Well, I've never come across a begonia bonsai, but if the trunk eventually gets woody, and the variety has small leaves, I suppose anything's possible. Bonsai are really about 'real' trees, ones that hold their branches over years and years, but not knowing a lot about begonia, you'll have to decide for yourself if it's possible. The only diff. between starting from cuttings is that it's faster than from seed. The caudex bonsai I am familiar with are things like Adenium obesum (Desert Rose), and other types of succulents, or ginseng Ficus.

Thanks for the information, Lucy. When I was reading up on my plant, I saw a few websites recommending it as a bonsai plant, but I guess it's simply because it sort of looks like a small tree. It certainly makes more sense what you said, that bonsai is about growing regular-sized trees small. After your reply, I'm thinking I'm probably better off asking these questions over in the succulents forum. Somehow all those "bonsai" mentions I saw online got me off track :)

Oh, and I think Desert Rose, Adenium obesum, was the plant that I read about, that it doesn't form a nice caudex when grown from a cutting -- that's why I started wondering if maybe that would be true about the begonia. Well, worst case I'll just have to try and see :)

Thanks for your help, and sorry my post ended up in a wrong forum!

Alenka - please don't let anyone else tell you what YOUR bonsai experience or adventures should be. Define them yourself, and if you bend or stretch someone elses rules - so what?! ;o) Have fun with it on your own terms. As you grow in the art, you'll begin to make decisions for yourself about what plants are and are not what you would like to cultivate as bonsai. I play with and have perfectly believable bonsai from things like snapdragon, Coleus, geranium, grey santolina, Impatiens repens, and other plants that aren't 'real' trees.

I can't answer the question about the difference in the caudex of seed plants vs cuttings, but there is considerable difference in other woody material grown from cuttings vs seed. The cuttings will almost always have a much flatter and more even nebari (root buttressing) than seed plants; so much so that it is pretty standard practice to lift yearling seedlings and remove the taproot all the way up to what will eventually become the basal flare, and then return them to the soil, treating them as cuttings.

Take care.

Al

Thanks Al! I wasn't scared away by Lucy's explanation what people usually think of as bonsai. I just want to grow my plant well, or in a cool way, no matter how the growing method is called -- but still, it helps to know the right terminology, and what other people may mean when they say *bonsai* or whatever -- so that I can formulate my questions better, and direct them better, and hopefully get more advice :)

That's really interesting info on cuttings vs seedlings -- I was trying to figure out what's the best way to propagate this begonia, but after your reply I'm curious to see for myself what the difference would be, so I think I'm going to go ahead and grow a few of these begonias from seed and from cuttings! Thanks for the info!