22-10-2010, 08:06 AM
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Registered User
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Oct 2010
Posts: 5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pam Moore[_2_]
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.
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