I was gifted with these begonias and I've never propagated them. When do I put them in soil? I can see some nodes with roots, and some new leaves, but I have no idea what the White blobs are or what to do next. Thanks Planta Pals!
Kinda looks like (the white blobs) they were previously propped in perlite. The second one down MIGHT be ready for soil, but Begonia roots grow quite fast in my experience, and the rest of them need more time to grow roots. If it were me, i’d give them all a solid month longer in water. I’ve had begonia cutting in water that basically just are living long term in there, over a year. No plans to ever transfer. I hear they do better that way than in soil. But might try Pon soon too.
1 like Awesome advice. I feel much better about keeping her in water for now. She's so pretty. I want to help her stay that way. Thank you!
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The white on the stems are beautiful callus build up.
1 like Thank you!!
1 like That’s something I learned from watching my grandmother air layer her plants back in the day. This may sound strange but it’s something I get really excited to see cuttings lol.
1 like Fascinating! Can you share more about what the callus is? Assuming you didn’t mean calcium build up from hard water?
2 likes Wild guess, is the callusing similar to what happens with edema? Where it tries to absorb water to quickly resulting in the cells of leaves bursting, leaving little dots?
2 likes So the callus is a sign that the cutting and method of propagation was very successful in an ideal environment from the beginning and should provide a nice root system. Basically it’s a protective barrier , the plant healing its wounds and sending out its own growth hormones. Pretty much serves the same purpose as waiting for cacti or succulents wounds to heal and callus over, only better lol
1 like Ahhh! So maybe I was confused as to where you saw the said callus? The little white dots all up and down the stem? Or the knobby bits at the ends of stem? Totally get allowing succulents to callus over, I do that a lot. Or are both things the plants way of callusing and putting out little dots of hormone? Thanks for sharing!
1 like Gosh I really can’t say as much for the hormones of succulents. Only that in comparison, the calluses will protect from rot provided proper conditions. But this type of buildup excites me when I see all that goodness happening. I know the plant is gonna be good to me :) a little bit dorky and little bit of nostalgia but all my love goes into it. I’ve experienced this with roses, hydrangea, junipers, and boxwood cuttings.
1 like I just wanted to add that in no way am I negating anyone’s success with with their propagations. This is something that is personal to me and my experiences, mainly with outdoor plants.
1 like Not at all! This site is the best. I have access to people who’ve done the thing already so I don't have to guess or struggle because I get help from the best! Now that you mention it, I do see the same things in my roses and hydrangea too. Never noticed them before. Always learning with these plant babies. Tha is again.
1 like It’s really nice to have people to do the things. I am the person who does the thing with the plants, all the trial and error.. so I definitely feel that struggle. Though I do love the process ☺️
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