Begonia tuber: wintering and correct preparation for it

Lovers of plants have long been growing at home a lot of decorative species that allow you to turn an apartment or house into a real flower garden. One of them is the tuber begonia, the wintering of which is often an insurmountable difficulty for beginners.

Some theoretical information

To begin with, the rest period of these plants begins around mid-November and lasts until the end of February. In addition, the behavior of young and old flowers varies greatly.

So, young begonias, tubers which do not differ in size, can be kept in a cool place all winter, periodically watering. If this is not done, then the risk of drying up the root system is high.

Another thing - mature tuber begonia, wintering which is somewhat different.

Wintering of mature begonias

If the tubers of the old plant have already reached the required value, then after the death of the shoots they are left for the whole winter in the same pot. In the case when begonias blossomed all summer in the open ground, after the vegetative part withered away they dig out, placing in dry season in dry sand or peat.

In this case, the tuber begonia, whose wintering was successful, is simply removed from the sand at the end of winter for the sprouting stage.

This is done approximately in March, when buds begin to germinate on tubers. For this, the overwintered tubers are pushed into a slightly moist peat substrate. It is made on the basis of quality humus, peat land and calcined river sand.

If the tubers are bad ...

But all of the above applies only to cases where the quality of the tubers is all right. What to do when they are too small and flabby, and the plant itself was grown in the open ground? After all, this often happens if the summer was too hot and arid!

In this case, it will be necessary to tinker, otherwise the tuber begonia, whose wintering will fail, simply perish.

After digging out the "dried" tubers, they should be placed in a household refrigerator. Since they can begin to germinate, it will be necessary to carefully remove sprouts from time to time. Having kept the seed material until March, it can safely be planted in pots.

If you do everything right, you will get powerful and healthy begonias, which will please you with an excellent flowering. As a rule, they already in the second year are formed large and powerful tubers, with the storage of which there should be no problems.

Care

But no wintering will not help, when not even the most basic rules of agricultural technology are observed! So how can I care for tuber begonia ?

Remember that this plant does not tolerate open to all winds and too sunny areas. They are planted only in well-fertilized, appropriately drained soil.

If it is low in pH, liming is mandatory. After the tubers are planted in the soil, its surface is mulched with humus and sprinkled with wood ash.

In no case should they be filled with water, preferably watering should be done in the morning.

But nevertheless, the beauty of flowers and their health depends on how the tuber begonia will be stored in winter.