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rosebud713

How To...Begonia in the wintertime

rosebud713
18 years ago

I met and deeply loved a gardener and poet, an amazing man and soulmate. Unfortunately, I lost him to a heart attack inheriting his begonias he had grown all his life, given him by his grandmother! He loved plants and grew them so easily. His begonias bloomed so beautifully last Christmas all the way until Easter. They have a long while bloom.

They did fine in the summer outside but now that they are inside...they are drooping! Help. I am trying to convince my thumb that it can be green! All I read talks about dark or cool...these bloomed right on last year. I am uncertain they are the type others speak of on the net. They are large with tubor-type base. Regretably,I do not know how to show a photo here.

Thank you.

Comments (3)

  • greenelbows1
    18 years ago

    I do so want to help you. It's hard to give advise without being sure what kind of begonias you have. If they are indeed tuberous, they will insist on going dormant and then re-grow in the spring. If they bloomed all winter before and didn't go dormant, they might be semi-tuberous, which don't need dormancy. But I'm confused by the 'long white bloom'. Do you mean long clusters of smallish white flowers? Most semi-tuberous have blooms like that. You could go play awhile on the website of the American Begonia Society, which has lots of beautiful pictures of lots of different kinds of begonias and cultural information. And you're more than welcome to come back here for what help we can give. One thing I feel I should say--'dark' is only for dormant tubers. Some kinds of begonias need more light than others, but they all need light to grow. 'Cool' is okay for most of them, only exceptions being ones that are less common and hard to find. And may I say, I am so sorry for your loss, and think growing his begonias, and maybe others, will give you great comfort.
    Nancy

  • rosebud713
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thank you, Nancy. I did look on several sites and believe they may be BEGONIA Friburgensis. That looks closest to eyesight. The two main plants are huge and probably 40 years old. Sam grew them year around. The bloom is long with little white flowers. He grew them in the hardest soil and hardly watered them, yet they did so well for him. He could make starts by the dozens. I play his voice for them off the answering machine and they honestly seem to respond. They branch off several stalklike sturctures that wrap around in the pot. I have great pictures of them but don't know how to post them.
    Thank you again.
    rose

  • sedum37
    18 years ago

    rosebud713 to post pictures you need to put your photos on a photo hosting site or sometimes your internet provider will give you a small amount of space on their server. Then once you put them somewhere you can link to them using the 'Optional Link URL' when you reply to a post.
    Here is an article about Photo Hosting sites. Some are free and some cost money....

    Here is a link that might be useful: Top 10 Photo Hosting Sites...

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