How To Plant Begonias

Begonias are a great choice for a garden as they are such a versatile flower, so if you are looking for tips on how to plant Begonias, you’ve come to the right place.

Begonias can be grown in partial shade or sun. They will easily work in hanging baskets, pots or your borders. The choice is yours. But to start with, you’ll want to know how to grow begonias.

How To Plant Begonias

When To Plant Begonias

Springtime is the best time. You can look at either March or April when you are thinking about when to plant Begonias

How To Plant Begonia Tubers

Begonias grow from tubers or corms and can be regrown year after year, as long as you dig them up and protect them from frost over the winter. When you are looking at how to plant Begonia tubers, you’ll want to start your tubers off inside – either in a heated greenhouse or perhaps a sunny and light conservatory.

You can use a compost tray or pots for your tubers or corms. Add a layer of potting compost to your pot or tray and place your tubers into the pot or tray. You’ll notice that one side of the tuber has a depression in it. That’s the side that should be facing up. Water well, making sure you don’t leave water in the dips of the tubers, as this could cause them to rot.

Once the plants start to show leaves, if you’ve grown them in trays, need to pot them on in larger pots.

For them to grow you’ll need to keep them in a warm, sunny space. Ideally with a temperature of at least 18 degrees, so a cold greenhouse won’t do much for you if you are considering this as a location when looking at how to plant Begonia bulbs.

Planting Out Begonias

You’ll need to harden off your Begonias before planting them out. Pop them outside during the day once the risk of frost has passed and then put them back in your greenhouse at night for around a week.

Begonias do well in partial shade in the garden, so if you do have a spot that only gets a bit of sun, this could be perfect for Begonias. If you are thinking about location and far apart to plant begonias, I’d suggest you should plant them around 8 – 12 inches apart, depending on the variety.

They are also great for planting in hanging baskets, but a good thing to think about is how many begonia tubers in a hanging basket? The answer depends on the size of your hanging basket. If you have a 30cm basket, 5 tubers will be ideal, if you have a smaller basket, say a 22cm basket, you would probably be better off with just 3 Begonia tubers in a hanging basket.

Watering and Feeding Begonias

Once you’ve got to grips with how to plant Begonias and they are growing well, you need to think about how to care for Begonias.

Begonias should be fed around once a week once they have been planted out in their final position. They will do best with a high potassium feed. The same feed that you would give your tomato plants.

When caring for your Begonia, you’ll need to water them regularly to keep the soil damp, but be careful not to water the foliage of the plant.

How To Store Begonia Tubers

Deadhead regularly and once they finished flowering and the stems have died back, you can lift the tuber from the soil and store it in sand or dry soil over winter. You’ll need to do this before the first frosts. After flowering, the leaves of the Begonias will turn yellow, at this point, stop watering and allow the Begonia tuber to dry out. You’ll need to store the tuber in a place where it won’t freeze over winter.

Have you got a shadier spot in your garden that would look nice with some Begonias? If so, I hope this post has helped when you are looking at how to plant Begonias. I’d love to hear what you are planning on growing this year.

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