Rieger Begonia: How to Grow & Care for the Elatior Begonia Plant

Flowering plants are for certain natural mood boosters. And probably nigh of our readers would want to learn a thing or two about what experts and popular hybrid breeders, label as the sixth-largest flowering plant all over the world. The Elatior Begonia  is nothing short of flawlessness. Likewise quite popularly known as Rieger begonia across many nurseries and gardening stores, this chart-topping flowering plant has every attribute you lot'd want your landscape to characteristic.

More Fun Facts About the Rieger Begonia Constitute

The Elatior Begonia is a hybrid fabricated past an English language institute breeder James Veitch dorsum in 1883. It's a crossbreed of 2 species — Begonia socotrana and a tuberous begonia type. The Begonia socotrana  natively comes from Scootra , an Isle a few miles abroad from East Africa's coastline, while the latter was establish in the tropical regions of Due south America.

As a winter-flowering plant, it needs shorter days and cold temperatures to bloom. Other names aside from Elatior and Rieger that this variety goes past include ' Elatior hybrid ', ' Veitchii  Begonia ', ' Hiemalis  Begonia ', and ' Baardse  Begonia '. Using a temperature control device and blackout curtains can help make this variety bloom all year round. The Elatior Begonia hybrid is a petite establish that grows compactly inside a small pot or hanging handbasket and reaches just a few inches tall.

Typically, most Begonia varieties can rarely grow beyond 1 human foot alpine, while the flowers can span upwards to v inches wide. They adapt suitably well nether USDA hardiness zones nine-10, while those growing in cold regions prefer zones two-8.  When growing in the latter zones, the Begonia tubers tin be overwintered. That's to advise you can move them indoors and regrow in the preceding year.

Other Wildly Impressive Begonia Varieties

1. Richmond Begonia : If you fancy growing a much bigger type, then you need to consider growing the Richmond Begonia. Likewise known every bit the 'sun begonia', this type forms bronze-green leaf, simply the color changes depending on the lighting conditions. It's a hybrid that looks ravishing inside a hanging basket and develops a reddish tone on the underside of the leaves. You'll need to regularly trim this gristly-rooted type since it spreads kind of like a shrub and the flowers bloom more often compared to other varieties.
2. Nonstop Begonia ' Mocca  Xanthous' : This patented tuberous hybrid blossoms nether regions where summertime months have slightly college temperatures than the average. Despite being heat tolerant, this variety prefers some fractional shade to flower its yellow flowers without whatsoever mishaps. On average, information technology has the potential to reach between 12-16 inches tall.
3. Administrator Series Begonia : The Ambassador series is a fibrous-rooted type with thick and waxy leaves that tin suit to extreme rut or drought conditions. On the face up of it, this variety may look compact but flowers grow huge in unlike shades of carmine, pinkish, and white. As an annual found, it generally prefers to abound under USDA hardiness zones 10 to 11 and can reach up to 12 inches in height if grown under the most suitable weather.
4. Cocktail Series Begonia : Compared to the mainstream green-leafed varieties, this particular blazon withstands estrus a lot better since the leafage is darker and the leaves are quite rigid. It'south a perfect option for bedding peculiarly when grown outdoors alongside other flowering plants. The Cocktail Series Begonia makes an appealing stature when used for landscaping since it blooms to make an entrancing bloom bed during summer. It produces flowers in various shades of pink, red, and white.
5. 'Double White' Begonia : If you're overly obsessed with white flowers, the blooms from this gristly-rooted variety volition brand yous look no further. You won't need to exercise any deadheading since it doesn't produce any seeds. You desire to protect this variety from the intense heat in the afternoon by growing it under a shade.

How to Grow Rieger Begonia Plants

Growing this flowering hybrid whether indoors or outdoors is far easier than yous'd contemplate. Although the life span of the Rieger begonia is fairly short particularly afterward blooming, y'all can bring a newer breed into life by propagating it using leafage-tip cuttings from the mother institute. And while yous're at it, here are a few pointers to take notation of:

1. If you're looking to propagate your begonias using seems, brand sure to source them from reliable suppliers. Put the seeds in a bowl full of water and get rid of those that float.
2. Grow it far from kids and pets since the roots and stems contain soluble calcium oxalate — a molecule with toxins that could cause peel irritation and airsickness when ingested by dogs and cats.
3. You'll discover good quality tuberous begonias being sold in abode improvement stores when it's early on wintertime or tardily autumn.
4. Begonias do well when bred indoors during the early growing stages. You'll later need to move it outdoors about 10-12 weeks before the last frost dates.
5. Bark mulch is widely used while preparing the growing medium to retain the soil moisture, protect the invasion my weeds, and keep the roots from rotting.
6. You can overwinter your begonia tubers if specially you're living in USDA hardiness zones 2 to 8. Keep your begonias indoors and replant them in the coming year and then they tin can have a perfect surround for cell rejuvenation .
7. Pick a position that remains dark in the evening. You lot Begonia needs to mutate to shorter days and longer nights. To keep this cycle afloat, don't betrayal it to any grow lights or illumination from streetlights during dark.
8. Only h2o information technology when the soil is dry and, avoid making the leaves wet.

Rieger Begonia Routine Caring Tips

Flowering & Fragrance

Flowers are the most noticeable and endowed parts of the Rieger begonia hybrid. Even though the flowers from this terrestrial species take no fragrance, they're huge and tin bloom indoors besides. The flowers blossom in shades of vivid xanthous, white, pink, or red.  Each color remains bright throughout the blooming season.

Y'all'll find this hybrid being sold as a disposable constitute since it blooms during wintertime and the flowers die off once the flavour is over. Simply that's not the case with all begonias. Some can bloom all the way till the side by side fall flavor.

Soil & Transplanting

Drainage is really crucial for this houseplant. You demand to use regular potting soil and amend it with peat moss to create high absorbency and command the soil pH levels. Begonias are most often to root rot when the soil stays wet for long hours.

Besides using peat moss, a guide  from the Department of Institute and Soil Science at the University of Vermont recommends using a soil-less mix and adding perlite or vermiculite. I've nurtured a few begonia plants for about 2 years and so far, I haven't seen the need for repotting them. They prefer to be root spring; hence yous don't want to use a large growing pot.

Light & Temperature

Nigh species in the Begonia genus — nearly 1800 of them, are native to tropical and subtropical regions. And for that reason, you'd expect your Begonia to suit to growing indoors where access to sunlight is partially limited. That'south to suggest y'all demand to find a spot where the sun rays aren't too bright to burn the flowers. And so, you need to avert placing the medium close to a south-facing window where light is direct and overly bright.

Frosting conditions likewise brand the flowers dice off, so try to keep the room temperature from falling below 55 ° degrees Fahrenheit. If the buds begin to drib, that could be a sign to bear witness your Begonia houseplant is suffering from extremely common cold weather. Try to keep the average room temperature warm and humid. To make the flowers appear crisp and fresh, you need to place the growing medium somewhere with abiding air apportionment.

Clean air keeps of mildew which causes the found to get exposed to fungal infections. Growing it inside a room with a ceiling fan can aid prevent such awful conditions from happening. Beingness a photoperiod blazon, then information technology practically suggests that your Elatior Begonia would bloom quite optimally nether light for only a few hours all year round.

Watering & Feeding

Yous need to water your Elatior Begonia quite often every growing season. If you're opting to grow this establish within a container, then you don't want to leave information technology entirely dry at any point.  And while you're watering this flowering houseplant, endeavor not to soak it wet.

Begonias that go into direct contact with water every so often take hold of mildew which eventually forms a whitish coat made of minute fungal hyphae that causes your establish to rot. Once the blooming stage is over, wait for the foliage that's dying off to dry out completely earlier resuming to the normal watering intervals.

Feed your Begonia with soluble fertilizer mostly when it'southward blooming, and lessen the number of times you water information technology during winter. If you're looking to foster the flowering phase, you want to use a fertilizer that's rich in phosphorus. This element establish in fertilizers promotes blooming and helps the establish produce fruits. And since phosphorus needs to be higher in the formula, y'all  need to look out for fertilizer with a ratio such as 15-thirty-15.

Preparation & Maintenance

You only need to trim your Rieger begonia when the blooming phase is over to command the overall growth. Trimming as well lets the plant give ascension to new shoots which afterwards develop into flowers. Aside from that, you lot want to get rid of the expressionless flowers. And when it begins to yield flowers, don't move it from its erstwhile position since that would cause the buds to shed.

How to Propagate Rieger Begonia Plants

If y'all want to take a few more Begonia plants in your domicile, you can first off the practise by propagating them using stem cuttings. Roughly, the stem cuttings need to be about 3" inches long and have at least a pair of leaf nodes. Autonomously from these few pointers, hither are other weighty outliers you need to grasp if you're looking to propagate your Begonia plant using stalk cuttings:

1. Await till the blooming flavour is over and then yous can make the cuttings from the mother plant. New growth tends to show upwards around the bound season.
2. Cover the cuttings with a plastic bag and brand a few holes for ventilation.
3. Keep information technology in a dry place, but avoid directly sunlight. The cuttings need to heal past forming a callus tissue on the wounds which prevents them from catching any fungal or bacterial infections.
4. Remove the cuttings from  the plastic numberless to check whether they've hardened  and healed completely.
5. The root hairs should begin forming upwards within a calendar week or ii. Later on well-nigh iv to 5 months, you tin can expect your Begonia to commencement blooming.
6. Plant each cutting in a pot about half-dozen" inches big in diameter.
7. Provide your cuttings with temperatures between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit when information technology's daytime, and l to 60 at night.
8. You tin can cull to use the Miracle-Gro  African violet potting mix, or prepare regular potting soil and mix it with sand or peat moss.
9. Remember to place the growing medium somewhere cool with shorter days and longer nights.

Mutual Pests & Diseases to Watch out for

In your quest to make this angiosperm wait graceful all year long, you'll probably have to deal with a couple of threats. Some of the common pests found preying on Begonia plants include spider mites, scale insects, and mealybugs.  These three pests damage the leaves and cause them to have tiny night spots. Whiteflies also can become hostile especially if you lot're growing your Begonia indoors.

After sucking the sap from the fleshy parts of the establish, both mealybugs and whiteflies excrete honeydew which sticks on the leaves, causing blackness mold to class. And 1 typical sign of overwatering is the leaves will begin to turn yellowish and driblet. If you've been overhead watering your plant, it may attract mildew which causes parts such as the stems and leaves to rot.

If you're looking to use synthetic insecticidal soap to suppress the infestation, brand certain to dilute information technology with h2o and read all the instructions on the label. You can also go rid of mealybugs by wiping off the afflicted  areas using a cotton wool swab dipped in isopropyl booze.

Benefits & Uses of the Rieger Begonia Plant

Placing your Elatior Begonia on a windowsill where it can plenty bright only filtered low-cal would brand the flowers accept flush and dumbo colour throughout the blooming flavor. Depending on your region, it can fit and grow at a stellar stride inside a pot or in a hanging basket out on a shaded patio.

And due to its bright red color and stunning shape, you can apply this Begonia variety equally an ornamental found. Begonia plants take since the gold ages been used to treat influenza, bronchitis, and skin conditions since they carry some anti-bacterial properties.

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Source: https://www.diys.com/elatior-begonia/