators failure is a lot easier to accept than success. I end up with hundreds of plants out growing their pots, and demanding to be potted up to the next size. I donate to several plant sales a year to try and keep ahead, and yet when I walk through my garden I see lots of attractive shrubs I have never propagated I am overwhelmed with the desire to start cuttings. So what is the cure? Al