How to Place an Order With Begonia Suppliers
Begonias are a staple bedding plant for shade gardens. They also make great borders, mass plantings, containers and as indoor houseplants.
They are easy to grow and bloom until the first frost. They’re perennial in warm climates and annual in cooler ones.
Begonias require rich soil with good moisture balance. You can amend garden beds with compost, worm castings or peat moss.
Stem Cuttings
Stem cuttings are one of the most effective ways to propagate begonia suppliers. It’s a simple and inexpensive method that produces a new plant that is a duplicate of the parent plant. You can use stem cuttings to multiply a wide variety of plants, including begonias.
Before you start taking stem cuttings, ensure that your tools are clean and sterilized with hot, soapy water. Also, make sure you have a container with good drainage for your cuttings, which will help keep them moist.
Then, cut a stem or branch that is healthy with no discoloration or other health problems. It should have a few leaves and a bud at the top that will produce roots.
Depending on the type of stem you’re cutting, you can place the cuttings in a rooting medium (such as sand or soil) right after you take them. Some experts recommend that you dip the cutting end in a powdered rooting hormone, which can speed up the process of growing new roots.
If you want to increase the chances of rooting, you can also apply a small amount of fungicide or fertilizer before you insert the stem in the medium. This will help prevent the plant from developing diseases, such as rust, that may affect its ability to root.
Next, gently press the stem into the medium until it is fully soaked. If the soil is very dry, you can add a little water before potting it.
After the stem is fully hydrated, it can be planted in its rooting medium to a depth of about 2.3 inches. This is a standard practice for hardwood cuttings and about one-third of the length for softwood.
Once you’ve inserted the cutting in the medium, place it in a cool, dry area out of direct sunlight. This will give it time to calluse over its wound and encourage new roots to form.
A few weeks after the cutting is rooted, it can be transplanted into its permanent location. It’s best to wait until the weather is warm enough for the roots to develop and the plant to become well established before planting it in the garden.
Rhizome Cuttings
Rhizome cuttings are a popular form of vegetative propagation for many plant species. They are easy to grow and offer many of the benefits of stem cuttings, including quick growth and the ability to produce multiple plants from one plant.
A rhizome is a type of underground stem that stores carbohydrates and proteins to keep plants alive between growing seasons. They also produce new root systems and shoots from small bumps of tissue called nodes. These rhizomes are usually found on certain edible and grassy plants, such as asparagus and ginger, and on a variety of ornamentals, including bamboo.
In general, rhizomes are more difficult to divide than leaves or roots because the stems can be extremely thick and tough. However, when it comes time to dig them up, there are some tips to follow to help ensure success.
Firstly, make sure the plant you’re dividing is healthy and plump. This will help avoid any damage to the rhizomes while they’re being removed from the soil. It’s also a good idea to give the plants a soak in water before digging them up so that any bacteria can be killed off.
Once the rhizomes are removed, it’s important to give them the right kind of potting soil to grow in. This will provide the plants with the nutrients they need to survive, and will also allow them to develop strong roots before planting.
To get the best results from rhizome cuttings, it’s important to treat them with an appropriate rooting hormone. Hortus IBA Water Soluble Salts and Rhizopon AA dry powder rooting hormones are commonly used, but it’s important to choose a product that’s suitable for the type of plant you’re propagating and the environmental conditions.
It’s also a good idea to use a potting medium that’s similar to the original soil. This will help the rhizomes grow and be less likely to get stressed out.
If you’re looking to order rhizome cuttings for your garden, it’s easy to place an order with begonia suppliers online. Just make sure to include the plant you want, the rhizome cuttings, and a delivery date.
Wedge Cuttings
Wedge cuttings are the easiest way to start many begonias at once with a limited amount of plant material. They are particularly useful for rare or low-stock begonias, or for begonias that don’t have a lot of leaves to use.
There are several ways to make wedge cuttings, but the main one is to cut a leaf into wedges with at least one vein in each wedge. Place the wedges flat on a rooting medium and watch for new begonia plantlets to form at each vein.
The next step is to place the cuttings in a propagation tray or pot and cover them with a clear plastic wrap or plastic bag. This will prevent moisture from escaping through the bottom of the pot and also allow air to circulate around the cuttings as they grow roots.
Once the cuttings have formed roots, it is time to repot them. They should be placed in a small pot or tray as soon as they are big enough to handle. It’s important that the roots are not allowed to dry out completely before transplanting, or they may rot.
If you’re working with a variety that has several varieties, be sure to label each cutting as to which variety it came from so you can easily separate them. It’s also helpful to place the same cuttings in separate boxes if they are growing at different rates, or if you want to move them from box to box as needed.
A variety of plants can be propagated by leaf cuttings, including some houseplants and some popular ground covers, annual or bedding plants, and woody ornamentals. However, these cuttings are often immature and therefore require moderate temperatures and humidity to develop roots.
Depending on the plant species, leaf cuttings can be made any time of year, but they work best in spring or summer when the plant is actively growing and still has tender shoots. Common flowering houseplants, such as coleus, dahlia, chrysanthemum, Nepeta (catmint), Agastache (hyssop), mint, lemon balm, and thyme, are ideal for this type of cutting.
Mallet Cuttings
Mallet cuttings are a special kind of leaf-cutting that is particularly useful for producing as many plantlets as possible from a particular variety. They are often used for Mahonia.
These are small cuttings containing a segment of the stem with a growth bud at one end. They are typically taken from branches that have matured enough to break when bent sharply, and they should be 3 to 5 inches long.
A slanting cut about 2 inches long either above or below the bend in the stem can help the bud root. Dust the cut with a rooting hormone such as IAA or Hormodin (see our resource for more info).
Place the cut in a hole or trench three to four inches deep and secure it with a wooden peg or wire wicket. Next, bend the tip upward, if necessary.
You can also speed up the process by making a slanting cut on the topside of the branch. This will encourage the bud to root more quickly and can be especially useful with varieties that drop their leaves easily.
For a more accurate cut, try using a pair of long-handled secateurs or pruners. You can also use a pruning saw, if you have one available.
Ideally, you want to remove the lowest leaves and soft tips from your cuttings so that the bud will form as soon as it is buried in a moist soilless potting medium. Potting them as soon as you can after taking the cuttings is important because they will start to dry out if left in the hot sun too long.
There are two types of mallet cuttings: the heel and the straight. The heel version includes a bit of older wood that is attached to the current season’s growth while the straight version does not include old wood.
Both versions are similar but the heel cut can create a heavier root system faster than the straight cutting. This is a good option for vines and hardwood cuttings, but it isn’t always appropriate for Begonias or other plants with large roots that are sensitive to heat.
