Begonia x erythrophylla

#newgrowth on my #beefsteak begonia! This appeared on the opposite side of the rhizome from the current growth point. Very cool.

My #beefsteakbegonia has grown so many new leaves these past couple months... it’s looking quite nice. These make a great #houseplant

I picked this #beefsteakbegonia Beefsteak Begonia up from a nursery that didn’t bother to train it properly, so now it’s growing way beyond its pot. I was wondering, does anyone have some thoughts on how to go about getting it back on track? I’ve seen photos of these plants that look full and compact. I would like to at least bring it back into the boundaries of a pot. The rhizome is very tough and it’s not possible to bend it back around. Has anyone ever dealt with this sort of problem before?

Is it looking for light? You can break off the length and plant it. This allows the original plant to become more compact and then you have another plant too. 😉

@lovestogarden It’s right next to a southwest window, so I don’t think it’s stretching towards light. Since I brought it home, it’s growth seems to have become much more compact. The nodes are growing a lot closer together. As for breaking off a piece of the plant, must the originally rooted rhizome have leaves or will it begin growing new ones once the growth tip has been removed?

It will grow new, but don't feel you have to break it off. It looks great. If it is growing more compact, it may just fill in over time. It is beautiful.

Then would repotting it into something that is shallow yet very very wide possibly bring it back into a constrained habit? I’ve seen other specimens look like “normal” plants and not a wild caterpillar?