Last winter I stored several pots that contained tuberous begonias in my garage. I removed the foliage from the plants but never watered the containers. This year the begonias rebloomed. My question is --has anyone had luck with buying new tubers in the early fall , planting them in pots and then storing them in a cold garage for the winter? Will the tubers flower the following spring considering they had no foliage to store energy?
overwintering tuberous begonias
If you purchase new tubers in the early fall, which would be unusual, since traditionally they are sold in the early spring, you could store them in dry potting soil in the garage. But it must be very dry potting soil or they will start to sprout and then rot. Growers store them in dry sawdust or in open trays in climate controlled conditions.
If they are a firm healthy tuber, with little "eyes" in the center like potatoes, then they did have a good growing season and the plant was given a chance to store it's energy in them.
Right now though, most of them are still growing and blooming. I don't know where or from whom you would buy just tubers this time of year. That would cause me concern about making a purchase.
What are chances of bringing one in and grow it as a houseplant over the winter? I had a tuber in with a hanging basket mixture. Bad idea. It grew very slowly without coming to flower. I removed it a couple weeks ago and planted in it's own pot. I can see the flower buds forming, but it's so late in the year. What do you all think of bringing it in? It's a Double Picotee.
Hey Don,
I brought my baskets of doubles and singles inside last years. i put them in my basement which is about 50-55 degrees in the winter. I just let them dry out right in the baskets. Now i had potting MIX not soil in the basket. I let it dry only watering them with a cup of water once a month. I keep lights on and a fan going all winter to ward off bugs. I lost 2 plants in one pot. But They were planted 3 in each pot and i had 4 pots survive with 3 plants each in them. In the early spring they started to grow and then i started to water them!1 It was great. I am doing the same this year. I will let them dry out and then i will see that the leaves fall off and I remove them from the mix./pot. Then I am going to let them completely dry out and hope i get the same good results!! I won't look to repot htem until spring. As they need it after two years in the same pot. i did fertilize quite a few times so the tuber would build strength for next years bloom. But that is all.
Good Luck.. I am in zone 5 and this is all i can do. I do over winter about 100 plants this way.
Julie
Thanks Julie, I appreciate the information. ^_^
Thanks for the tips on begonias. Mine are already inside and still have leaves. I hate to force them to drop their leaves and dry out. If they start to go downhill, I will let them dry out. Either way, I am glad to know that other people in colder climates manage to save their begonias. I have two pots of picotee and one champagne.
Hmm, was just looking for this info, after the fact of course! I had heard that you could store the tubers like Dahlias, in perlite or vermiculite in a cool basement (or garage in my case). So, an hour ago I dug my Mocha Begonias and found the little tubers (some are very small, others like a small potato).
Has anyone ever done this? Sounds like you mostly let them dry out in their pots with their leaves on... have I killed them?
klstuart, I have had success in lifting non-stop begonias after frost has killed the foliage and then storing the tubers in a cool dry place for the winter -- very much like you would do for dahlias. In early spring you can pot them and they'll begin their new growth cycle. I don't believe you have killed them.
:) Thank you! I can't wait to see how they do next year!
Hey Fig,
I tried both ways and killed the lifted ones.
What do you do to store the lifted ones??
I really need some help with that storage.
I have only had success with leaving them in the potting soil from the last year.
But of course it is hard to also re-pot if I don't catch them quick enough in the spring.
So i would be interested in another way. Please be very descriptive in when, where, hows!
Thanks
Julie
Hi Julie,
I just kept mine in paper lunch bags in a cool dry place with no peat moss or anything (although peat moss could help prevent excessive drying). My tubers began to form eyes by the following February. When I lifted mine in late fall the foliage had already been totally zapped by the freeze. This "hardening" by the freeze could be the key to success in storing the lifted tubers. (It seems to be the case with dahlias, anyway.) Perhaps this makes the tubers go dormant.
Right now I have a potted non-stop that I'm going to try to keep growing during the winter in the house. It was just too pretty to let it freeze. We'll see what happens!
Good luck to you!
Should be interesting! I can see little 'eyes' on the tubers now, mostly clustered around the stem.
Pardon the pun, but keep an "eye" on them. If they want to start growing you may need to pot them up as houseplants and let them do their thing!
Chuckle...
Will do!
Hey thanks!
JUlie