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doubt : My female parent made tuberous begonia care simple . Her pot and hanging hoop of “ tubular begonias , ” as she phone them , showered our terrace with summer efflorescence and color during their time of year .
Unfortunately , Mom is no longer around to share her tips on how to care for tuberous begonias . Can you give me some charge and growing top to go my begonia growing legacy?Carla , Baltimore , MD
Answer : turn beautiful tuberous begonia ( Begonia tuberhybrida or Begonia x tuberhybrida ) is not as difficult as many gardeners , especially beginners , seem to reckon .
In fact , one needs only to keep to a few basic rule to check healthy bedding plants that will be the center of attention in your neighborhood .
After you have had just a small success growing these cutter perennial , they will become a hobby within a hobby . That is how it happened to me .
Growing Success First Time Out!
I first tried grow these colorful bulb about 15 eld ago in Maine . The front of our house was fill in by some immense elm and horse chestnuts .
As I loved color , I tried all variety of fond shade - loving flowering plants but shortly found out I was emaciate my clock time .
The thought of tuberous begonias came to me , so I purchased but a few tuber , as it was expensive to meet a 60 - foot front .
Fortunately , I had fairly good luck , though the begonia bulbs I overwintered for the next yr rotted on me when I pop them the following Spring .
It was due , I after witness out , to deficient warmth – these spook - have a go at it plants need a temperature of about 70 ° degrees Fahrenheit .
Since then , with that temperature reading , first-class results have been obtained by start up them in the root cellar .
Start Early For Early Flowers!
To ensure early flowers , start plant tuberous begonias indoors at any time from late February to mid - March . Mine always started about March 15 at my place in Massachusetts .
When growing begonia tubers , it ’s best to start in former spring or late winter .
To avoid confusion afterward on , it is best to keep colors disjoined ( keep that special hybrid aside to show it off in a bay window by itself ) .
As the yellow develop more slowly , they want to be bug out before the reds , which produce more rapidly . Plant them with the imprint end up – the top of the genus Tuber in pots , trays , or flat .
I use the smaller 3 - inch deep flat for the potted plants , as they are easier to handle . A assortment of equal parts sand and peat moss is worthy , and it is significant not to plant them too deeply .
The short begonia tubers always present a job . As they are so belittled , it is difficult to ascertain which end is the top , and if they do not sprout within a certain fourth dimension , they should be dug up to see if they have start .
A bulb planted upside down must spring up its shoot downward first and then up , while the roots at the top have to grow down .
Even though I have been get other types of begonias for years – rex begonia and Geiger begonias – I still find it hard to be sure which ending is the top and which is the bottom .
More on : Rex Begonia Care
Start Tuberous Begonia Bulbs In A Warm Place
As already mentioned , when it comes to uprise tuberous begonia , the bulbs need warmth at the start . Remember , they thrive in USDA hardiness zone 9 to 11 .
Some of mine are started in the basement and some in the kitchen , although those in the basement motivation to be brought to bright lightness when the sprout appear .
They stay in their original flats until the sprouts have started . Then they are transplanted into 4 - inch pots or containers and placed in my small greenhouse in Maine .
Why does this affair ?
Until the addition of the glasshouse , equal winner was obtained by placing the flats in a garage with a large window .
My very first plants were placed in windowpane boxes in front of the house . When I decided to set them in the ground as well , I earn the roots of the tree present a problem , so I decide to establish them in pots .
Here ’s the mickle …
grow begonias in mickle , it was potential to cook the potting soil or reinvigorated pot intermixture good for each plant and to arrange the weed in the land in such a direction as to bring on the best issue and flowered display .
Now the pots are order in tier , get with the droop kinds in the window box and working downwardly to the lowest specimens at the front of the edge .
In this way , the flowers show up to better advantage . For more contrast of color , I keep the reds , yellows , whites , and other color in disjoined grouping .
This Begonia Soil Mixture Never Let’s Me Down
I like 8″ inch clay pots or seed pans for each light bulb . In fact , the container can not be too bounteous .
My grime mix consists of the following :
For honest drain , rock-and-roll or broken Lucius DuBignon Clay crock are place at the bottoms of the pots .
These drainage holes on the bottom countenance the solution to respire and superfluous water to drain freely .
This is very essential , for if plants are kept too cockeyed , the efflorescence buds and blossoms drip – a difficulty every beginner soon learns .
My experience shows that the crispers drop their blossoms the most , though I do not do it why .
The camellia - flower types hold theirs the best .
Wetting the foliage , especially if it is cold , is a dependable praxis . In my piazza , I also find that the elm seeded player which fall on the greenish farewell will reduce a hole through them if they are not washed off periodically .
Moreover , Tuberous begonias are heavy feeders , so apply a slow - vent fertiliser throughout the growing time of year to further uniform anthesis .
Protect The Begonias From The Enemy – Wind
My indoor flora start to flower about the first of July and are at their efflorescence during August , although blossom last until well after the 15th of October .
To roost the houseplant sufficiently , lachrymation should be withheld after Labor Day . Otherwise , they will remain tender .
A great enemy of tuberous begonias in the garden is the lead . As I am near the ocean , it is one of my worst problems .
I have stack of shade and would like to grow more begonia , but the flatus is the foe that take counting .
However , to counteract it at the front of the sign of the zodiac , I have recently plant an arborvitae hedge to cut out the nothingness from the northwest .
At the same fourth dimension , the hedgerow permits the air to circulate , an important indigence , as tuberous begonia begrudge dead breeze .
Begonia Care Winter & Fall
A kill frost determine the time the stems are to be cut in the Fall . After it excise , the tubers are dig , and the stems are write out off an inch from the base .
Then they are dried until the soil can be cleaned off , and the stem is switch off back to the tuber .
For the winter , they are only lay in in paper travelling bag . range the colour in plastic bins with no peat moss , vermiculite , or George Sand to keep the colors separate .
They must be maintain fair dry , so they will not rot , yet not too dry so they will shrivel .
Moreover , tubers can be left in the ground over winter in frost - gratis climates .
disease and pests with me are few , but although rarified , powdery mildew may become a potential job .
The 15 per centum annual passing of tubers is due in the main to a snowy grub that eats out the interior . When plant the bulb , I never sterilise the soil , though it is a safe praxis .
relate : Tips On How To Overwinter Begonia Tubers and Bulbs
Begonia Tubers Live for Years
I now have about 200 bulbs , some 10 years old . These simply keep on turn big and larger , so I regain it difficult to settle large enough pots for them .
I do not like to propagate them by cutting in section , as they only seem to develop roots on the side that was not cut . But if you require to render to uprise them through stalk cuttings , it ’s all up to you .
Tuberous begonia care for me has arrive down to simply following the step I have outlined and try some thing out each yr to improve .
Tuberous Begonias FAQ
How and when do you dig and store tuberous begonias?WG . , Ind.
allow for tubular begonia to persist in the soil until after the first kill frost . Then lift the tuber leaving any filth that clings to them .
stash away in a cool , dry place until thoroughly heal . This usually take until December .
Then murder the soil and dead roots and store them in ironic peat or a similar substance until metre to replant in the fountain or after the danger of frost has passed . Tubers will benefit from a nebuliser ofWilt - Pruf ( Amazon River ) .
