Trailing Begonia Apricot Shades-how many for 12" hangin basquet?

Dear all

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how many begonias should I plant to get a display like the picture Iam attaching?
How do I get the flowers to look like a "ball"?
I found this video in youtube what do u think?
Also do they grwo in shady areas or prefer full sun?

YouTube - Perfect Hanging Baskets

Miriam

 

Hello Miriam
Excellent choice of trailing begonia ! Three new plants should comfortably fill a 12" basket . ( I will use 4 new plants in a 14" basket ) Just fill your basket with multi purpose compost and a slow release fertiliser , and keep it lightly watered . Turn your basket every couple of weeks to keep the growth even . I grow most of mine in shady areas . They will form by themselves to look like your picture and flower through to late October . You can then save the tubers for next year

 

thank you Harry, i have a 14" i made a mistake, would 4 plants be enough to achieve that look?there seems to be tons of flowers there

 

You do get a lot of flowers from a trailing begonia ! Try 5 in your 14" basket , you will get a very good display from them. When you save the tubers every year they get bigger , so you need less in each basket. The display also improves . I have a white begonia which will go in a basket by itself and trail to nearly 3 feet . It only gets the sun until about 11 in the morning.
Don't position the Begonias to close to the edge of the basket , to give them room to arch. Also as they begin to arch I cut up a cheap sponge to place between the stems and the basket , this prevents chaffing of the stems. And that's about it they are a pretty maintenance free plant - good luck !

PS don't plant them any deeper than the pot you buy them in , the tuber needs to be very close to the surface .

 

thanks harry

I have ordered 60 begonias from a nursery they should be arriving soon, they are small plants i will transfer them and put them in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks before i plant them out do you think this is ok?i bought geraniums the same way some i put inside the house and the others out the ones inside the house grown nicely the ones out are still as short not sure why..
Also I have noticed that there are trailing begonias that you grow with seed and some with tubers, i bought mine from unwins

Buy Trailing Begonias Plants | Trailing Begonia Apricot Shades

since they are so cheap I am assumming they were grown from seeds, is there any difference?

I havent receive them yet

M.

 

sorry I meant, some begonias are grown with bulbs and some with seeds

 

http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/general-gardening-discussion/32965-begonia-plugs.html

Hi Miriam , the GC link above shows very well how to bring on begonia plugs.
Begonias do grow very slowly at first , dont worry they do speed up as they establish. I would pot them into 9cm pots or multi cells for at least 4 weeks in the greenhouse . Protect them from full sun.
Now have they been grown from seed or leaf cuttings , I dont know Do begonias always form tubers , I dont know again :D It may be an idea to leave a dozen in the greenhouse potted up into 5" pots all summer , this may help the tubers to form. Maybe one of the GC begonia gurus can help us on the questions above

 

hi Harry

many thanks for your reply, i wasnt sure how many weeks i should leave it in the greenhouse but 4 weeks sounds good, in the past I only kept the geraniums inside for 1 week maybe it needed to be inside for longer and that is why they didnt grow as much,
M.