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Old 15-07-2007, 05:08 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
K K is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
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Default What plant(s) are these? What do do with them?

Charlie Pridham writes

I think you have a zonal type Pelargonium and two types of Begonia, I was
about to say keep them in as they are not hardy when I noticed the word Hove
in your sig, it my well be if you are close to the sea you get very little
frost in which case base of a nice sunny wall would do.

The one with the big zoned leaves is the pelargonium, the begonias have
the smaller fleshier leaves.

Getting them out of that crowded pot into separate pots or into the
garden would be a good idea. Empty them out of the pot, and gently shake
and tease them apart, trying not to damage the roots too much. Then, if
in the garden, dig a hole bigger and deeper than the root mass, hold the
plant with the divide between roots and stem level with the top of the
soil, and sprinkle soil gently in and around the roots until you have
filled the hole, firming it down every now and then. Doubt that you'll
need to water it given the weather we've been having recently, but newly
planted plants need to be kept moist until they've had time to get their
roots down.

Both begonia and pelargonium would like somewhere sunny.

Over most of the country, neither are hardy, so come the autumn you
might want to dig them up and bring them indoors for the winter.

Alternatively, take cuttings - for the pelargonium: Pick a few,
preferably non-flowering, stems about 4-6inches long, in about August.
Take off all leaves except for a couple at the top. Fill a pot with soil
or moist potting compost (not the best medium, but works for me), and
push the cuttings into the pot until 2/3 or 3/4 of the length is in the
soil, give it a bit more water and put the whole pot into a plastic bag
and tie the top. After a few weeks, you can start looking at the pot
every couple of weeks or so - take away any cuttings which have rotted,
but you should eventually see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot.
Once you've got to this stage, you can gradually remove the bag and
start growing them on as new plants.

Other people will tell you how to propagate the begonias.

The idea is that the cuttings won't take up as much space over winter as
the original plants.
--
Kay