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Q about watering Angelwings?
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Posted by gardenfanatic MO zone5 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 9, 07 at 2:20
| How do I know if I'm watering too often, or not often enough? I know begonias like it conservative with the water, so I've been careful with the watering, but I'm not sure if I've been too careful. I stick my finger in the dirt, and if it's dry about 1 1/2" down, I water. If I feel some dampness in the top 1 1/2", I don't water. When I water, the water runs straight out and I let it sit in the catch pan for about 20 minutes to make sure it could soak up what it needed, then pour out the excess. Does that sound about right?
Some of the leaves on one of them keep getting papery thin brown areas. Since I'm new to begonias, I don't know what that means - too much water, or not enough.
Deanna |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Q about watering Angelwings?
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| Sounds like you are doing the right thing on watering. Personally I just look at the condition of the plant (wilting or perky) and the soil and make a decision then. This applies to indoor only though. Outdoors I don't have time to check each and every one so I have sprinklers set up to water 45 minutes 3 days a week on timers (we are on water restrictions). This helps if I am out of town (which I am right now). On Saturdays I hook up a hose end sprayer with MG fertilizer and give them all a shot of food. Really dry looking pots may get a dunking in a tub full of water until bubbles cease - this way I know the entire root ball is watered very well. I'm not sure about the thin papery brown areas on the leaves of one of your begonias. Sounds like a humidity problem. Is this indoors or out? What begonia is it? |
RE: Q about watering Angelwings?
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| It's Sinbad, and it's indoors. Deanna |
RE: Q about watering Angelwings?
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| Sinbad does wonderful outdoors. It grows into a large shrub given plenty of light and fed regularly. The only bad thing about Sinbad is it is mildew prone in the fall months and seems to be favored over other begonias for chewing insects (caterpillars and Japanese beetles). I don't spray for bugs. It is also a hard one for me to overwinter but they have become more mainstream lately so I can usually buy a gallon size for around $5 each year. Here is a picture of my best one a couple of years ago. I have two this year that are doing good but aren't as nice as this one. 
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