Begonia soli-mutata
Sun-Change Begonia
Typical UK price
£13
Limited data
Price by size
- Sold, 90 days
- 0
- Middle half
- -
- Last sold
- 5 Jun 2026
- On record
- 2
Cutting/cormEstimate
7cm2 sold
12cmEstimate
MatureEstimate
- Sale
- Typical
- Middle half
- Estimate
for a 7cm pot
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Recent UK sales
For sale in the UK
By month
| Month | Median | Sold |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | £11 | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | £14 | 1 |
Before you buy
- Press the rhizome gently — it should feel firm throughout, with no soft or discoloured patches
- Check leaf axils and the underside of the rhizome for mealybugs, which hide in the crevices between growth points
- Look at leaves of different ages on the same plant — you should see the colour genuinely differ between them
- Confirm the rhizome sits on top of the substrate rather than buried, which is how it should be growing in a healthy pot
About Begonia soli-mutata
The name means 'sun-changed,' and it's descriptive: Begonia soli-mutata's leaf colouration genuinely shifts with light intensity, the dark emerald to olive-green surface reading slightly differently depending on the time of day. Described by L.B.Smith and Schubert from the humid forest floor of southeastern Brazil, it grows as a creeping rhizome through leaf litter and humus-rich soil in warm, shaded, consistently moist understory, rooting at nodes to form low colonies. Strongly bullate, quilted leaves in rounded, asymmetrical shape carry contrasting lime-green venation and deep red to burgundy undersides.
Native range
Southeastern Brazil (humid forest floor, shaded understory)
Classification
- Genus
- Begonia
- Family
- Begoniaceae
- Type
- Wild
- Growth habit
- Rhizomatous, creeping colony
Morphology
- Leaf shape
- Asymmetrical, rounded to ovateEgg-shaped leaves, with the wider end near the base., strongly bullate and quilted
- Leaf length
- 10-22 cm
- Leaf width
- 9-20 cm
- Petiole colour
- Reddish
- Venation
- Lime-green contrasting venation and banding
- Texture
- Strongly bullate, deep blistered texture, red to burgundy undersides
- Variegation
- None: natural bicolour of dark emerald and lime-green venation; colour shifts with light
- Growth habit
- Creeping rhizome spreading along forest floor, rooting at nodes
Begonia soli-mutata care
- Substrate
- A very free-draining mix — 50% perlite, 30% potting compost, 20% orchid bark — is essential; the rhizome sits at the surface and rots quickly in anything that stays wet.
- Watering
- Let the top half of the substrate dry before watering again, and water at the base rather than over the rhizome itself. Rhizome rot, not underwatering, is what actually kills most of these in cultivation.
- Humidity
- Very high, 80-90%. Stable humidity also helps the colour-shifting effect read consistently, rather than being masked by leaf stress.
- Feeding
- Feed at quarter strength every 2-3 weeks through the growing season. These are slower, more deliberate growers than cane begonias and don't need or want heavy feeding.
- Repotting
- Repot every 12-18 months into a shallow, wide pot that matches the rhizome's spreading habit — never a deep pot, and never bury the rhizome itself.
Common problems
Rhizome rot
Cause: Substrate that stays wet, or a rhizome partially buried in compost
Fix: Cut back to firm, healthy tissue, let the wound callus, and keep the rhizome fully exposed at the surface going forward
Flat, unresponsive leaf colour
Cause: Light too consistent or too low for the colour-shift effect to be noticeable
Fix: Give it a spot with some natural variation in light through the day rather than flat, unchanging artificial light
Stalled growth after division
Cause: A division with too small a section of rhizome or too few roots
Fix: Keep divisions warm and humid until new growth resumes, which can take several weeks
Gear for this plant
- Natural Rooting Powder, 3 x 75gRooting hormone powder for stem and leaf cuttings.
- Precision Bonsai Pruning Scissors, 200mmFine-bladed snips for clean node cuts when taking a cutting.
- Humidity Dome, Heavy-Duty Germination KitVented propagation dome for holding humidity around fresh cuttings.
- Digital Hygrometer & ThermometerLCD humidity and temperature gauge for checking a grow spot against a plant's target range.
How to propagate Begonia soli-mutata
- Methods
- Leaf cutting, Stem cutting, Rhizome division. Step-by-step guide
- Difficulty
- Easy. Forgiving of missed waterings, average home humidity, and imperfect light. A solid pick for beginners or low-fuss collections.
- Time to establish
- 3-5 months
- True from cuttings
- Yes. Cuttings keep the cultivar's character.
- Notes
- Divide the rhizome into sections with at least one growth point, or root leaf-with-petiole cuttings flat on moist substrate; plantlets form at the base of the petiole within a few weeks in consistently warm, humid conditions.