"FiveMins" wrote
'Pam Moore Wrote:
"Bob Hobden" wrote:
"FiveMins" wrote -
Hi, I'm new to gardening but trying to learn. I bought begonias as
plug
plants this year & have been really pleased with the enormous flowers
we
had. I grew them in pots because I was worried about slugs & the
plants
were much bigger than I expected. Anyway, they were still in bloom
when
the first frost struck so that's that. I think I have read about
being
able to save the plants (in a frost free place) & then grow them again
next year. Is that right or have I got to throw away & buy new plants
next year?
-
Depends what sort of Begonias they were. If fibrous rooted then they are

finished if tuberous then they may still survive the winter if put in a

frost free place and not watered at all over winter. Mine are still
outside
and seemed to come to no harm in the last two nights of frost but they
are
up near the house.
What I do is once the top growth is all dead I clean up the pots and
place
them on their side on the bottom shelf of our little heated greenhouse
and
leave them there until the new year. Then, about February time, I repot
the
tubers in new compost and again leave them without water. Just cover the

tubers with compost. Once they start into growth, little green buds
begin to
break the surface, I start to water, very sparingly at first, and over
the
next couple of weeks as the plants grow further I increase the watering

until they are in full growth.-

BUT if they are the tuber-forming type, check the tubers before
storage for vine weevil grubs. In one pot of mine,
one corm was just a hollow shell, and the soil was thick with them.
Be sure you are storing clean, healthy tubers.

Pam in Bristol

It's really great to get so much advice offered, thanks. I am just south
of Manchester, near Macclesfield, so I don't know how the frost we
experienced compared to London etc. I have cut off all the growth that
was killed by the frost & the remaining plants seem to be still 'OK'. I
am going to take the advice & let my plants dry out & if I find that I
have got tubers then I can look after them as suggested.

That's what this Newsgroup is for, passing on experiences/knowledge.
I think the recent frosts down here were, for once, worse than yours.
Anyway, now you are an expert on Begonias perhaps you would like to try some
of these.... :-)

http://www.blackmore-langdon.com/cat...ype=Exhibition Begonias

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK