Advice for a begonia that is not doing well

JupiterKid

Hi there,

I’m a long-term boards member but never posted on this forum before. I’m looking for some advice about a begonia I have in the porch of my ground floor apartment.

Basically I bought the begonia from a very good garden Centre along with a fuscia last August, and it was in a beautiful orange flower at the time. I watered it every few days (my porch is East facing and gets the morning sun) and it continued the floer and thrive right into late October/early November. In the autumn I transplanted the begonia into a much bigger terra-cotta pot with fresh compost soil as I thought it needed more space to grow.

Now, as Spring is upon us, during the past few weeks I have noticed the plant looking rather poorly. The leaves are discolored and when I lifted iPhone little branch to have a look it snapped off easily in my hand. The fuscia, on the other hand, continues to thrive and is even starting to flower again.

I would be so grateful of any advice you can give me. I have two photos I took of the begonia below.

wildwillow

I think it's too wet and probably cold if east facing. Seems to be nice healthy growth in the centre. I'd cut it back and allow the centre to grow. Maybe water less and repot in a little while. Keep it warmer but not too hot.

I agree with wild willow, they suffer from over watering, let the soil dry out completely between watering. Cut back the branches a bit. They need a free draining soil so add plenty of perlite (available in most garden centres) to the compost. Feed with tomato feed. You still have the tag attached in your photo, google your exact type of begonia as different varieties have different light needs.