Begonia plants are among the most popular ornamental plants that are very well suited for landscaping, flowerbeds, hanging baskets or container pots. Currently, in Romania, there has been an increasing demand to produce flowers for the landscaping market, and for the use of land in private and public gardens. Several organic and inorganic natural materials in different combinations were investigated for photosynthetic capacity, leaf area and flowering potential of Begonia semperflorens. The main objective of this study was to determine whether or not different growing media formulas are suitable for ornamental plant production with marketable value. Optimization of growing media formulas was performed by preparing four growing media mixing fallow soil, biolan peat, acid peat, leaf compost and perlite in different proportions. The highest photosynthesis rates as well as leaf area were obtained from growing media with 60% biolan peat, 30% acid peat and 10% perlite (BP60-AP30-P10). There were recorded results which suggest that begonias grown in the BP60-AP30-P10 medium seem to be high-value ornamental plants, while the ornamental value of the plants cultured in media containing fallow soil is too low.