Cane Begonia - 'Orange Rubra'

Photo credit: Zaba Matali

Identifying this one is truly a challenge as I was not even able to get any clues and reference for this particular one - As such, I'm just labelling it to what I think the closest it can be from it's family order group.

The closest I manage to find was the genes category known as Coccinea Begonia. However this one is labelled as "Orange Rubra" in the plant market and so I'm just adopting this ID for this identification purpose.

Identifying this one is truly a challenge as I was not even able to get any clues and reference for this particular one - As such, I'm just labelling it to what I think the closest it can be from it's family order group.

CHARACTERISTICS:

This one is a spotted Cane Begonia but more subtle with speckles with fading dots when exposed to bright sunlight - the dots are more visible when placed in more shaded environment .

The Leaves appears to Fully Green in Full Sun and the plus point is that these will start blooming in that condition - the Key Identification of this particular Cane Begonia is this one has orange inflorescent. 

1) Spotted White Cane Begonia - disappears when in Full Sun - Leaves in Flushed Plain Green

2) Cane Begonia Flower Colors: Salmon - to Orange Tones

My first experience with propagation this one was a small cutting which almost died and I had revived it slowly over the months. Eventually the plant stabilized - however it is not so glorious as what I thought it would appear to be. The pictures below are the journey I had from a small cutting to a fairly decent plant growth.

Sept 2019

It took awhile almost forever for this one to slowly grow from this bare stem cutting into a nice full formation. The trick is lightly plant it at the medium surface - I often plant it deep into the soil medium which I normally do for most of my plant cuttings.

However, this one doesn't favor planting deep into the medium causing it too rot and the whole stem fall apart in rot. Due to this fact of sensitive root system - I dare not do anything until the plant had established itself with good roots and strong growth.

Even disturbing it now, may cause it to go dormant and may die back. Therefore - I just maintain it until it had grown much bigger filling up and become too big for that pot.

This is how the original Cane Begonia looks like - but because it is planted in direct hot sun - the coloration on the foliage has no spots and the leaves are very much yellow in color. The flowers are actually in light pink. I will have to patiently wait and see how is the outcome of this particular Cane Begonia fairing. Only time will tell.

After sometime, Almost a year for now - this particular one is fairly stable. 

I notice some similar characteristics - it does from slight fade speckles appearance similar like a Maculata breed. However when fully exposed to bright light the foliage appear to be light green and those speckles disappear.

Also it has pink-orangey flowers - which is far from a maculata species.

Another thing I realized is that this particular one have glossy shiny leaves - somehow it appears to be hardy and able to withstand open direct sun - ideal to place in the open bright area. I had noticed some gardeners plant them in the open area without much thought of placing this one in shade.
Surprisingly the plant able to stand the abuse - I guess it can be a hardy plant.

When place this begonia in fairly shaded area - the foliage appear to be a bit darker and the speckles more prominent but I doubt it would have any chance of flowering in this particular condition.

Just like any of the Cane Begonia types - these are also a slow growing plant.

Recently I had found this same particular type of begonia sold in a nursery with affordable price and I just purchased one for spare plant - knowing how fussy these begonias are especially they can die suddenly.

I believe it have stable roots and therefore the plant is very stable and well formed.

Care & Cultivation:
MEDIUM:

Just like most Cane Begonia species - this one is grown on a medium:
50% coco chip mixed with sand & potting mix. I found this medium used for propagation by the nursery owner - I had slightly added the same medium type and re-pot it in a bigger pot.
So far - the plant doubled it's size.

FEEDING:

I started using 3-4 pieces of Osmocote as fertilizer - 2 week once.
Alternatively I spray root hormone (Seaweed solution) also used another rooting hormone (Vitamin B1) a solution for stronger root growth as these are prone for root rot.

WATERING:

Slightly spray water once a day in the morning and refrain watering rainy days.
I do water twice a day on a dry and hot days - it's depending on the weather.

Apart from this variation.
Other matters are very much similar with the general information about Cane Begonias.

Do click below for more information on Cane Begonias.
Cane Begonia Care & Cultivation information.