I couldn't remember this plant even though it seemed familiar, so I googled it. NOW I remember. I think this is a beautiful vine and haven't seen one in years. I also remember when I would bring it in for the winter I would have problems. Especially spider mites since the house had the furnace on. If you just bought it I would return it. For me it behaves like ivy. Always red spider during the winter. And I lose it. Sorry to be such a downer. It is a nice plant and I would like to try one again. They are never in our area. Good luck!!!!! Rosie Here is what I found: Problems: Powdery mildew, downy mildew, aerial blight, rots, leaf spots, spider mites, whiteflies, mealybugs. Read more: http://www.finegardening.com/rex-begonia-vine-cissus-discolor#ixzz3pIkAghOm

"I water it when the soil is dry to the touch" is likely the source of the problem. If your pot is 10" deep, the top 2" of the soil column can feel dry while the bottom 6" of the soil is 100% saturated with water. It is essential to root health and normal root function that the soil column is allowed to dry down to, at a minimum, the point where no part of the soil column is saturated. You can probably fix the issue by using a wooden "tell" made from a 1/4 or 5/16" dowel rod from any hardware store. They come 48" long and you can make 2 or more from 1 dowel rod. It takes about 5 minutes total. More on using a tell below. Please tell us what you're doing to supplement nutrition (fertilize) ....what you use, the NPK %s, how often you apply. Also, is it your habit to allow the plant to sit in the effluent that exits the drain hole after you water? Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Sunny asked: Is the Masakuni wand better for watering potted plants and vegetable garden? I wouldn't consider a high quality water break to be essential to watering plants in the ground; and, if you only have a few plants in containers, you can get by with any middling product just by using extra care. Where the Masakuni wand shines is in the fact that the number of holes and their small size allow the water to move through the device fast enough (so it delivers more water) but under low pressure so it doesn't blast the soil out of pots. I have a LOT of woody plants, and need to make the watering rounds daily, even if only few plants get watered daily, because some plants require watering every 2, 3, 4, or 5 days, so the variation in time intervals between individual plants getting watered means it's guaranteed that 50 or more plants are going to need water every day. The Masakuni wand cuts watering time in half and it allows me to apply water very evenly to the entire surface area of the soil, which becomes increasingly potential as the rate at which the water passes through the soil increases. In the mean while I found a website from Japan that sells Bonsai related products. Have you had any experience with Bonsai Network Japan shipping products to the US? I have no experience to fall back on with regard to Bonsai Network, but I wouldn't be afraid to purchase the #2836 wand with shut-off/ flow control from them, which sells for about $50 before shipping. I have a couple of bonsai friends who use that wand and like it very much. I read an article about growing desert rose, the writer mentioned your name and your soil mix. I know the gritty mix and the 5:1:1 mix have gained a fair degree of notoriety, which says much more about the usefulness of the media than it says about me. Still, I've had enough people define their growing experience as having been transformed by changing their thinking about soil choice, and embracing media that embody The Concept which provides the underpinnings upon which highly aerated and fast-draining media are based. In all honesty, understanding the concept is far more valuable than simply following a recipe as the concept broadens horizons and offers the grower a great deal more in terms of flexibility. John said: I'm too sensitive to plants and when they suffer, it's hard for me too. At one time, I solved this issue by consulting with experts on each plant and we chose the right lighting and I also began to buy special water for irrigation. Not always, but in a very high % of cases where plants are suffering, you'll gain the most traction with regard to turning things around by making sure you are using a grow medium that allows you to water correctly, that is to say, to beyond the point of complete soil saturation so you're flushing the soil when you water. Some media remain soggy for so long after a thorough watering that it severely limits root function, or worse, root health. If you're unable to water as described without need to worry about damage to root function/ health, you can be absolutely sure you're leaving a large fraction of the plant's potential in terms of growth rate, vitality (health), eye appeal, and yields where yields are a consideration, lying on the table. A poor medium can very easily be responsible for sapping more than 90% of the plant's potential in the 4 areas I just mentioned. While all cultural factors deserve to be considered critical, odds favor soil choice as the underlying factor most likely to be limiting. In many cases, even diseases and insect infestations can be blamed on soil choice; this, because a plant's ability to defend itself is linearly related to the plants metabolic rate. Trees and herbaceous plants prioritize their parts, but perhaps it's better to say that the strength of energy sinks has a distinct order: Energy is first allocated to respiratory function, i.e. to maintenance of living tissues, then, to production of fine roots, followed by flower and seed/fruit production, then primary growth (extension of both roots and shoots), then secondary growth (thickening), and finally, the synthesis of defensive chemicals.Since synthesis of defensive chemicals gets the short end of the stick, it's the first to be impacted by limitations imposed by stress. .... seems like a good place to close, John. I'll leave you with this Overview of Good Growing Practices, in hope you'll find value in it. It also highlights the importance of soil choice, and relates it to the quality of the opportunity growers might provide for plants to realize their genetic potential. AL

Going from a 2 inch to a 6 inch is quite the leap but not a huge deal breaker either. Do not over water this begonia in particular. Keep it moist but not WET in the cooler months. Most canes don't mind drying out and I think that is beneficial. The big polka dot plants are mildew magnets so stay on top of that issue. Keeping it on the dryer side helps keep mildew at bay. Give them lots of light ( I give mine 12 hours a day with cheap shop lights). In summer you should be able to water more as needed and give lots more light for best growth. Remove infected leaves, spray with a fungicide as needed (I use Orchard Spray these last few years to keep mildew in check). The maculata I got at Walmart last year. This picture was in late September. Late January this year under shop lights with many other cane begonias including the infamous Sinbad which is even a worse mildew magnet (I picked every leaf off it in fall)