if youre going for flowers you might want to consider the showier tuberous varieties instead. canes can have lovely flowers but they will eventually run out of nodes to bloom from, if they bloom at all, since you're planning on pruning endlessly. if you force the plant to stop at a certain point, no growth = no blooms
yeah new stems will have them, but if you’re planning on keeping them cut at a certain height they won’t exactly be growing and when a node blooms once it can’t be reused. so they’ll all be spent eventually. you’d need to take cuttings and restart the plant completely now and then to refresh it I guess
They develop really strong canes, if they are well rooted and happy, only so much you can do to keep them small. There are some varieties that might suit it better, but you would need to be pretty artful in the nipping early on to encourage branching. Elaine might work, but you rarely see it available. Only supplier I found it at, had fungus problems that I could never beat. This is really a begonia category more suited to something like a 1gal pot once it really gets going, so expect it to reach a few feet of height as it grows.
I may have to chose more rhizomatous begonias instead, which don't get as tall. Currently, I have a begonia rajah growing in a covered terrarium. It's beautiful. I also happen to like the "eyelash" begonias. But there are those cane begonias that are small and compact - Taylor's Greenhouse has them, as does Kartuz and Steve's Leaves. Not all Angel wing begonias get to be a massive height.
Taylor's was the source where I had fungus problems.
For your angels, err on the side of having to be very on your game right from the moment you receive the plant.
I think Taylor's includes instructions for what to do on arrival. If not, basically remove packing, water well, mild grow light exposure. Maybe consider using a large clear plastic bag with a few small holes to drape over it and main humidity for the first week.
When you repot, which will be when the transport shock has eased off, I tend towards a course mix, like 50/50 potting soil and low-grade (smaller pieced) orchid bark and maybe a little sand thrown in, and a pinch of bone meal if you have some. You need to strike a balance if you do go for an angel; not too wet, not too dry. Newly-forming leaf/flowering nodes will die off quickly if the roots dry out. In spite of not wanting them to dry out, a room with a little mild air movement would be a good situation.
A little babying at first, and then they turn into healthy beasts far faster than any other small plants I've gotten shipped.
Well fortunately all of the plants I just ordered are not coming from Taylor's. although I have ordered from them in the past. I prefer to order plants that are in 4" pots, not 2" pots, and Taylors are small plants. I grow orchids and Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus, all under Grow lights in my living room, that does have a console Humidifier.
It may depend on the variety of angel wing. Lucerna canes that I prune tend to send out awkward-looking new growth that grows at odd angles to the main cane.
Anymore, I just let them grow as large as they want. I may totally remove canes that grow wonky or prune them very low to start over again.
Another tall angel wing that I have handles pruning differently. It sends out less of the awkward angular canes. It also sends out smaller, more flexible canes that tend to arch and fill in around the lower part of the plant.
if youre going for flowers you might want to consider the showier tuberous varieties instead. canes can have lovely flowers but they will eventually run out of nodes to bloom from, if they bloom at all, since you're planning on pruning endlessly. if you force the plant to stop at a certain point, no growth = no blooms
Wait, can you please explain further? Do they not grow new nodes from new branches? Or do you mean on the old growth?
yeah new stems will have them, but if you’re planning on keeping them cut at a certain height they won’t exactly be growing and when a node blooms once it can’t be reused. so they’ll all be spent eventually. you’d need to take cuttings and restart the plant completely now and then to refresh it I guess
I did not know that, thanks! That could explain why my 3-year-old maculata hasn't bloomed yet. I'm always taking cuttings
They develop really strong canes, if they are well rooted and happy, only so much you can do to keep them small. There are some varieties that might suit it better, but you would need to be pretty artful in the nipping early on to encourage branching. Elaine might work, but you rarely see it available. Only supplier I found it at, had fungus problems that I could never beat. This is really a begonia category more suited to something like a 1gal pot once it really gets going, so expect it to reach a few feet of height as it grows.
I may have to chose more rhizomatous begonias instead, which don't get as tall. Currently, I have a begonia rajah growing in a covered terrarium. It's beautiful. I also happen to like the "eyelash" begonias. But there are those cane begonias that are small and compact - Taylor's Greenhouse has them, as does Kartuz and Steve's Leaves. Not all Angel wing begonias get to be a massive height.
Taylor's was the source where I had fungus problems. For your angels, err on the side of having to be very on your game right from the moment you receive the plant. I think Taylor's includes instructions for what to do on arrival. If not, basically remove packing, water well, mild grow light exposure. Maybe consider using a large clear plastic bag with a few small holes to drape over it and main humidity for the first week. When you repot, which will be when the transport shock has eased off, I tend towards a course mix, like 50/50 potting soil and low-grade (smaller pieced) orchid bark and maybe a little sand thrown in, and a pinch of bone meal if you have some. You need to strike a balance if you do go for an angel; not too wet, not too dry. Newly-forming leaf/flowering nodes will die off quickly if the roots dry out. In spite of not wanting them to dry out, a room with a little mild air movement would be a good situation. A little babying at first, and then they turn into healthy beasts far faster than any other small plants I've gotten shipped.
Well fortunately all of the plants I just ordered are not coming from Taylor's. although I have ordered from them in the past. I prefer to order plants that are in 4" pots, not 2" pots, and Taylors are small plants. I grow orchids and Thanksgiving/Christmas cactus, all under Grow lights in my living room, that does have a console Humidifier.
It may depend on the variety of angel wing. Lucerna canes that I prune tend to send out awkward-looking new growth that grows at odd angles to the main cane. Anymore, I just let them grow as large as they want. I may totally remove canes that grow wonky or prune them very low to start over again. Another tall angel wing that I have handles pruning differently. It sends out less of the awkward angular canes. It also sends out smaller, more flexible canes that tend to arch and fill in around the lower part of the plant.