Sudden leaf drop on Begonia Maculata
Hello,
I've had a Begonia Maculata for the past year, and up until this week everything has been going great. It has nearly tripled in size since I bought it, and how I care for it hasn't changed. It has well draining soil, nice indirect light it seemed to be happy with, and I water when top soil gets dry. However over the last week it has dropped 75% of it's leaves. This was it a week ago:
However over the last week it has dropped close to 75% of its leaves, and I am unsure why. It happened very quickly and about halfway through I checked to roots to make sure there was no root rot, and all of the roots seemed totally healthy. The one possible clue I have been noticing is some of the leaves that are dropping (not all) start to brown right around the stem before they drop, although the whole leaf never browns.
Here it is today:
Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. This is one of my favorite plants and I would hate to totally lose it. Thanks in advance.
Comments (14)
hc mcdole
4 years agoIt is a fussy begonia for sure. My own observation is it grows well in bright light, summer temps but seems to sit still in winter often regressing to death or close to it. This past winter I literally dribbled water into the pot to keep it a little moist and it did so much better than in past years.
Another note on another big polka dot cane is 'Flamingo Queen'. I have bought this one at least four times to no avail - it looks great when I get it and over time it dwindles away to nothing, including a big one I bought at the convention this year in New Orleans. One of the stems broke off (me or my dog) and I stuck the top into a big pot with old soil (Miracle Gro). The pot it came in looked like great soil - peat based. The original plant looks like it is dead or close to it yet the one in the big pot has grown beyond my wildest expectations for a simple broken top. Is it the size of the pot or the potting mix? I'm inclined to think it is the potting soil.
My old maculata grew great the first year after moving it into a big pot with other begonias.
I had to move all the begonias to smaller pots for winter and I lost the glossy green one at the bottom (Mrs. Hashimoto) and the maculata took a big hit as well. Maybe a bigger pot is the answer after all? This was 9 years ago.This past winter it looked like this in a much smaller pot.
FrozeBudd_z3/4
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Leaf Drop on Begonia
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThanks FrozeBudd. The one hanging at the bottom (green leaves and white flowers) is Mrs. Hashimoto (which I lost after a year or two).
Here it is sitting on top after I turned the pot 180
EditWeill, the last photo didn't come through - GRRR!
Guess if the photo is kind of greyed out means it hasn't fully uploaded.FrozeBudd_z3/4
4 years ago
Danielle N
4 years agoFrozeBudd_z3/4
4 years agohc mcdole
4 years agoThanks FrozeBudd. It is a big job moving everything outside for summer and back indoors for winter. My basement runneth over as I try to organize them into their cubby holes just to keep them alive. I still have about 20 extra large pots to move indoors before Monday (our first freeze). The plants get bigger, new plants come in faster than old ones check out, propagation makes things worse as space is limited, and I am another year older. UGH!
This is from last December
Confetti on left, Hugh McLaughlin on right. Not sure what is in the back.
Amelia blooming, Cowardly Lion (striped rhizo), and it looks like Big Mac (glossy green)
Helen Teupel (purple with silver edges) and some unknown silver curl.
Flirty Girl (a seedling from Ozzie Johnson who is a member of our begonia club)
Jack Black with a cluster of blooms
My Special Angel (polka dot cane), Taconite (large dark green leaves), and U450 or U540 (seems like the tag was mislabeled) is the silver leaf with dark veins.
rexes from Walmart or Lowe's (Exotic Angel nursery)
Proud Mary
various begonias I propagated for fun.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
4 years agohc mcdole
4 years agoI started "dribbling" water last winter since the recommendation of a thorough watering after the first inch or two of the soil felt dry was not working out that great (I don't like sticking my finger into hundreds of pots anyway). To my amazement, everything seemed to do much better than previous years including rexes and some finicky canes. If we went away for a week, then I would water everything thoroughly and hope for the best.
Feb 19, 2018
This 12" clay pot of 3 different rexes amazed me the most.
Sylvan Triumph
Sophie Cecile
Velvet of the Night
Greta Schneider
2 years agoMichelle peterson
2 years agohc mcdole
2 years agoCas Li,
That is not maculata. The leaf edge is too erose - they should be smooth.
maculata looks like this:
Here is East Gate as an example of leaf edges being toothed or wavy.
hc mcdole