Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Potting Tuberous Begonias

About three years ago I started over wintering my begonias as I hated to throw them away, only to spend money on getting new ones the next spring. I read up on how to do it and it is pretty simple. Three of the four above I have had three years now, and the smaller one was given to me by my mother-in-law.

I started them late this year (oops). They take a while to get started so usually I have them potted by the end of February or early March, but couldn't get to them until the end of April. Of course it is too cold in those months, so I sit them in a sunny location in my house and wait for them to start growing.

Pot them so the top of the tuber is at the soil line. Potting them below could lead to water pooling in the top and rotting out the tuber. If you leave a little bit of the stem from last year, you can easily tell which end is up. Below is a picture of one of them sitting in a pot, without the soil completely around it so you can make out the shape of the tuber. I added just enough soil to barely cover, then watered and set outside on nice sunny days. Once the weather warms up more, they'll grow more quickly.



1 comment:

Amy Andrychowicz said...

I overwinter mine too. I just leave them in the pots over winter. The foliage falls off my itself, and a few months later, they start to grow while still in storage (reminding me it's time to move them to a sunny room). I have one that's been in the same pot for 5 years. Isn't it fun to save so much money!! It's easy too, and you get to keep your favorite begonias from year to year.

Amy