Saving begonias
 

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?

You are stuffed for this year, your begonias are already dead. Next season, if you want to try again, google "over-wintering begonias" for instructions. Then decide whether you can be bothered, or prefer to leave it to the professionals.

On second thoughts, if it was only a light frost, and they are the type overwintered as a corm, then you might still have a chance.

I light frost it wasn't. Corms? I don't know. Presumably if I dig one up I will find that there is / isn't a corm/tuber. Thanks for the answer, at least I learned something.

Hi FiveMins, I agree, we havent had enough frost yet to freeze soil, so all that would have happened is that the tops would have been cut down !! You mention, 'large flowers' so I'm assuming you have tuberous begonias, if you place the pots on thier side, somewhere frost free and let everything dry out and totally die back you should find a tuber at the base of the plant, rub off all the compost, ideally dust with sulphur, place in a paper bag (not plastic) and store somewhere cool, frost free and dry. In spring, place tubers almost level with the compost but make sure the depression on one side of the tuber faces upwards (as this is the top) water and quite quickly, small buds will appear and from these shoots will grow !! You must do this inside and you wont be able to plant these out until the risk of frost has passed (about end of may) Make sure you grow these in good light when inside to keep the new plants bushy !! You can do this every year and keep the tubers from year to year !! Assuming of course that they are the tuberous type ??
hope this helps, best wishes Lannerman

Saving begonias
 

"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.


--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Saving begonias
 

On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:08:11 +0100, "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.

Saving begonias
 

On 22/10/2010 08:06, FiveMins wrote:
'Pam Moore[_2_ Wrote:
;903457']On Thu, 21 Oct 2010 22:08:11 +0100, "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.




IME one overnight frost doesn't suddenly kill everything, especially if
it's followed by a sunny day.

Saving begonias
 

On 22/10/2010 08:06, FiveMins wrote:


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.


Much colder down in the South than in Manchester. Apparently down to
-2.6°C in London, and around -5 or -6 a few miles north. Anyway, one
short frost is unlikely to see a decent tuber off.

If you have healthy tubers, there's no reason why they shouldn't survive
if kept frost-free and dry over winter.

--

Jeff

Saving begonias
 

"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

Saving begonias
 

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2010-10-22 10:22:47 +0100, stuart noble said:

On 22/10/2010 08:06, FiveMins wrote:
snip
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.

IME one overnight frost doesn't suddenly kill everything, especially
if it's followed by a sunny day.

Some gardens just down the hill from us have turned black overnight,
apparently.

One light frost was enough to see off the top growth of a batch of
Dahlias on the allotment site. And several rows of runner beans are
looking unhappy.

(My one tomato plant hasn't turned black, but it was looking unhappy
even before there was a frost.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Saving begonias
 

Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
Some gardens just down the hill from us have turned black overnight,
apparently.
One light frost was enough to see off the top growth of a batch of
Dahlias on the allotment site. And several rows of runner beans are
looking unhappy.

(My one tomato plant hasn't turned black, but it was looking unhappy
even before there was a frost.)

The nasturtiums and sweet potatoes on the allotment, plus the courgettes/
pumpkins/squash plants have all turned into gooey mush. :-(

Saving begonias
 

On 24/10/2010 14:04, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:
In message , Sacha
writes
On 2010-10-22 10:22:47 +0100, stuart noble
said:

On 22/10/2010 08:06, FiveMins wrote:
snip
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.

IME one overnight frost doesn't suddenly kill everything, especially
if it's followed by a sunny day.

Some gardens just down the hill from us have turned black overnight,
apparently.

One light frost was enough to see off the top growth of a batch of
Dahlias on the allotment site. And several rows of runner beans are
looking unhappy.

(My one tomato plant hasn't turned black, but it was looking unhappy
even before there was a frost.)

My outdoor tomato plants have now all gone over looking miserable.

I plan to treat the begonias the same as last year. Allow the top growth
to wilt, then put the pots in a shed until the top has died off
completely then remove the bulb part (corm? rhizome? I never can
remember what it is called) clean off all lose compost and wrap it in
newspaper and keep it over Winter in a cool dry place. In late Spring it
should be starting to put out some new shoots when unwrapped.

I don't know if the above is the best way to keep them from one year to
the next, but it worked for me last year to this.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Saving begonias
 

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote
One light frost was enough to see off the top growth of a batch of Dahlias
on the allotment site. And several rows of runner beans are looking
unhappy.

(My one tomato plant hasn't turned black, but it was looking unhappy even
before there was a frost.)

We got our last Chillies up this week before the serious frost killed
everything tender. It's all now in the compost bin and the ground has
already been dug, tidy for the winter.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK