To successfully take care of angel wing begonias indoors requires that you learn about its needs. Don’t be scared — the plant only looks high maintenance. In reality it’s a snap to grow these beauties indoors as long as you give them:

• Humidity
• Warm temperatures
• Adequate air circulation
• Water
• Fertilizer

Angel wing begonias are members of the Begoniaceae family which hail from the higher elevations of tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Although angel-wing begonias do produce flowers, the blooms face stiff competition from the plant’s attractive foliage.

With pendulous flowers set against a backdrop of colorful, patterned foliage, they provide a striking focal point inside the home. The American Begonia Society (ABS) classifies angel wings as “cane begonias,” for their stems that resemble bamboo canes.

Items needed 

• Planting pot, preferably clay or wood, with holes in the bottom for drainage
• Potting mix
• #2 perlite (super coarse)
• 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer (6-2-4, 12-4-8, etc.)
• Garden snips
• Rooting hormone powder
• Humidity dome
• Room humidifier (optional)
• Distilled water

Planting the angel wing begonia

First, determine whether or not the plant truly needs to be repotted. According to the American Begonia Society, the plant prefers to be pot-bound and that with more soil around the roots you run the risk of root rot. Check the rootball and if there’s still a significant amount of soil around and within it, reconsider repotting. If you do need to repot, wait until spring or summer to do so.

The American Begonia Society suggests using a clay or wood pot — something sturdier than plastic so that it won’t tip over as the plant’s roots become heavy. Look at the one below — it’s gorgeous and comes in several colors at Amazon. The size depends on the rootball of your plant. To be safe, purchase the next size larger planting pot.

What kind of potting soil for angel wing begonia?

Fill that container with a mixture of quality potting mix and perlite. Growers recommend 2 parts of potting mix to one part of perlite. Some growers recommend peat be added to the mix which we hope you won’t add for a number of reasons. These include the fact that fungus gnats love peat moss. Then, there is the fact that peat, which is harvested from bogs, takes hundreds of years to renew.

Do angel wing begonias need sun? 

Keep the angel wing begonia in an area of the home where the temperature consistently remains between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid placing it where it will be subjected to drafts or blasts of heat from a furnace.

Provide the angel wing begonia with at least 6 hours of sunshine per day. Direct sun is ideal, as long as it isn’t too hot.

How often should you water angel wings?

Allow the surface of the planting medium to dry to the touch before watering the begonia with distilled water. The angel wing doesn’t tolerate soggy roots, so allow the pot to drain completely before placing it back on the saucer. If the begonia’s leaves turn yellow and drop, allow the soil to dry out more before watering.

Apply  a 3-1-2 ratio complete fertilizer at half the strength recommended on the label. Repeat the application every month from April to October. Quit fertilizing when the begonia stops growing, typically just before winter. Start fertilizing again in spring when you see new growth. 

For our new gardeners, a “complete fertilizer” is one which contains all three primary nutrients (NPK, or nitrogen, phosphate and potash. More often, you will see NPK broken down as “nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.”

Pinching and pruning 

Pinch the pointed tips of growing canes periodically throughout the growing season. Tip-pinching keeps the plant from growing “leggy,” and prompts it to produce new canes.

Prune the angel wing begonia in winter by removing old canes. We love our snips for this job (you can buy an amazing pair of snips quite inexpensively online, here), but you may need pruning shears for mature, larger begonias. Cut the green canes in a staggered pattern, to four nodes on half of them and five nodes on the remaining canes. Don’t cut any green canes with fewer than four nodes.

 

How to use what you’ve pruned off for angel wing begonia propagation

Pruned tips that contain at least four nodes can be used to create new angel wing begonia plants. Dip the bottom of the cane into water and then roll it in rooting hormone powder. We use Hormex Rooting Powder, which comes in different solutions, depending on how hard it is to root a particular plant. Hormex recommends #8 for begonias. 

Stick the tip of the angel wing begonia cutting into the hormone powder and then into a pot of perlite. Place the cutting under a dome, in an area that receives indirect sun. Keep the perlite moist and give the cutting at least two weeks to form roots. When the cutting produces its second set of leaves, wean it off the humidity dome by leaving it open for longer periods every day for about a week or two.

Common angel wing begonia problems

Problem: Edges of the leaves turn brown 

Solution: Place a humidifier near the plant, but not so close to it that it drips water on the foliage.

Problem: Lower leaves turning yellow

Solution: Overwatering is the most common reason, but there are others, such as underwatering, nutrient deficiency, etc.

 

CAUTION: While wax begonias are toxic to people, dogs, cats and horses, angel wings are considered non-toxic. To be on the safe side, however, keep your plant out of reach of little humans and pets.