Luvachicken Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Yesterday I dug out my summer begonias and thought I'd save them for next year so I popped them into individual pots and put them in the greenhouse. My Mum says they won't grow because they don't have tubers but they do have plenty of roots. Do you think they will survive for next year ? If you do, do you think I should trim the plants or let them die down naturally or give up and do new plants next year ? On another note, when I first planted them at the beginning of the summer, I knocked a leaf off, so I stuck it in some water and a while later it had loads of roots. I planted it, it has finally flowered and it is yellow but the original plant is white. Very strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 (edited) There are begonias and begonias! You can save the begonias with tubers from year to year if you dry them off after the foliage has been killed by the first frost. You then need to keep them dry over the winter. You start them off in February the following year. I’ve kept them for several years this way. The ones with roots can be kept going inside over winter, but in my experience get leggy, green fly covered etc and it’s not worth it. So I compost them after they’ve been killed by the first frost. Edited October 20, 2018 by Patricia W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Yes, do as Patricia says. Let them die down till the frosts hit, then trim off dead foliage and keep them cool and dry till next year; a garage or similar is ideal. You can put them in some spent compost if you like. My Mum does this from year to year and hers keep going very well. I can't believe the size of the tubers you can buy now, they are enormous! I've never done what you have achieved with the leaf, I might give that a whirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmashazzie Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 Very helpful, on a similar note do you do same with dahlias, lift after frost or before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Think Monty Don said last episode he lifts them before any real frost hits them. “Lift them when they are starting to look unhappy” he said. It’s survival of the fittest in my garden. If you don’t do frost, you have no business being in my garden... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 23, 2018 Author Share Posted October 23, 2018 Yes, these Begonias don't have any corms, so I'm beginning to wonder if they're worth saving. A bit of a shame as they still have loads of flowers and it took quite a lot for me to plant them up. I'm wondering if it might be better taking leaf cuttings instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 They’re so cheap to buy I don’t bother. You can grow them from seed but the seed is very fine and fiddly so I either bu6 them as plugs or wait till they’re bigger. They grow so fast that I don’t think you gain any advantage in saving this year’s plants. The corms I dig up, dry off and then wrap them in newspaper once they are totally dry. I then put them in a dry shed or the garage to overwinter. Pop them back in some compost next Feb- April to start them off again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I left some in the bottom of the garden and they reappeared the following year and the year after. Then the chickens came and that was the end of that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 On 23/10/2018 at 10:25 PM, Patricia W said: They’re so cheap to buy I don’t bother. You can grow them from seed but the seed is very fine and fiddly so I either bu6 them as plugs or wait till they’re bigger. They grow so fast that I don’t think you gain any advantage in saving this year’s plants. Yes, these were cheap in the first place, little plants from Sainsbury's. On 26/10/2018 at 8:57 PM, Valkyrie said: Then the chickens came and that was the end of that! The first year I had chickens they used to roam around the garden. I showed them the little bedding Begonias and they weren't interested at all. I planted them all around the garden only for the chickens to eat them the following day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 We’ve had frost the last two morn8ngs so thinking it’s getting close to lifting the begonia tubers/ corms or whatever they are. However, the fibrous rooted ones in a sheltered spot still look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 To update this, all of the Begonias I re-potted went all mildewy so I had to throw them away. The strange thing was, I planted some bedding plants during half term last week, and amongst my digging I found new little Begonia leaves sprouting. No idea how they are there because I dug them all up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
