New Leaf From Old

Mrs. L. is currently having considerable success with leaf cuttings. Her begonias are looking particularly fine, with tiny new leaves appearing from the centre of an old leaf. So as a change from flowers, the camera was pointed at one of the new leaves. Here are two versions of the same leaf, differing only by the lighting - the first having an LED panel above and two small, directional LEDs from the right, the second without the LED panel. The new leaf is about 1cm long. With those hairs, you can almost believe that it's waiting to catch a small fly... which, of course, it isn't.

K3 + Sigma 70mm macro. Stacks of 26 and 34 respectively.

Thoughts, comments etc. welcome as usual.

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Steve

I've tried taking cuttings from most plants, but never tried a begonia leaf cutting, definitely one for the future. The side lighting and 34 stacks have given amazing definition and great colours.

Thanks. It really is fascinating discovering the detail in such a tiny leaf. There's a long way to go before it becomes a 4-6 inch long adult, but the main features are already there. The only significant thing missing is a swirl that develops where the leaf joins the stem. I'd like to get the swirl in a stacked image from above, but that could require serious contortions with a tripod possibly on a kitchen work surface - hard to get that one past Senior Management!

For your future reference with begonia leaf cuttings (and for anyone who doesn't know about such things), Mrs. L. simple severs the leaf stem where it joins the main plant and puts it into water. A small glass vase is good for that, you can see what's happening. Roots eventually appear at the severed end of the stem. When they look suitably strong, the stem is planted in potting compost with the old leaf on the surface. New growth appears where the leaf joins the stem - hence new leaf from old. There may be other ways of taking leaf cuttings, but this one works for Mrs. L. and her begonias.

Steve