I know, I know, I could do this research myself and acturally I have. but I'm just so nervous I think I want someone with some experience to hold my hand. This was my first year with any kind of begonia besides the throw-aways, and I would sure appreciate some advice on how to over-winter these beauties.
I have a huge pot of canes..........
This message was edited Oct 10, 2007 6:38 PM
And a couple containers of rexes.........
I'm assuming it's time to bring them in....but then what? I can put them under lights if necessary, but I'm so afraid of killing them I'm not sure WHAT do do. I've lurked here enough to know that keeping them inside is a challange, so I wan't all the help I can get to not mess this up!
Thanks in advance for any responses,
La
La, I was in the same predicament as you several years ago. I placed my one large cane in a south facing glass door in my social room and it was very happy. My other begonias went in the gh, and when I saw any leaves start to deteriorate, I knew they needed more light and humidity. Those plants were put in lidded glass fish tanks, with a timer on the light. Sealed clear plastic bags work just as well along with the addition of a light. I keep my lights on for 12 hours, but that may be longer than needed. I still do not know with a new begonia what it will take to get it through winter, so I just put it in the gh and in time it tells me if it is happy or not.
Tussee
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond Tussee. Oh how I long for a greenhouse! (Actually right now I'd settle for a warmer climate or even a bigger house). LOL! I'ma relatively new gardner trying to raise plants that require experience and warm temps and unfortunately I've just run out of both. My house is small, but I live alone so I will jam in as many tenders as I can find floor space to accomodate. You have confirmed what my research told me regarding the humidity, so I guess I should spend the weekend trying to figure out some sort of dome for them. How warm do you keep them during the winter months?
La, so far I have not detected a problem with the house temperature for my begonias. If you have a furnace room, that might be a good place to set up your plants for warmth and to hide them away, especially if you use plastic bags. Not exactly a pretty sight, but it will get them through till spring. One of my hobbies is fish, so that's why I have all sizes of tanks in my basement for use as hospital tanks and quarantining new fish. Sometimes the plants come out of a tank so it can be used for its true purpose for a week or so. :)
Tussee
My thanks to both of you.
I only have 2 south-facing windows in my tiny house and one looks directly onto the shaded porch so it is of little use regarding sunlight. The one "good" window will be jammed floor to ceiling with all the house plants that have been enjoying their summer vacation outside. That leaves me with one east window (where it would have to compete with the rest of the house plants that haven't taken a spot in the aforementioned south window) or I'll need to use supplimental lighting. I tried putting it on one of my grow shelves yesterday but oye is that thing big! I'm going to really have to use some ingenuity to get these things through the winter.
la, mine are put in my living room and bedroom over the winter and they fare just fine
An inexpensive humidifier is a good investment. Or, a whole lot of jars or glasses of water in between your plants works well to increase the humidity in your home.
You can suspend fluorescent fixtures from the ceiling for your large plants. Also, any really bright light will help. I once grew the prettiest plants under a tensor lamp on a timer. For such a tiny little bulb the plants grew huge. Those Ott lights really work well too.
I'm not as freaked over the cane as I am with the rexes. The cane is big which is a problem, but from everything I've seen they're not as temperamental as the rexes. I did buy some extra shop lights this year so I guess I will try to set something up in the basement.
Now to get the basement cleaned out. LOL
$17 I can do and I can always use the extra humidiy in the winter. I will definitely check them out. Thanks Susan!
My rex begonias have been going out in the Spring and coming back in the Fall for several years. They grow like crazy in their pots outside. I don't do a lot with them in the house. They do seem to go a bit dormant and so I cut back on watering. I do however have their pots setting on my homemade humidity trays. I think that's what you call them. (Tray of small rocks that the pots sit on, and water almost covering the rocks.) I find that they will sulk for months after re-potting, so I try not to do that very often.
