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Species library › Begonia › Begonia serotina
Begonias Well documented

Begonia serotina

A deciduous, rhizomatous begonia up to about 50 cm tall with peltate leaves, from the seasonally dry forests and fog-forest remnants of coastal Ecuador and far northern Peru (Tumbes). It survives a long, almost rainless dry season by losing its leaves and resting on its woody rhizome, and when in growth it sits in humid, shaded spots such as moist cliffs and stream banks. Growers get the best results by giving it a warm, humid, shaded growing season and then a genuinely drier rest.

At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light ShadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

A terrestrial, caulescent herb with an ellipsoid rhizome and woody-looking stems. A recent treatment places it in dry forest and scrubland, and also in montane forest in Ecuador, typically in humid, shaded microhabitats such as moist cliffs. Herbarium labels add exposed but shaded river banks, streamside forest and the fog-forest zone of the Chongón-Colonche coastal hills, where sea mist keeps the air humid during the dry season.

Recorded from about 25 to 1310 m, median 375 m; most records are from the coastal hills of Guayas, Manabí and Los Ríos at 25-850 m.

EcuadorPeru

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.