Begonias - leave in planter?

Hi All,

I learned my lesson last year - begonias need plenty of space. So this year - I've planted a single red begonia in each stone planter. I read on the interweb that after flowering, begonias produce new corms..so can I simply leave them in the planters and these new corms will grow the next year?

Do I need to cut them down when they have flowered - or just leave them to die back as daff's?

Any advice appreciated

 

Hi

99% of begonia corms grow in size (only) we have a begonia thread or part of a thread I will include you in

 

@clanless
I cant find the thread It was called Begonias hate me ? I think

Basically plant them in MPC in a small pot and place the corm round part in the compost and the concave part uppermost and cover with compost and keep in warm place airing cupboard or electric propagator when the new shoots come up place on the windowsill , DONT overwater them and water from the base of the pot use a saucer and only water in the morning never in the afternoon or evening they hate wet feet over night and it may rot the roots and the corm , leave in the small pot, once its filled with roots then move to the next size pot but not too big.

Hopefully this will take you into May , place outdoors during the day for a week or two to harden them off and bring back in at night or the frost may kill all the foliage.
Once hardened off you can put into the final pot, leave for about 5 weeks and dont feed but check the watering you dont want the compost soggy , a liquid tomato feed twice a week but not full strength , will increase the color of the flower and how long they will flower for.

In September lay the pot on its side and let them totally dry off and let all the foliage fall away from the plant dont pull them off.

First week of October take all the corms out off the pot and wash all the compost off and leave on the window sill or greenhouse shelving for 3 weeks to ripen the corms in the sun .
Then all you have to do is put each one in a paper bag and keep cold and away from light and frost free. And then just follow the above next March/April

Spruce

 

Good advice Spuce,I have copied your advice and put it on my computer garden folder. This is my 1st year with begonia corms so handy advice for storing them.
Got to find the canna thread as did not have so much luck storing them over winter so something I did wrong.
For storing my spring bulbs once they have dried off like daffs etc I went to one of the independent shoe shops and got a load of mens empty shoe boxes ,labelled them up and perfect for storing these bulbs.I was lucky as this shop sell Church,Loake & Barker shoes so the boxes are very strong, at £300-450 for a pair of shoes they should be good quality boxes!!!!

 

Thanks Spruce. Fantastic advise. I have just 6 growing in the conservatory at the moment ready to pot on soon. With your sound advise I,m looking for a grand show.