Mould on Begonia Escargot leaf…
Oh dear. Pride comes before a fall! I had been planning to share some pictures I had been taking of three lovely indoor Begonias I bought at the Cardiff RHS Garden Show. But suddenly they are all but destroyed by begonia mould!
Where did that come from? I had forgotten – that’s if I ever knew – that leafy begonias are susceptible to fungal attack. In this case it seems to be begonia mildew (Oidium begoniae).
The gardening books say indoor Begonias need to be positioned in a bright place out of direct sun and not too cold. The compost should be moist but not waterlogged, with less watering in winter. But it’s hard to achieve the other requirement – the leaves like to be surrounded by moist air but don’t like to be wet! I didn’t splash the leaves, but I guess I did probably over-water as the stems were drooping.
If only I had looked more closely – I hadn’t noticed the mould starting when I took this picture weeks ago…
Spots of mould on Begonia Escargot…
The Begonia Escargot when it was new…
The furry leaves mean they don’t like getting wet…
The second-best Begonia I bought at the same time was a Begonia Red Robin…
Begonia Red Robin leaf when I first bought it…
Lovely red hairy stems of Begonia Red Robin…
A spot of mould on one of the Red Robin leaves after I had doused it with fungicide…
That one MAY survive, and I am hopeful my third Begonia may be made of sterner stuff. This one is called Pollux and is a “cane” Begonia rather than a delicate “rex” Begonia like the other two. It can even be grown outdoors in the UK in summer.
Begonia Pollux has green leaves with a thin red edge…
Simple flower of Begonia Pollux…
The Begonia genus name was coined by Charles Plumier (1646 – 1704), a French botanist who made three plant expeditions to the West Indies. It honours Michel Bégon (1638-1710), a former governor of the French colony of Haiti and the name was adopted by Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy.
There are about 1,400 species of Begonia growing naturally in moist tropical and subtropical regions across the world. Some cultivated forms are grown for their flowers, some for their decorative leaves.
I guess it’s not surprising that they are squishy and susceptible to mould, as the Begonia family (Begoniaceae) is distantly related to the cucumber and melon family (Cucurbitaceae) – they are both in the order Cucurbitales.
In the past I have successfully grown the trailing Begonia “Apricot Shades” in a patio pot outdoors.
Begonia Apricot Shades from Thompson & Morgan…
And just for a summer I had this yellow Begonia in a pot on the kitchen window-ledge…
Yellow Begonia in July 2011…
I also once had a lovely small-leaved house Begonia grown from a cutting from a friend’s plant. That flourished without incident but I don’t think I’ll ever try the big-leaved fussier types again. I’m just too heavy-handed and I can only dream of a beautiful Begonia display like this…
Begonia rex Sal’s Comet on the Dibley’s stand at the Cardiff RHS Show in April…
The Squirrelbasket 
Hope the Red Robin survives Pat!
Thanks Shaz! I’m tempting fate by not cutting off ALL sign of the mould, just spraying it a lot with fungicide…
Best wishes 🙂
Curses on these moulds and blights! That’s an intimidating list of requirements for growing begonias, and I think air circulation plays a part as well. I have saved drooping seedlings by setting a fan nearby.
That’s a thought – air circulation is the answer to a lot of things. I have just also lost a topiary box bush in a container to box blight and that was stuck up against a wall in a corner with no breeze, too…
Best wishes 🙂
I would like to be sympathetic. I tried all the way through the post. But I find it hard to like begonias and don’t very much mourn their loss. Now . . . scented geraniums . . .
That’s OK. I think I am more miffed at the waste of money than “upset”!
Do you mean scented-leaf pelargonium-type geraniums? If so, I can agree with you on that. Especially the lemon-scented ones and oak-leaf types. And I bought a couple of plain bright red zonal pelargoniums at the weekend to brighten my containers.
Do you have any these days? Do you still take cuttings? I don’t have a greenhouse so cheat and buy them fully grown, although I went through a phase of buying them as mini plants and they survived quite a few winters outside.
Best wishes 🙂