That's a probability. It's only ever lived on a windowsill through all these years, and almost always in a southern window (obstructed by trees in the summer). This last year it's been in an east-facing window. I don't have an outdoor space so depend on my windows for light.

I guess I'll just enjoy its polka dot leaves as is since it seems to be otherwise healthy. Thank you for your thoughts. Your plants all look lovely; your own private jungle.

I grow a lot of house plants, mostly begonias. I use almost the entire basement and run over 85 shop lights in winter (about six months). It is a job but something I've been doing for lots of years.

one of my shelves in Feb this year.

Canes usually go on the floor near lights so they don't get the best growing conditions.

You might consider a less fussy cane than maculata in the future.

That's an impressive number of plants and lights. Living in an apartment means my space is limited. Even more so since I have to share it with my husband, lol. I may be able to get away with setting up a spotlight or 2 in the future.

The maculata has been with me for over 20 years so I don't think it's fussy, just not growing as expected. I'd just wondered since I haven't seen anyone else's do what mine does.

The other begonias I have are Sophie Cecile which grows very compactly for me - not tall, but dense. Aconitifolia with multiple canes and a caudex that fills most of the pot. Dregei, also with a caudex, which has to be cut back fairly often and is the only one that flowers for me.

Congrats on the 20 years growing the same plant. My oldest is Lucerna when my wife brought it to our apartment in Norfolk, VA (Navy at the time) and she was getting into houseplants but I wasn't into houseplants at that time. I asked her what it was and she said her friend said it was an angel wing begonia. Cool, never saw a begonia like that. It has to be 45 years old. Of course the one I have now is through cuttings over the decades.

Then I bought a beautiful begonia at a small nursery here in GA 8 to 10 years later. I asked the old man (he must've been 80 years old and weighed 100 pounds dripping wet) what the name was. He said it was an angel wing begonia. What? No way can they both be angel wing begonias. It would take a few more years for the internet and PCs to be affordable before I found out both names - Lucerna and Sophie Cecile.

My aconitifolia is probably six feet tall and so easy to grow. It should be in everybody's collection but sadly it is not. Easy from cuttings. Whether you grow it in a small pot and keep it cut for the big caudex or let it grow to 5 to 6 feet tall is up to the grower. I do both.

I cannot keep dregei for some reason. I either forget to water and it will completely drop all the limbs but still be viable or over water and rot the caudex. Usually it gets shaded out by bigger begonias though.

my bonsai aconitifolia in Jan, 2019.

My big plant of it last month.

The older stalks with some new ones coming up from the ground. This was in 2017

i have B. 'Cracked Ice' which looks similar but is quite small. it does tend to bend too especially while young. this is after several years of growth when it produced the tallest straight canes.

hc mcdole, with my limited space, my plants don't get nearly as big as yours. When they outgrow their allotted space, I have to either prune or reassess its neighbors' worth. And I forgot my latest begonia, masoniana. Such interesting leaf texture!

Eve N, I completely understand. When we lived in apartments, we had limited space. I use most of the basement for growing during winter (being an empty nester makes it possible). One of the joys of growing old? It is a job keeping up with everything. Win some, lose a few, add more.

A greenhouse would be a much better option but it comes with its own set of problems too.

previous home I had a 14x18 greenhouse but it was filled to the brink in 3 short years.

Cane begonias tend to send out taller and taller canes as the plant matures.

petrushka, I can keep them mostly upright if I stake them while underwatered and limp. Even then, the canes try very hard to curl.

hc mcdole, my dregei needs watering fairly often but doesn't get any until it starts looking droopy. It's also underpotted. I always wanted a greenhouse, but never had a big enough backyard here in the city. I'm an empty nester too and downsized drastically.

Dave in NoVA, after 20 years of curly canes I don't know how much more the plant will mature. If I were able to straighten them out (before pruning) they would have been about 2ft tall. At this point I'll just let them be.

If we had a huge greenhouse (like the Atlanta Botanical Garden) then we could grow some very tall canes. Here is their maculata in one of the houses in bloom and at least 12 to 14 feet tall.

A bit tall for me to appreciate but still impressive.

Can you root a large cane of Sophia Angel Wing. I have a plant that needs pruning, and would like to try to root the taller canes.

I don't see why not. I've rooted mine when I cut it back hard, though I haven't in a couple of years since it's been growing so compactly. Just put the cutting into mix and cover for humidity. Or in a cup of water.

You can root tall canes but why? I would root the tops and then cut the middles to 6 to 12 inch stems and root those as well. Get more plants out of one tall stem this way and it will look more attractive.

I would cut them into multiples as well and have cut the bare stems into 1-2 node pieces. Though those take longer to root than tip cuttings. It's always fun to watch them grow up.

HU-841036075,

Check out my replies to Linnea last year

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4901713/cane-begonias-how-to-root#n=27

Hc mcdole, I feel better seeing that even the botanical garden has brown tips on their B. maculata! What canes have a similar look that you consider "less fussy"?

Edie,

There are a lot of hybrids with maculata in their genes. My own hybrid I feel is easier care than maculata but is still prone to mildew. One that is a beauty but still a hard one to grow indoors is Flamingo Queen (it has maculata in it)..

Sophie, Irene, Lana, Silver Mist are a lot less fussy than maculata. Comte de Lesseps is an easy grower with red flowers. If you lived in a tropical zone you could probably grow maculata without much ado but when the weather starts to cool, you better start prepping for mildew attacks.

I don't recall the name of this one (a cutting from FWBG) but so easy to grow.

It is growing in a pan with other begonias for years now.

The white bloomer is my own seed grown begonias from maculata.

a variety of canes makes a nice contrast in size, shape, patterns, and color

Don't get hung up on one begonia as there are many to choose from that may fit your personality a lot better than maculata.

I ask because I have a maculata already, bought last spring. It made it through last winter but looked so bad I wasn't sure it would survive. It looks nice now after a second summer outside, and taking cuttings to fill the pot, but I just brought it in and it's already dropping leaves. I've grown a few other types and have done tuberous from seed, but I know I have only dipped my toe into a vast ocean. Thank you for the advice. I always enjoy your posts.

I just wanted to add an update on my maculata wightii. It was moved to a north window opposite a white wall. Seems it likes this drastic drop in exposure since the canes no longer curl.