BegoniaSpecies.org

B. gardneri

A small B. gardneri cutting, rooted in Akadama. Gardneri is a thick stemmed species from Brazil that grows up to four feet tall. It does best if it never gets completely dry. We grow it in the garden. I will be carrying this, and several garderni larger cuttings, with me to San Antonio.

There is excess water visible here because I watered heavily so that I could easy slide the cutting out of its pot without damaging roots. A nice thing about Akadama is that it is hard to over water. Excess water just drains off.

The size of the Akadama pieces is visible. This is soft Akadama.

This cutting is about 3 weeks old. I used a bit of rooting hormone. I rooted this in a seedling pot, in a a mini hocking jar for a little extra humidity. It was about an inch taller than the cutting. I left the lid off, and placed the hocking jar on a plant stand in front of a west facing window. I left the lid off because I find thick stemmed species to be a bit prone to rot when rooting, and I didn't want things remaining too damp. With the stronger sun of warmer months, a sheer curtain now attenuates afternoon sunlight.