Wintering over begonias

Overwintering A Begonia In Cold Climates

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Begonias

By: Nikki Tilley, Author of The Bulb-o-licious Garden

Image by Greenseas

Begonia plants, regardless of type, cannot withstand freezing cold temperatures and require appropriate winter care. Overwintering a begonia is not always necessary in warmer environments, as winters are generally less severe. However, to ensure proper begonia care, you should be wintering over begonias indoors if you live in areas prone to freezing temperatures, such as northern climates.

In order to keep and enjoy begonias in the garden each year, begin by wintering begonias indoors.

Overwintering Tuberous Begonias

Tuberous begonias should be dug up and stored indoors during winter until the return of warmer weather in spring. Begonias can be dug up in fall once foliage has faded or just after the first light frost.

Spread begonia clumps on newspaper and leave them in a sunny area until thoroughly dry — about a week. Once they have sufficiently dried, cut away any remaining foliage and gently shake off excess soil.

To prevent problems with fungus or powdery mildew while wintering begonias, dust them with sulfur powder prior to storage. Store begonia tubers individually in paper bags or line them in a single layer atop newspaper. Place these in a cardboard box in a cool, dark, dry location.

You should also be overwintering a begonia grown outdoors in containers. Pot-grown begonia plants can be stored in their containers as long as they remain dry. They should also be relocated to a protected area that’s cool, dark, and dry. Pots can be left in an upright position or slightly tipped.

Overwintering Annual Wax Begonia

Some begonias can simply be brought indoors prior to the onset of cold weather for continual growth, such as with wax begonias.

These begonias should be brought indoors for overwintering rather than digging them up. Of course, if they’re in the ground, they can be carefully transplanted into containers and brought indoors for growing throughout winter.

Since bringing wax begonias indoors can cause stress on plants, which leads to leaf drop, it often helps to acclimate them beforehand.

Before bringing wax begonias indoors, however, be sure to treat them for insect pests or powdery mildew first. This can be done by spraying plants or gently washing them with warm water and bleach-free dish soap.

Keep wax begonias in a bright window and gradually reduce the amount of light to help them adjust to an indoor environment. Increase humidity levels but cut down on watering over winter.

Once warm temperatures return, increase their watering and begin to move them back outdoors. Once again, it helps to acclimate plants to reduce stress.

This article was last updated on 10/20/22

What Is A Tuberous Begonia: Tuberous Begonia Growing Tips

Home › Ornamental Gardens › Flowers › Begonias

Begonias

By: Mary H. Dyer, Credentialed Garden Writer

Image by AH86

If you can’t decide what to plant in that protected, semi-shady corner, you can’t go wrong with tuberous begonia. However, tuberous begonia isn’t a plant-it-and-forget-it plant. Keeping the plant alive and healthy requires a bit of extra attention. Read on for some tuberous begonia growing tips.

What is a Tuberous Begonia?

Types of tuberous begonias include upright or trailing varieties with single, double, or ruffled blooms in tropical shades of pink, yellow, orange, red, and white. The gold, purple, green, or burgundy leaves are nearly as attractive as the flowers.

Tuberous begonias are frost-tender. If you live in USDA plant hardiness zone 10 and above, you can grow tuberous begonias outdoors year-round. Otherwise, you’ll need to dig the tubers and store them during the winter.

How to Grow Tuberous Begonias

Although tuberous begonias are shade-loving plants, they also require a bit of morning or late afternoon sunlight. A location in dappled or filtered light also works well, but the plants won’t survive midday sun or heat. Begonias need moist, well-drained soil and are likely to rot in soggy conditions.

Tuberous begonias are available at most garden centers at spring planting time. However, you can also purchase tubers and plant them indoors six to eight weeks before the last expected frost date in your area.

Place the tubers an inch (2.5 cm.) apart, hollow side up, in a shallow tray filled with moist potting mix and sand. Store the tray in a dark room where the temperature is about 65 degrees F. (18 C.). Water just enough to keep the potting mix moist. Watch for the tubers to sprout in about a month.

Plant each tuber into a pot when the shoots are about an inch (2.5 cm.) long, then move the pots to bright light. You may need supplemental light to prevent the plants from becoming spindly.

Plant the begonias outdoors when you’re sure all danger of frost has passed.

Tuberous Begonia Care

Water the plants regularly to keep the potting soil slightly moist. Provide a balanced, water-soluble fertilizer monthly during the growing season. Be sure to provide plenty of air circulation to prevent powdery mildew.

Use a sharp knife to cut spent blooms as soon as they fade.

Cut back on water in late summer, then dig the tubers when the foliage begins to turn yellow. Place each tuber in a small paper bag and store the bags in a cardboard box. Room temperatures for storage should be between 40 and 50 degrees F. (4-10 C.).

Check the tubers occasionally and discard any that are soft or rotten. Replant the tuberous begonias in spring.

This article was last updated on 04/01/21

How to organize the correct wintering of begonias

Tuberous begonia needs proper wintering. Without proper care in the cold season, she will die. We will tell you how to save begonia so that next season it will give you a lush bloom again.

Begonia is a thermophilic flower. Therefore, it is not capable of safely overwintering in open ground. During the cold season, the tubers of the plant must be dug up and stored, since this flower has a dormant period throughout the winter.

Preparing begonias for wintering

In September, all buds are removed from the plant so that it does not waste energy on the formation of flowers, but begins to store nutrients in the tubers.

When and how to dig up tuberous begonia for the winter?

The flower is dug out of the ground with the onset of cold weather. There is no need to rush with this matter: the plant safely survives short-term autumn frosts. By the time of digging, the begonia leaves should have time to turn yellow and fall off. The death of the above-ground part of the plant means that all the nutrients are already concentrated in the tubers.

Plants are dug up with a sharp shovel or pitchfork, together with a clod of earth, taking care not to damage the roots and tubers. Begonias growing in containers are removed along with the substrate by turning the pot over and tapping on its bottom.

The stems are then cut with a sharp pruner, leaving a stump 2-3 cm high, and the tubers are cleaned from the ground. After that, they are placed in a single layer in a wooden or cardboard box and sent for drying in a warm and dry place for 2 weeks.

Storage of begonia tubers in winter

After drying (usually in November), the remaining soil is shaken off the tubers, then the begonias are placed in boxes so that they do not touch each other, sprinkled with dry sand, sawdust or peat and taken to a room with a temperature of 8-10 ° C and, if possible, with high humidity level (not less than 60%). The tubers will be stored there until the beginning of March.

Sand, sawdust and peat help maintain proper moisture levels

Once a month the tubers are inspected for signs of disease and lightly sprayed with a spray bottle to keep them from drying out. This is especially true if you store tuberous begonias in an apartment where heaters dry the air. However, it is important not to overdo it in this matter, since abundant hydration of the tubers can awaken the kidneys ahead of time.

Tuberous begonias can also be sent to the refrigerator for wintering. Peeled and dried tubers are placed in plastic bags with dry peat and stored in the refrigerator in the vegetable section.

In order to wake up the tubers, in the spring they are transferred to a warmer room, placed in moist soil and watered regularly. From mid-September, the flowers gradually cease to be watered, and after the green mass dies off, containers with tubers are placed in a cool place in an apartment or basement. In the spring, watering is resumed, and after the first shoots of begonias appear, they are transplanted into a new nutrient soil.

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If you really like this bright flower, try not only to preserve it, but also to propagate it. How to do it right, read our article Begonia from seeds and tubers: is it easy to grow?

Tuberous begonia - wintering plants from A to Z, photo and video Selo.Guru - Internet portal about agriculture

Winter storage tips

Proper storage of tuberous begonias in winter - prerequisite . If they are not respected, the tubers will set a small number of buds and flowering will be poor

First of all, it is necessary to observe the terms for extraction from the soil . If you are late, waiting for the first frost, he may suffer. The tubers of this flower do not tolerate even short-term freezing. But you can't dig them out before. As soon as the foliage begins to dry out, the flower begins to actively gain mass of the tuber and lay the buds for the next flowering. Therefore, early removal from the ground will reduce the number of flowers during the growing season.

When you notice the first signs of wilting, stop watering. In open ground conditions, it is recommended to cover the bush in case of rainy weather.

Pay close attention to the condition of the above-ground part. As soon as all the leaves turn yellow and fall off, it's time to act. Do not use a large shovel, you can damage the tender roots with it. Carefully cut off the stems that have not fallen off with garden shears or secateurs.

Do not cut the foliage to the base - you may damage the bulb. Leave stumps 2-3 cm long.

After digging out of the ground, thoroughly clean the tubers. Dry them in a room with warm, dry air. If there is high humidity in the room, rotting processes may begin in the tubers. In the period of preparation for winter, the tubers ripen, this process lasts 15-20 days .

Sometimes unexpected autumn frosts occur, and the leaves of the plant immediately freeze. It is a mistake to assume that the root part is also frozen. Most often, with short-term frosts, the underground part remains unharmed. Dig up such specimens and try to save them.

How to keep tuberous begonia at home in winter?

The temperature in the wintering area should not exceed 9-10 degrees. This is a necessary condition for laying flower buds. Humidity at the same time needs increased (70-80%) . There are several ways to ensure this, depending on the conditions you have:

Basement or cellar

For this method, it is necessary to prepare a container in which the tubers will be placed. It can be a cardboard box or a wooden box. It is recommended to fill the bottom with a layer of sand, peat or sawdust.

Experienced flower growers respond well to the use of modern vermiculite material for these purposes.

Vermiculite is a mineral powder widely used in horticulture and indoor floriculture. It does not rot or decompose under the influence of the atmosphere, so insects and bacteria do not multiply in it. The tubers placed in it will be in a certain temperature regime with sufficient air access. In addition, they are not subject to infection by diseases and pests. To store tubers, vermiculite is mixed with peat or sawdust.

The tubers are laid out on the prepared pillow in one layer, so that they do not touch each other. From above, the laid plants are covered with a layer of mixture for storage. She should also cover the distances between the tubers. Each copy should be literally surrounded by a pillow of backfill mix.

Refrigerator

If there is no basement or cellar, the tubers can be stored in the refrigerator. The finished, dried material is placed in a bag, sprinkled with peat and vermiculite, or a mixture of sand and vermiculite. The package requires make holes for air access. The bag is then placed in the refrigerator.

If you have enough space in your refrigerator, you can put the tubers in the lower vegetable storage drawer, filling them with peat mixture as in the previous option. It is also convenient to use food containers. Tubers are placed in them and covered with a mixture of peat and vermiculite, or sawdust and peat, just like in boxes. Make sure that the backfill mixture is completely dry, otherwise the begonias will rot or be affected by the fungus.

How to keep tuberous begonia in a pot in the apartment in winter?

The previous storage methods are used for large, mature tubers. Young specimens are small, and with such storage they will dry out. It is recommended to store them by placing them in pots with earth. Deepen the tubers into the ground, you can have several in one pot, and put in a dry, cool room. Once or twice, depending on ambient humidity. The soil with stored tubers needs to be moistened.

Overwintering of first-year begonias

The storage of first-year begonias obtained from seeds is different, because their dormancy period is relative. The aerial part of them does not die off in autumn, and they must winter in pots.

Since the leaves of the small tubers remain, they need light. But the temperature of the content should not exceed 15 degrees . Water the first year sparingly to avoid rotting.

Inexperienced flower growers mistakenly treat young nodules in the same way as with large, mature ones. But this cannot be done, because the first years grown from seeds continue to grow in the winter. If stored incorrectly, they will dry out.

Peculiarities of the dormant period of room begonia

A plant grown at home also needs winter storage. The difference is that the plant does not have to be removed from the soil.

In autumn, , as soon as the stems begin to wither and dry out, they sharply reduce the frequency of watering and the amount of water. The finally wilted leaves are carefully cut off and the pot is removed in a dark, cool place. Such conditions are necessary in order for the plant to rest and gain strength for flowering in the next season.

No need to disturb the resting shrub: move it from place to place, replant it. Check the status of the root system. It is only necessary to ensure that the earth does not dry out and slightly moisten it periodically. This is especially important during heating, as the air in the apartments is dry, and the tubers can dry out.

Plants keep well on insulated balconies or under a balcony door. Just like the garden begonia, indoor begonia can be stored in basements. They put it there right in the pot in which they grew it. To limit light, cover the pots with newspaper or a thick cloth.

Do not transplant tubers into new soil before wintering - they will start growing, and this is highly undesirable.

It is very important that the plant pot is not exposed to too much light, and even more so to direct sunlight. The plant will wake up ahead of time and sprout, not having time to lay a sufficient number of flower buds.

Tuber awakening

Wintering period ends at begonia in March-April. Remove the tubers from the wintering place and heat them in the room. You can also germinate them in wet peat or sand before planting in open ground. Before that, dip them for a while in a solution of potassium permanganate.

When there are many buds on one large tuber. Before planting, you can cut it into pieces. Treat cut areas with ashes, sulfur or charcoal.

Young plants have elongated shoots by spring, they need to be cut and rooted in separate containers.

Compliance with these simple rules of storage will help you to admire lush and abundant flowering of the beautiful begonia in summer.

All the details about the care of tuberous begonia, including such varieties as Elatior and Ampelnaya, you can find on the pages of our website. Our experts will give you many tips and tricks to help you enjoy the beauty of this beautiful plant.