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Begonias
Orchid Lady
Posts: 5,800
in Plants
I'm going to try and not ask too many more questions, but there is a special offer in this month's magazine for Begonias, how easy are they to grow, I have never bought plug plants and never grown begonias either but they looks so lovely in pots and baskets. Very tempted!
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I bought these exact plants, think it was early last year, they were giving them away, all is had to pay way 5 quid p&p. Potted then into 9cm pots with JI no 1 and left them in my conservatory. then planted them in my brackets in may. Flowered fine and don't really require much fuss, just dont ever let them dry out and don't waterlogged them either, as I believe they're tuberous,so need to be taken out around october time and stored in a gh. Feed them every couple of weeks too. Begonias are notoriously hard to germinate, so go for it!
Pretty much tracey. Begonias are half hardy perennials, so most people treat them as half hardy annuals and chuck them on the compost heap every year. Now I'm going to confuse you even more...Most begonias are tuberous, so they have a swollen root system, a bit like dahlias, and some aren't. The ones that aren't usually worth keeping for another year, but the tuberous ones are and that's what these begonias are, so yeah, an even better bargain
Tuberous Begonia you do keep and you will see something if they die back.
Sempervivans begonia are half hardy and treated like annuals as they normally look like crap after winter.
It says annual on the website
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/flower-plants/begonia-plants/begonia-whopper/t47393TM
These ones are tuberous (you lift and keep the brown 'bulbs' and regrow each year)
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/flower-bulbs/begonia-tubers
Tracey-Newbie tuberous begonias look like this.
And fiberous begonias look like this.
The annual/fibrous ones tend to be sold cheaply in the likes of B&Q and Homebase, esp after a week of bad weather! You can get trays of them for a few quid if that. Tuberous ones are worth keeping and paying that extra for. Watch out for vine weevils grubs though - been a pest on mine this year.