Angel wing begonia

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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stevelau1911
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Location: upstate NY zone 6B
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Angel wing begonia

Post by stevelau1911 »

Back in summer of 2008, I took a single cutting of angel wing begonia from a neighbor who had one that grew to the ceiling. It has put up canes every now and then, but it seems to be picking up its pace now as the biggest cane emerged at over 1/2 inch in diameter and it is quickly catching up to the existing foliage which is only a bit over 2ft tall. It grows in pretty much the same way as a clumping bamboo except it can regenerate limbs and grow well without much light.

This plant also flowers continuously, but it doesn't look like the seeds ever germinate. Here's a bottom view showing how the newest canes are clearly getting bigger. Hopefully they reach over 1 inch in diameter.
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This is also one of the easiest plants to propagate as this is the root growth from only 2-3 weeks of being in water. They can probably be grown permanently in water if so desired.
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Here's the same plant 2 years ago.
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stevelau1911
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Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:15 pm
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Location: upstate NY zone 6B
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Re: Angel wing begonia

Post by stevelau1911 »

After having my angel wing begonia cutting for 2 1/2 years, I've taken several branch cuttings, and given away a lot of the plant material, but it looks like this year's shoots are getting huge.

The tallest shoot is currently just over 4ft tall, no pot included, and the fattest shoot is well over 1/2 inch in diameter at the base so I think some of these will get over 6ft tall, and get near the 8ft tall ceiling, but the cool part is that this all happened while it was well distanced from the north facing window, and it never gets much sunlight. This plant also sucks up water like crazy too, taking in 1/2 gallon in 2-3 days easily so it's one of the easiest to grow houseplants. The only problem is that once it gets too tall, I'll have to top it off at a certain height to fit it inside, and perhaps let it grow taller while it is outside.

Like bamboos, it will make shoots annually, increasing in size each year, and I believe they should be able to reach around 1 inch in diameter at maturity.
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Alan_L
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Re: Angel wing begonia

Post by Alan_L »

Crazy! I had no idea. Thanks for posting the photos of this!
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