Begonia royal: popular varieties and care for them

Begonia rex (Begonia rex) is a fairly unpretentious, resistant to many diseases indoor plant, but it needs proper care and favorable growth conditions. First, you need to take care of the increased humidity of the air, since this is a tropical plant. At least once a day, it is recommended to sprinkle the leaves of begonia with water, and put the pot on a tray with moist peat. But make sure that the pot is not immersed in water. For this, peat is poured over pebbles or small gravel. It is very important that the drops of water do not fall on the flowers and leaves when sprayed. In general, royal begonia, care of which is simple, requires moderation in everything - in irrigation, in temperature and in feeding.

This plant has beautiful multi-colored large leaves of a very diverse shape. The uppermost part of the leaf can be with a pinkish, reddish, bronze hue, and also include black and poisonous-green tones. When flowering begonias, small flowers create a vivid contrast with fairly variegated leaves. Begonia royal does not like, when it is often rearranged from one place to another. Therefore, it is best to put it in a warm bright place, where there is no direct sunlight or drafts. It is recommended to plant begonias in broad pots, as the roots of the plant grow mainly in width.

To date, there are many cultural varieties of this kind, like royal begonia. Care for them is simple, but requires consideration of some characteristics of each variety. All of them were obtained as a result of crossing the East Indian wild species, which first came to Europe more than 150 years ago. The main difference of all varieties is the size, shape and color of the leaves. And, an inexperienced person sometimes finds it difficult to determine the belonging of a plant to a particular variety. The most popular grades of begonias royal for growing in ordinary living quarters are the following:

• Iron Kros. The leaves of this variety are large, oval-cordate, bright green with a brown cross in the center;
• Merry Christmas. A low plant, about 35 cm in height, with beautiful leaves with a brown spot in the center, which smoothly turns into a bright crimson hue to the edges;
• Perle de Paris. The most famous variety, which was cultivated in the 18th century. The leaves have a dark olive-green center;
• Royal snail. A variety with very original leaves that look like a cochlea, a dark green hue with a black middle;
• Silver Coxcrew. A very beautiful compact plant. Its leaves are broadly oval, with a spiral to the base. They have an original silvery color and relief venation, are covered with rare red hairs;
• Cleopatra. The leaves of this variety are brownish-green with a pleasant crimson hue;
• Tiger. Very unusual variety with a leaf plate of red-yellow color, having a green-yellow stain inside;
• Aurora von Koenigsmarkt. Small plant height up to 50 cm with large silvery leaves, which have a carmine tint and red petioles;
• Her Majesty. A variety with large leaves of a heart-shaped form of rich olive green color, framed by a broad almost black stripe ;
• Vesuvius. Plants are low, have brownish-red leaves, edged with a strip with bright red heels;
• Midnight. The color of their leaves is almost black. Only the bases of the central veins are slightly lighter and pearlescent, hardly noticeable, spots are scattered throughout the leaf area;
• German Toipel. A beautiful variety with elongated-heart-shaped crimson-red leaves with a carved edge. The rootlets of the leaves are long, red;
• Helen Toipel. It is a hybrid of two kinds - begonia royal and begonia diadem. The leaves of this variety are strongly jagged along the edges, they have a beautiful silvery-gray hue and dark gray veins;
• Meteor. A low plant with incredibly beautiful leaves with silver-raspberry-copper leaves framed by a purple-lilac stripe;
• Mikado. A variety with large silvery leaves, which have a dark red pearl band along the edge;
• Fairly. The leaves of this variety are silvery-gray, large, with dark veins.

Begonia royal - a plant short-lived, so it must be constantly renewed with young cuttings or seedlings of seeds.