Caring for My Begonias
I have long loved begonias - with their bold, beautiful foliage and delicate flowers, it’s hard to resist such an amazing family of plants.
There are thousands of species and varieties of begonias. Some are classified as tuberous, and others as fibrous, but it’s the rhizomatous begonias that make beautiful houseplants all year long because of the amazing colors, shapes, sizes, and textures of their foliage. During the winter months, the plants flower, but they are mostly prized for their extravagant greenery.
On weekends, when I am not busy traveling for work, I love to spend hours and hours working in my greenhouses - watering, trimming, cleaning and assessing what plants need repotting or moving. Over the last few weeks, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and I have given a lot of attention to these gorgeous begonias - and they all look stunning. Enjoy these photos.
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- My collection is massed together on one of the long sliding tables in my main greenhouse. Rhizomatous begonias range from small, delicate plants with one-inch wide leaves to large, robust specimens with 12-inch wide leaves or more.
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- Any new plants or plants that need repotting are placed on a counter in the head house. A head house is the work center of any greenhouse operation. It is specifically designated for potting, transplanting and other plant care tasks.
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- For growing begonias indoors, use a soil-less mix – one that is mostly peat-moss based with additional perlite and/or vermiculite to improve aeration around the roots.
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- I like to use clay pots for my begonias. They allow proper aeration and moisture to penetrate through the sides and to the plant. Always place a clay shard over the hole in the bottom of the pot to help drainage.
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- To successfully grow rhizomatous begonias, only repot one size up when the roots have filled their current vessel. Ryan always places a few pots on the table, so he can see which size is best for the plant being repotted. Here, Ryan begins to fill the pot with the appropriate medium.
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- We also added some pine bark to this potting mix. Begonias prefer a slightly moist soil, but they will not survive in soggy soil. Pine bark has great water holding capabilities.
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- Ryan then loosened the roots with his hands, and placed it into the new vessel.
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- More potting mix is added around the plant, and patted down.
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- Before transplanting the next specimen, Ryan gives the roots a slight pruning to encourage new growth and aeration. Any viable leaves that fall off during repotting are always saved for future rooting purposes. Begonia leaves root easily – just push its stem into potting soil, and keep it moist. After a few weeks, new leaves emerge.
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- It’s good to repot or change the soil every couple of years – potting mix elements break down over time and lose draining qualities and airspaces to hold oxygen.
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- A sprinkling of Osmocote fertilizer mixed into the potting mix after it’s in the pot will provide a good supply of nutrients to the plant for a few months.
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- Here is a plant all potted up and fertilized.
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- Ryan pots up several begonias before moving them back into the greenhouse. All these beautiful begonias were just repotted – they look great!
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- On cold winter days, Blackie prefers to be inside, where it is warm. Here he is by the back door of our main greenhouse – I wonder what he is looking at so intently.
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- These plants are considered cool temperature plants and will do best in temperatures ranging from 58 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. These begonias will be very happy in their pots for quite some time.
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- Because these plants store water in the rhizomes, which are their thick, fuzzy stems, it is important not to overwater them. Only water these plants when the top one-inch of soil feels dry.
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- Begonia paulensis has very distinctive foliage. The leaves are large, and shiny green with an extremely textured surface. Keep this houseplant in a shady area during summer months to prevent leaf burn.
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- I love this whimsical looking begonia with its spotted leaves. It is a vigorous grower best suited for upright pots.
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- This is Begonia ‘Othello’ – it has medium-small tightly spiraled leaves of dark olive green. And above, like many begonias, it displays clusters of small lovely blooms. Rhizomatous begonia flowers bloom in late winter to early spring and can range from shades of pink blush to bright white.
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- Begonia ‘soli-mutata’ has copper textured foliage with silver-green striping. Several of my ‘soli-mutata’ plants were grown from leaf cuttings off a parent plant.
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- I love this dark green leafed begonia with chocolate colored margins.
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- Most rhizomatous begonias are grown for their interesting leaves – there are so many great shapes, sizes and colors.
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- Begonia ‘Caravan’ has a leaf pattern of chartreuse veining on chocolate-green, with a velvety texture.
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- Begonia ‘Madame Queen’ has large, ruffled-edge leaves that rise up from the pot in an impressive manner. The olive-green color boasts a rich red underside.
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- Begonias should be fertilized with a balanced liquid fertilizer during the active growing season in summer. Flowering begonias can benefit from pinching back long stems to encourage more side branching that increases the overall fullness.
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- This Begonia ‘Kit Kat’ is spotted with chartreuse. It makes a pretty and unusual addition to any houseplant collection and is great for small spaces. It grows no more than six to eight inches tall.
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- Here’s another gorgeous specimen with light green and bold red leaves. It’s also best to allow the soil to dry out between waterings.
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- There is no end to the variety of leaf shape, color and texture in the begonia – what are your favorite cultivars? Share them in the comments below.
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