CUTTINGS 



81 



The Lorraine type of 

 Begonias, including such 

 varieties as Cincinnati, 

 Melior and Mrs. J. A. 

 Peterson should be prop- 

 agated by leaf cuttings 

 taken from plants with 

 healthy leaves. Remove 

 the flowers to throw the 

 strength into the leaves. 

 All blemished leaves 

 should be discarded. 

 Such plants, with very 

 fleshy petioles and leaf 

 blades, may be propa- 

 gated by placing the 



Fig. 25. Rooted leaf cutting. The second 



cutting of the leaf shown in figure 24 has 



callused, rooted and ^produced a young 



plantlet 



Fig. 24. Rex Begonia leaf cutting 

 The leaf is so cut that each portion 

 has_a piece of a large vein. ^Each 

 section of the leaf when placed in the 

 sand will root. The parts around the 

 outside of the leaf are thin and are 

 thrown away (shown by white in sketch) 



petiole, or stem of the leaf in 

 the sand. The blade is often 

 reduced in area by cutting 

 away the outer and thinner 

 parts of the leaf. The usual 

 temperature for rooting such 

 cutting is 65 degrees to 70 de- 

 grees. The leaves of such 

 plants as the Rose, Lilac, 

 Cabbage, and Lemon, will root 

 by this method, but this is not 

 practiced commercially. Achi- 

 menes, Saintpaulia, Gesneria, 

 Gloxinia, Streptocarpus, Hoya 

 and Peperomia (see fig. 27), 

 however,are successfully rooted. 



