Thank you for your response!! I'm re-posting an email that sent I to your email just in case you didn't receive it. Yes, the one with the yellow blooms is not the cane variety but it is losing leaves as well. The one that dropped all the leaves this morning --more or less all of a sudden--was the spotted angel wing. I have three different begonias planted in a large container together all outside. I don't know what the third one is, but it's short and kind of clumped up, reddish leaves growing close to the soil surface--I think it's called a begonia :dewdrop." seems to be doing well. I probably put them all together in a too big pot I suppose and possibly overwatered after a recent short heat spell. Can you tell me why the container size matters? Is it because there is too much soil that stays moist for too long? Do you think I should repot the spotted angel wing in a smaller container with a faster draining soil? Maybe I can save it. Again, thanks so much for your reply.

I do think begonias in general are susceptible to root rots, they don't like damp feet. They also can get various fungus diseases which can cause browning and leaf loss. And being too wet can encourage fungi and mold, so keeping them dryer will help avoid this as well. If fungus has started a mild fungicide can help. In Sonoma you should be able to grow these outside in bright shade or morning sun/afternoon shade. You may or may not loose them in winter depending on what your lowest average winter temperature is. Here they're about 50/50 in winter, and we usually get down to about 40 to 35*f with the occasional 20-32*f. If it gets that cold for more than one or two days, they they're gone. But you can bring them in the house to winter over if they're potted up. Inside I'd give them as much light as you can and re-pot them in cactus mix and be very conservative with watering. They also like to be fertilized regularly but with a mild percentage. They do drop the older/lower leaves as the leaves age, but they should at the same time be putting out new branches from the base if they are happy, so if they're just loosing leaves and no new lower branches are growing then it could be the soil staying to wet for too long. In general begonias like bright light but not hot sun, warm temperatures and keeping on the dryer side.

Thanks 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.

Fur? What's that on a plant? Like a fuzzy leaf? It was more than likely a mildew infection at one point. "Was" being the operative word. That doesn't mean that the spores aren't still lurking around on the surface of the leaves, soil, stems, pot, and anywhere else. Bathrooms, basements, and garages are infamous for mildew (damp, cool spots). Leaves are expendable but when you start seeing mildew on the canes then you really need to be on the defense to get it under control else it will eventually set back the plant or kill it. I saw a Lynda Dawn on my porch years ago develop mildew (or some other fungus) and I did not act in time - it killed the plant in a few weeks. There are many safe(r) remedies to treat mildew/fungus such as Neem oil, Milstop, and I switched to Orchard Spray which is pyrethrin (insecticide) and sulfur (fungicide) and while mildew is always present and can rear its ugly head, I have a lot more success by being a little more proactive. Watering when needed as been a boon for me. Begonia Sinbad is notorious for mildew in fall/winter. Last year I barely watered it and no spraying. It came out this past winter with flying colors whereas in the past it would probably be dead or close to it.