Begonia Care Guide

By Jessica Mcnamara

Mar 10, 2021

Pink flowering begonia plants

Welcome to your Begonia care guide! Here you will find all of our Growers' knowledge of how best to look after your Begonia, and what to do if you get stuck.

 

small plant

Plant name: Begonia
Latin name: Begonia x Tuberhybrida
Varieties included: Begonia Mocca series, Begonia Fortune Series

Ideal for hanging baskets and garden containers in your home garden, begonias have masses of showy flowers that sit above green leaves, that will continue throughout summer, all the way through to the first frosts. Wax Begonias come in a wide range of colours including red, orange, pink, yellow and white flowers. Begonias also make excellent house plants!

 

 

They have elaborate double flowers, with their pom-pom like appearance being a real show-stopper in any outdoor space. These flowers are contrasted against wonderful dark green foliage (Fortune series) and chocolate-coloured (Mocca series) foliage.

Bedding plants

Plant type: Bedding (annual)
Hardiness: Semi-hardy
What does this mean? If protected from frosts through winter, it should flower again next summer. Unlike hardy Begonias, If exposed to frosts/extreme cold, they will not survive.
If you don’t have a greenhouse, we recommend replacing your begonia the following summer to ensure flowering.

 

plant in soil

Before You Start

If you are planting these flowering plants in a garden container, make sure it is clean and has drainage holes in the base. You will need a good quality compost, trowel, watering-can and gloves may also be useful (although we do encourage getting your hands dirty!) Maybe a motivational speech or two…you can do this!

 

 

 

plant in pot

Planting Guide

When planting directly into a garden bed or border it is often best to lay out your plants on top of the soil in the pots so you can make sure you plant them in the best place to get the overall visual impact you are wanting (remember when doing this, they will grow much larger than their current size, so don’t worry too much about gaps!)

If planting into a container or hanging basket, fill this up with compost, adding some large stones or gravel to the bottom couple of inches of the container to provide drainage (this isn’t essential, but it can help). Leave about 2cm of space at the top of the container.

Once you have decided where the plant is going dig a hole a little bit bigger than the pot size in your bed, border or container.

Next, take the plant out of the pot. This can be done easily by squeezing the sides of the pot between your thumb and fingers, then releasing your grip on the pot. This helps the roots come away from the pot.

Then hold the plant by the base of the stem, close as possible to the pot and remove the plastic pot. Hold your plant by the root ball and position in the middle of the hole.

The top of the compost around the plant should be a little lower than the level of the bed / border. If you need to dig a little deeper take the plant out and make the hole a bit deeper.

Once the Begonia plant fits in the hole you can twist it around to get the best side of the plant facing forwards. When you are happy with the position fill the hole back in around the root ball and firm the soil back in.

Finally give the garden plant a good water, wherever possible trying to avoid getting water on the flowers.

Avoid planting during the hottest parts of the day. They prefer to be planted during the cooler part of the day as this reduces their stress levels.

 

 


sunny garden

Positioning

Tuberous Begonias prefer the sun, so will thrive in a sunny spot in your garden with bright indirect sunlight. However, they can cope with partial shade so try and find somewhere that is in the bright indirect light for about half of the day.

 

 

 

watering can

Watering & Feeding Guide

For best results, feed and water regularly throughout the summer

Give your Begonia a good water once you have first planted it to help it settle in. On hotter days in the summer, water regularly, but if the temperatures are a little cooler, then water less frequently.

Due to the nature of their foliage and tuber structure, begonias are more prone to rot if over-watered, therefore it’s important to check to see whether the soil is moist enough before watering again. This is especially important in containers and soils that have a tighter structure/clay soils.

Try placing your garden container on pot feet (or a couple of bricks) to raise from the ground slightly and prevent water logging.

Regular feeding with a multipurpose feed will help your begonia plant grow to its maximum potential and give you colorful flowers throughout the season.


Soil type: Begonia plants will be ok in almost any potting mix, but free draining is advised to avoid rot. Growing media that are classified as ‘high porosity’ are the ideal products to use for growing begonias. These growing media are composed of sphagnum peat moss that will retain water and nutrients.

 

Medium plant

Top Tips

If your soil doesn’t have great drainage, try adding some soil improver to break it up a little (do this a few weeks before planting ideally)
Top tips to care for your plant Dead head regularly to prolong flowering (pinching off the flowers as they begin to die off).

Begonias look great as the centre piece of a hanging basket or patio container, surrounded with other flowering bedding such as trailing Fuchsia.
Additional info We love begonias here at The Growers – their beautiful blooms keep coming all summer long and once planted, they are pretty easy to look after and they are super flexible in terms of planting area in your outdoor or indoor spaces. Yes, that's right they make a perfect indoor plant also!

 The most popular type of begonias are known as angel wing begonias. Native to Brazil, the plant grows on upright stems with interesting dotted leaves, unique colors, and a magnificent display of flowers.