help!! polka dot begonia hi everyone i just got this polka dot begonia a couple days ago and it seems to not be doing so hot. I’m not entirely sure what to do or what it needs. the plant has been repotted, it’s under a grow light, and has only been watered once. please give me your recommendations!!
Unfortunately it’s probably transplant shock. I learned the hard way 1) not to repot unnecessarily and 2) not to repot soon after bringing it home unless it really needs it. Is there drainage in that pot? It could be overwatered. But basically strap in and hope for the best! Your stems look ok! And there are nodes so once the dead leaves fall off it could maybe bounce back.
4 likes ohhh that makes sense there is proper drainage and i used soil that the nursery recommended i hope it does bounce back it’s so pretty 😔
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To me, the pot looks too large for the plant. Begonias have pretty small root systems and prefer to be root-bound. Too large of a pot means the soil is staying wet for too long which can cause root rot. I would repot into a pot that’s just slightly larger than the root system. Check out the roots and if any of them are mushy, cut them off. It’s also recommended for begonias to use a mix of 2/3 soil, 1/3 perlite, which will still hold moisture but allow aeration around the roots
4 likes I would disagree only because it would only suffer more transplant shock and because mine is in a bigger pot with a similar sized plant base and she’s flourishing.
would you recommend waiting awhile and then switching to the soil perlite mixture eventually? i water the plant every 5 days, should i wait longer? the dirt was completely dry when i watered today. your begonia is beautiful!!
1 like Thank you!! People have said these can be in self watering pots, but that makes me nervous lol I think it’s important to wait for it to be almost all the way dry before watering it. Water til it runs out and then just make sure it’s done draining before you put it back in the pot so it’s not sitting in water. I would wait a week at least to see what yours does. Let the dead leaves stuff off (or clip them if they need help) and then see if there are any parts of the plants that look healthy! I had a croton plant loss all but ONE leaf and now it has 4 new leaves and is doing well! Just give them time :)
1 like little update!! i trimmed the dead leaves and have kept it under the grow light and it’s got new leaves coming in! there’s 2 little sprouts so far!!
Yay!!!
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The same happened to me! Glad I saw this post!!
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