My Rex Begonia Harmony's Fire Woman is putting out a new leaf and a little bud appeared next to it. The leaf hanging low on the left was much higher up yesterday so I'm not sure what's going on with it. Is the leaf going to die off? Is the bud another new leaf or is it trying to flower? This is my first begonia so I don't really know how often leaves die back or how many leaves they typically have. Any info would be helpful!
It could be that the hanging leaf has stem that comes out at a low angle. The stem looks a healthy red, so it also could be that the plant is looking for some water. They will droop a little when they need water. Caution when watering it. DO NOT OVERWATER IT. I did that with my Fireworks Begonia and lost a young leaf like you have. It just dropped off. Other leaves may brown around the edges if they get too much water. Because of that I water on a 3 day / 4 day schedule with a little bit of water each time. So I water on Sunday and Wednesday. Doing this for me prevents an overwatering which will cause problems. Since changing my watering schedule, I have 4 new leaves pushing up. They are between 2-3 inches across. Again check your soil with you finger to determine how much water to give. After giving a little water, see if the low drooping leaf perks up.
1 Like I forgot to say that the plant is due to be watered tomorrow so I went ahead and watered in case it was telling me it was thirsty but I don't think the soil was dry enough for that to be the problem. One of the leaves does have some brown on the edge which I thought was a low humidity issue but maybe I actually need to let it dry out a bit more?
0 LikesIf you’re getting browning on the leaf edges it could be overwatering. That could also make the stem drop. So yes you may have let it dry a little. Seeing brown edges makes you think it needs water, when with Rex Begonias it may a sign that they have gotten too much. I had so much browning on some leaves I just had to cut them off because they won’t repair themselves. I figured I would let the plant put its energy into healthy leaves. Cutting the bad leaves off may have also stemmed the new growth for me. If you have to cut a leaf off, then propagate it. I had a leaf that was in bad shape, had in water and saw some growth where the leaf meets the stem. I cut the leaf apart and planted them in a domed Rotisserie Chicken container. That little grow is now about an 1.5 inches high. See the Begonia Lovers board for a picture of the propagation container I used.
1 Like