Begonia Maculata: 7 Expert Care Tips and Growing Guide
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Begonia maculata 'Wightii' is another houseplant that has taken the plant world by storm and is super popular. And for good reason! The foliage is absolutely stunning and is nicknamed the Polka Dot begonia for obvious reasons. Begonias can be a bit touchy though, so it is important to know a few things to keep your plant in tip top shape.
Let me take you through 7 care and propagation tips that I've developed from personal experience that will help you take care of Begonia maculata 'Wightii' and keep it looking its best.
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In this post you will learn how to take care of this plant, as well as discuss some common problems with Begonia maculata and what you can do to help prevent these issues.
Table of Contents
How do you care for a Begonia maculata plant?
1. LIGHT
Light (next to watering) is the most misunderstood topic in houseplant care. When grown indoors, Begonia maculata does like some partial sun.
This is not a low light houseplant. Cane-like begonias such as the maculata like brighter light. It is not necessary, nor desirable, to keep your plant in full sun all day, but some direct sun is beneficial indoors.
This plant absolutely MUST be in front of a window, otherwise it will grow weak and lanky. I find that they tend to need support regardless, and if you have these plants in conditions that are too dark, you will be disappointed.
Keep this in mind next time you see a staged photo of plants on Instagram. In many cases, photos are staged and those plants are not necessarily growing where you see them in the photo.
I have my own plant growing in my sunroom, which has nice light from a large wall of North widows, a smaller wall of East windows, and also a skylight.
Granted, in the winter, conditions in Ohio are quite dismal so you may be luckier than I am! Sunshine in the wintertime is beneficial for many plants (including ones that don't traditionally "need" direct sun).
I would not recommend growing this plant in front of a North window. In most cases, it will not be enough light for this plant. A good East window, or West window, would be great.
If you are blessed with super sunny windows, you may want to diffuse the light with blinds or a sheer curtain. Too much direct sun can scorch these plants, at least wash out the color of the foliage, and bye bye polka dots!
If you are concerned about not getting enough natural light, the American Begonia Society says that begonias can grow very well under fluorescent lights and it doesn't have to be an expensive set up.
The ABS says that if you are on a budget, you can use a plain shop light with cool white bulbs and leave them on for 14 hours a day. Just be sure to have the bulbs 2 inches above the top leaves for best growth.
Just be careful as the plant grows, you will have to adjust the lights!
I actually have successfully grown begonias indoors even under LED lights (not the hideous purple ones...just plain LED).
2. SOIL MOISTURE, WATERING & HUMIDITY
Soil moisture for Begonias is CRITICAL! Read this section carefully because it could mean the difference between success and failure.
I've found that there is a delicate balance to strike in watering begonias indoors. They seem to demand very exacting conditions in soil moisture to really look their best!
As long as you don't expect a perfect looking plant (and begonias will rarely look perfect indoors), you will be ok if you heed everything I have to say.
If you keep the soil too dry (meaning completely dry, or even almost completely dry), I've found that Begonia maculata is prone to dropping brand NEW green leaves.
In addition, you will get more of the dreaded crispy brown tips. Some of the lower leaves will also turn ugly and drop off as well.
If you have leaves that are yellow and dropping off, you are potentially keeping it too wet. When you notice this happen, stick your finger in the soil and see if it is wet or dry in order to best diagnose the cause.
So don't let these plants completely dry out! To read more about crispy brown leaves in houseplants in general, be sure to read my blog post on why plant leaves turn brown and crispy.
On the other hand, you must NOT keep any begonia too wet. This will cause rotting to occur and also invite various diseases that begonias can be prone to including powdery mildew, among others. My recommendation for watering would be to let the surface dry out (about the top ½ inch or 1 inch or so) and then water thoroughly. This should be a good rule of thumb.
Water your plant thoroughly until all excess water escapes the drainage hole, and discard the excess water. Do not let your plant sit in water.
And don't expect perfection with begonias indoors. For begonias to look their best indoors, they need high humidity, which is difficult to achieve indoors. These plants are native to the jungles of southeast Brazil, so they are used to high humidity.
Although being diligent with watering and NOT allowing your maculata to dry out completely is much more important than worrying about humidity, if you can
I do run a humidifier indoors in the months that our central heat is on, otherwise my plants (and my skin) will hate me. I wrote a blog post on the topic of increasing humidity for houseplants so be sure to check that out as well.
Before we move on, I talk about this in the humidity post that I referred you to above, but my absolute favorite humidifier, and the one I use in my home, is made by Levoit. I LOVE it and it has so many features.
My plants, and my skin, are much happier in the winter with the humidifier. My plants are already subjected to dark Ohio days in the winter, so I make sure that I can compensate a little bit by giving them extra love with more humidity!
I talk about the humidifier in my blog post that I linked to above, but if you want to go directly to Amazon to purchase it, check out the Levoit Ultrasonic Humidifier now. You won't regret and your plants and your skin will love you!
3. SOIL TYPE & REPOTTING
Cane-type begonias aren't as picky as some other types of begonias as far as soil goes. Many other begonias need a coarser mix.
Mine is just planted in an all-purpose Miracle Gro potting mix to which I've added some perlite to it. It seems to work just fine.
Just make sure that you don't keep your plants too wet and remember my advice from the watering section! One very important caution if you are repotting your begonia...be sure not to use a pot that is much larger than where it was previously in.
If you go too big, the soil will stay wet for much longer and you will risk disaster with your begonia! This is especially important for begonias. For example, if you are growing a plant in a 4 inch pot, go up to a 6 inch pot and no bigger. Be sure to loosen the root ball a little bit too before placing it into the bigger pot.
4. FERTILIZING
I've converted most of my houseplants to Dyna-Gro Grow fertilizer. I can't speak highly enough about this fertilizer. It is urea-free, is balanced enough for pretty much all foliage plants, and has all the major and minor nutrients.
I add ¼ to ½ teaspoon per gallon of water and use this with every watering throughout the growing season. I refrain from fertilizing in the winter when growth slows or comes to a halt.
Dyna-Gro Grow is simply the best all purpose fertilizer that I've used for my indoor plants and should be part of anyone's houseplant care routine.
6. PRUNING BEGONIA MACULATA
Over time, your plant may get a little leggy and you might want to rejuvenate your plant.
If you want a bushier plant, you can trim and prune your plant. I trimmed mine in the photo further down below, and you can see that it is growing back.
My plant had started to look a bit ragged because I unintentionally let it dry out multiple times (life happens...) but I took action to improve it. Don't be afraid to prune! You'll see shortly how beautifully my plant responded to a hard pruning.
I followed these tips from the American Begonia Society. In late winter or early Spring, when plants start back up into growth, you can do some maintenance.
If there are very old, woody canes, especially with not that many leaves, just cut the whole canes down to the soil line.
For any green canes, you can shorten them a bit, but leave at least 4 nodes like I did in the photo above. A node is where the leaves meet the stems.
A few months later, this is what the plant that I chopped back looked like. Granted, I also had it outdoors during the summer, but look at the transformation!
And the flowers are just stunning! After the flowers are spent, they will fall off. If the flowers fall onto the foliage, make sure you remove them promptly, otherwise it could damage the foliage and encourage pests and disease if they left for too long.
Note that if your plant is not blooming, it's probably not getting enough light. Fertilizing will help increase the show, but light is what will help your plant bloom.
Throughout the growing season, if you pinch the growing tips of the canes, this will help to encourage brand new cane growth from the base of the plant. This will result in a fuller plant.
And of course after all that trimming and pruning, you can use the cuttings to propagate your plant.
7. HOW TO PROPAGATE BEGONIA MACULATA
Propagating this plant is very easy. Just take any clippings that you may have taken from pruning your plant and use this material to propagate.
You'll want to have one or two nodes on the stem. Again, the node is where the leaf meets the stem.
Here is an example of where you can cut to make a cutting.
If you then remove the leaf right above where the scissors are, you are left with one node where the roots can grow from, and the cutting still has two leaves at the tip.
Whatever you do, make sure each cutting has one or two leaves left on it.
Then simply just place the cutting in water to root, or you can even insert the cutting into a pot with moist perlite. Once it is rooted, pot it up. Don't wait forever to pot it up into soil.
Here are all the cuttings I made after I pruned my plant.
And here is an example of one of the rooted cuttings! All the cuttings I made rooted. There is evidence of rooting on the node and also on the internodes (between the nodes).
And here is a close up of the roots.
If you love water propagation, you may also enjoy my post on the best houseplants to propagate in water.
BEGONIA MACULATA PROBLEMS
POWDERY MILDEW
Begonias in general are prone to powdery mildew, which is a fungus that starts to appear as small white spots on the foliage and will quickly spread.
Remove any affected leaves and spray the entire plant with an appropriate fungicide. Powdery mildew tends to be an issue when you have high humidity and poor air circulation.
If you are using a humidifier or have your plant growing in high humidity, you'll want to take care to increase air circulation in order to help avoid powdery mildew.
A ceiling fan, or even a portable fan, set on low to gently circulate the air will help avoid this issue if you've had problems with it in the past.
BROWN TIPS ON LEAVES
This is most commonly caused by allowing your potting mix to become too dry. Humidity levels that are too low can also cause this.
YELLOW LEAVES
There are many reasons why plants get yellow leaves. Yellow leaves can be caused by potting mix that has gone too dry, or has stayed too wet for too long.
It is up to you to feel the potting mix and determine which could have caused it. In addition, too much direct sun can wash out the foliage color as well.
DROPPING LEAVES
These are definitely touchy plants, and if conditions are not even and stable, your plant may protest and drop leaves.
Leaf drop is common if you have recently brought your plant home.
It needs some time to adjust to its new environment. Striving for consistent condition (soil moisture), stable, warm temperatures and sufficient light will help avoid this issue.
LEANING OVER
Is your plant leaning over to one side as it's growing? Over time, as your begonia canes get long enough, they'll require support.
Simply insert thin bamboo stakes, or a similar support, in the pot and loosely clip or tie the canes for support.
BEGONIA TOXICITY
Begonia maculata is toxic to cats and dogs due to calcium oxalate according to the ASPCA.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Should you mist Begonia maculata?
Misting does NOT increase humidity. Begonias benefit from higher humidity, so use a humidifier for best results, but remember to also provide good air circulation in order to prevent powdery mildew that begonias are often prone to.
How fast does Begonia maculata grow?
It is considered a pretty rapidly growing species and can even grow up to a foot or more during a growing season with good conditions.
Why are leaves falling off my Begonia maculata?
Many factors can cause this including a drastic change in environment, soil that is too dry or too wet, low humidity, and even very inconsistent conditions.
How do you make Begonia maculata bloom?
Blooming is always triggered by sufficient light. If you plant is not getting enough light, it will not bloom. Aim to have very bright, but mostly indirect or filtered sun for best results.
Why is my plant tall and leggy?
If you find that your plant is growing but there is more and more space between the new leaves (the internodes), this means that your plant is not getting enough light. You may want to prune your plant back, and move it to higher light.
If you love begonias, be sure not to miss my blog post on dazzling begonia types that you can grow in your home.
That's about it folks! Do you have a Begonia maculata? What are your experiences with this plant? Comment below! I'd love to hear from you.
I have a begonia maculata and all the leaves getting getting crunchy and brown at the tips then falling off. I water weekly. I have it about 10 feet away from a south facing window on the bar of my kitchen. I keep it cool in my house. 70 degrees always. Is that the problem? Please help me and tell me what I’m doing wrong
Do you feel the soil before you water? Also, 10 feet away seems pretty far, though I would really need more information and pictures to help out.
Where is a “growing tip” to make it grow more below the mother plant?
Hi Carrie! If you prune your plant, often times it will encourage new shoots growing at the base of your plant.
My begonia was doing great, all the tips you write are how I care for mine. It doesn’t get direct sun but it’s in a bright south facing room. For some reason the bottom leaves started loosing color, I moved it even further away from the window and still saw no change, leaves kept losing color (only the bottom ones). They don’t really drop or feel wilted like when overwatering. I don’t have brown tips and I fully soak and let it drain when it needs water.
It’s still putting out some new good looking leaves on top. I want to prune it back but winter is coming up so I have to wait. Anyways, I don’t know what’s wrong with it.
Hi Luisa! I wouldn't worry too much at all, especially since it's only the bottom leaves. It might be the plant responding to lower light levels now. You can always prune it back (and propagate) in the spring time. They respond very well to hard pruning! I've done that with mine a couple times.
I thought you were supposed to let the soil dry out so that you avoid root rot but my leaves are starting to fall so maybe I should try your way😄
Hi Candice! Many plants don't like to dry out completely, and root rot is only a problem if your plant stays too wet for too long. You can still keep your plant fairly moist with no danger of root rot. And you certainly need to water properly. Too many people are scared to water properly. The thing to remember is that you want to thoroughly water your plants, but have them start to dry out in a reasonable amount of time. And it doesn't mean that you have to let all the soil dry out (depending on what plant you have). Begonias will protest if they go completely dry, so I only let the top inch or two dry out. Having pots that are much too big (compared to the size of the pot that the plant was growing in before) is dangerous because the soil will take a long time to start to dry out because of volume of soil. If you have cooler conditions, your soil will taking longer to dry out. If your potting mix is not well drained, or you don't have a drainage hole, this can be problematic too. There are a lot of factors involved. I talk about all these factors in my book, Houseplant Warrior that is coming out in March. 🙂
Hi!! I love your polka dot begonia! I have 4 and am struggling to keep them happy. I keep losing leaves. I don’t know what to do. They are by a window and get morning sun. I water them once a week. When I do, I notice that the soil is very dry. I water until water runs out of the drainage holes and then I throw away the water in the dish. I am lost and getting so sad that I can’t make them grow more leaves and become bushy. I would appreciate what advice you can give me. I am losing hope. 🙁
Hi Jennifer! If you noticed that your soil has gone really dry, you may just need to monitor it more closely and water more frequently. If the potting mix is so dry that the water seems to stream through really quickly, you may have to soak it several times in a row to re-wet the potting mix. Many times, when potting mix gets super dry, it will actually repel water...so you need to stream water through for a while until it accepts water again. I hope this helps a bit!
Great post!
How big does maculata leaves get? And are the biggest leaves only at the top? If I cut off the tops, will the leaves at the bottom get bigger, or just bushier?
Hi Brooke! The size really depends on how good your growing conditions are. The biggest leaves won't necessarily only be on top. When the leaves are fully open and mature, they will remain that size. But the size of the leaves really depends a lot of how good your growing conditions are.
I am from Hongkong. Was given a plant of Begonia Maculata from a friend 16 months ago. It had a full foliage and one month afterwards, flowers bloomed. I fell in love with Begonia Maculata! After 2 months, flowers dropped and leaves started to brown, probably because it was the hottest month of the year! Leaves continued to drop but the plant continued to grow taller, up to 2 feet tall. More leaves dropped. At the moment, there are only 6-7 leaves left at the top and I saw very few nodes on the lower part of the canes! Was thinking of propagating. In April, took out one cane which had one leaf and two nodes plus the root and placed it in water. As I did not see too strong roots coming out, I had left it quite long in the water before transferring to soil. Nothing grew further, in fact, the two leaves are now hanging on to their life and could drop off any moment!
What could I do to help with the main plant and the one which I was trying to propagate?
Hi Christine! Did you place your cuttings in good light? Make sure you have the cuttings by a window where you'd normally grow your plants. Change the water frequently. If you trim your main plant back, it will respond with new growth and will rejuvenate your plant, like I showed in the blog post. Don't be afraid to trim it 🙂
I only just got mine this winter (London England)
Had some dry tops which I’ve trimmed
She lives in the bathroom close to a window but Indirect light.
She lives next to a rubber plant and I put them for a shower approx every 8-9 days when top soil is dry.
But I’ve just noted that some of the new leaves has got holes tiny ones in the middle of their leaves… do u know why?
Also our cat died very suddenly could this plant be why? It’s next to cat flap!😱
Hi Marianne. I'm so sorry to hear about your cat :-(. Begonias are considered toxic. Did you notice any leaves missing or chewed up other than the little holes?
I love your site and IG. My begonia has some crispy spots, but also new growth. I don’t know if I should prune the crispy leaves or let it go. I want to move it outside. We have a wrap around porch the western side is very shady. I’m in northeastern Ohi (down the road from you about 50 minutes). Where should I put her? I have another one that dropped all leaves. Should I do anything with remaining roots ? Haven’t seen any new growth peeking out of soil yet. Thanks for posting your store front for Amazon! Glad to throw some commissions your way.
Hi Carla! I'm glad you are enjoying my site and IG :-). Thanks for the support! I like to trim any brown, crispy leaf tips off. Moving it outside will work wonders for your plant, and the location that you described on your porch should work great. I moved mine outdoors too, and it's sitting in a spot that is very shady and will get a little filtered sun. Just be careful when you initially move it outside to place it in a location that is completely shaded at first so it doesn't burn As far as the one that lost all of its leaves, do you know why? Did you let it dry out completely? You can also trim the canes back a bit and move that one outside too. I've done a hard trim before and left maybe 3 or 4 nodes on each cane and the plant came back beautifully. They respond well to pruning :-). Start fertilizing too if you haven't already. Hope this helps Carla!
Hi everyone, I'm new to the begonia world and I live in the tropics (hot and humid Singapore). My 2 cane begonia are getting brown patches on the back of leaves and around the leaf stalk. The patches enlarge around the radius of the lead stalk for about 2 weeks and then the leaf falls off. The edges/tips of the leaf are fine so it isn't a lack of moisture or humidity. I make sure to weigh the pots before watering so that it is not too wet or dry and I keep them in a north facing window. Roots look fine and there are no pests. Any advice as to what could be wrong please?
Hi Shila! I'm not sure from your description. It would be helpful to see a photo. If you get a chance, go ahead and use the contact form on my website to send me an email. When I respond, you can attach some photos and I will try and help!
Thanks for your article! We've had our begonia maculata for 6 months now, but after a recent transplant (larger pot and new soil mix) 2 leaves have developed blotches that are spreading and noticeably weaker! Any thoughts on how to address this? Do we need to repot, or just trim the affected leaves?
Hi Keith! I'd have to see some photos to help and also understand your growing conditions (light, watering, your new soil mix, size of old pot vs. new pot, etc) in order to best help. Feel free to email me using the contact form with the details. When I respond, you can attach photos.
Hi there my maculata’s back side isn’t red just the veins are. It looks healthy and keeps pushing out new leaves. Is it because it’ not getting enough sun? I have it in front of a north east facing window and there is plenty of bright indirect light for most of the day then it will get filtered direct light towards the evening.
Hi MaryJane! Hm, that could very well be the case. As long as it's growing and looks healthy, I wouldn't be concerned. You can try moving it to a brighter location if you want to see if the red undersides develop.
@Raffaele,
Mine is doing the same. It’s producing new leaves and growing in height, but the red undersides aren’t very bright. I purchased a grow light to help give it more light and it’s been about 2 weeks. No change yet.
If you have any suggestions, let us know! Thanks!
Give it a little more time. It should develop over time if your lighting is sufficient 🙂
Hi there.
My Begonia has been doing fine during winter. Now that it is spring time it is having difficulties growing new leaves. The tip where the leaves are trying to grow becomes brown and crispy or the new tiny leaves just falls off. Can you please tell me what I should do?
Hi Mel, are you doing anything differently from what I describe in the post in terms of light, watering, etc? What kind of light is it getting? Have you let the potting mix go really dry?
@Raffaele,
The plant has been sitting in my living room since I bought. There is a small lamp above it to increase the light it gets. I water it once a week at least and make sure the top inch and a half is dry before I water. I have a humidifier and try to keep humidity between 45% to 55%. But I also noticed some browning on a couple of bigger stems. Still the baby leaves are falling off before it even unravels.
Hi it's early spring in ohio, and I'm wondering if I should butcher this plant or not, new green leaves fall off, and the leaves it came with are very very curly. Also what moisture level should I maintain with this plant? When would you say it's safe to keep it outside? Thanks
Hi April! I would follow the watering advice I have in the blog post. You can prune the plant back like I described in the post, and now would be a great time to do this if you want to rejuvenate your plant. You can use parts that you trim off to propagate more plants if you'd like! As far as moving it outdoors, wait until nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50F.
I just purchased a begonia that was shipped to me. It arrived in poor health. I'm not sure what to do for it. It has red spots spreading through all the leaves with brown crunchy tips on some of the leaves. Please help! 🙂
I'd have to see a photo to better help...try contacting me through my Contact Form on my website. When I reply, you can attach a photo and send it back to me, and I will try and help.
I do have this plant and I talk to it and it's gone crazy lovely, masses of new growth, wonderful glossy polka dot leaves and now loads of white flowers, it's a real show stopper,I think it likes the attention it get from everybody.
It sure is a show stopper! 🙂