With most of my potted plants, I use multi purpose compost and a handful of sharp sand. To water them, I plunge them in a bucketful of water, leave them for 20-30 minutes and then get them out. They get thoroughly soaked. About once a month- or when I remember, I add some liquid fertiliser to the water.
When I take the begonia in for the winter, I water it most sparingly and never feed it. It gets properly fed and watered from spring onwards.
Your begonia looks so much better. Real success! Perhaps the sticking out branch could be removed also? Good luck with the cuttings too.
With most of my potted plants, I use multi purpose compost and a handful of sharp sand. To water them, I plunge them in a bucketful of water, leave them for 20-30 minutes and then get them out. They get thoroughly soaked. About once a month- or when I remember, I add some liquid fertiliser to the water.
When I take the begonia in for the winter, I water it most sparingly and never feed it. It gets properly fed and watered from spring onwards.
Your begonia looks so much better. Real success! Perhaps the sticking out branch could be removed also? Good luck with the cuttings too.
thanks Danae(dan-Ah-ee), no worries. i didn't have any sand. does that help drainage?
how often do you water them that way? mine is an 11 litre bucket. how far up the pot should the water go? i was a bit worried the next day, after i noticed the pot itself darkening as it was taking up water, as i thought i had overwatered it. but then i realised that with a terra cotta pot, the pot will soak up water from the saucer as well as the soil in side it.
yes, i could remove that sticking out branch, but i'm running out of windowsill space! i have Spider plant, Begonia, and soon Jade plant cuttings. i need some of them to be planted and adopted!
once the other cuttings are establishing roots, i'll probably do it then.
thank you, yes, it does, i hope it will be happy. i hope it blossoms, quite literally. do you have any tips about persuading it to flower? it never has.
It will sprout from the stem near where you made the cuts. You can put it out of sight (in a bright position) while it recovers, just don't forget to water it.
To be honest the plant is telling you it's in too dark a spot.
thanks Loxley. sorry, i forgot to ask, are you saying it's in too dark a spot because of the legginess of it? if so, that was definitely the case before we moved, but hopefully as it's in a room with two different facing windows, it will be okay. i hope so.
Yes, ColmO, I use sand for drainage. Perlite does a similar job too.
I water my plants when they need
watering. I feel the surface of the
compost for dryness or, more often, I lift the pot to feel its weight; the lighter
the pot, the drier the compost. This
might need a little practice but if I can do it, anyone can. Not a brilliant gardener, not me! Over the years, I’ve killed dozens of plants
to prove it!
The amount of water in the bucket
should be sufficient to fully cover the whole flower pot and the top of the
compost. I follow the instructions on
the container, when adding fertiliser to the water.
As for lack of space, you can put two
cuttings in one jar, you know! You can
give spares not only to family and friends but to a charity shop too; some of them do sell
plants – not all- but only in spring and summer.
You may need to keep them at home till then!
In short, give your plant adequate compost,
a large enough pot, plenty of water and light- not direct sunlight – and “haircuts”
when needed and it should thrive for you.
You can try talking to it too. I do.
My plants and I are the only ones who listen to me. Usually…
Yes, ColmO, I use sand for drainage. Perlite does a similar job too.
I water my plants when they need
watering. I feel the surface of the
compost for dryness or, more often, I lift the pot to feel its weight; the lighter
the pot, the drier the compost. This
might need a little practice but if I can do it, anyone can. Not a brilliant gardener, not me! Over the years, I’ve killed dozens of plants
to prove it!
The amount of water in the bucket
should be sufficient to fully cover the whole flower pot and the top of the
compost. I follow the instructions on
the container, when adding fertiliser to the water.
As for lack of space, you can put two
cuttings in one jar, you know! You can
give spares not only to family and friends but to a charity shop too; some of them do sell
plants – not all- but only in spring and summer.
You may need to keep them at home till then!
In short, give your plant adequate compost,
a large enough pot, plenty of water and light- not direct sunlight – and “haircuts”
when needed and it should thrive for you.
You can try talking to it too. I do.
My plants and I are the only ones who listen to me. Usually…
thanks Danae(dan-Ah-ee), and sorry for the delay. i'm trying to juggle various things at the moment.
i put the pot in a bucket of water, up to just below the lip or the pot, having left the bucket overnight to let some of the chemicals out, and i left it for 30 minutes. the soil wasn't wet right through to the top, but about a knuckle down. having read what you said again, i should completely cover the pot. but when i tried to work out how much water i needed, the pot floated if there was too much, and i'm assuming it should sink. what does that mean, please? is the compost not compacted enough? i thought it was pretty tight. the pot is terra cotta.
it's been in its new pot for ten days now, and it seems to be doing ok. there's a new leaf, but also one of the old leaves is fading.
i suppose i was wary of putting more than one cutting in a jar because i thought that would crowd them, and they might not like that. but i will then, that'll save two jars worth of space.
thanks for the suggestion of charity shops.
i do talk to my plants, but i should do it more.
i'm sure i read, either here or somewhere that these Begonias appreciate moist air. i've always understood that one shouldn't mist Begonias because of their hairy leaves. but this one doesn't hairy leaves. so should i mist it, and if so how often. i generally mist the plants that need it at the same time as i water them.
3.i do talk to my plants, but i should do it more.
4. so should i mist it, and if so how often.
Hi ColmO
1. I'm sure the pot floats because the compost it contains is dry or getting dry. I, personally, hold the pot down till the air bubbles stop; then I let it sit in the bucket for a while, so the water can work its magic!
2. All old leaves eventually fade and fall. In summer, they are replaced by new ones.
3. We're a ...special breed of plant lovers!
4. I tend to mist cuttings only- far too lazy to go around the house misting things! But, as my other house plants live outside from May to the end of September , in suitable spots, I don't think they need misting. I'm not saying this is right, simply this is what I do and they don't complain.
1. I'm sure the pot floats because the compost it contains is dry or getting dry. I, personally, hold the pot down till the air bubbles stop; then I let it sit in the bucket for a while, so the water can work its magic!
2. All old leaves eventually fade and fall. In summer, they are replaced by new ones.
3. We're a ...special breed of plant lovers!
4. I tend to mist cuttings only- far too lazy to go around the house misting things! But, as my other house plants live outside from May to the end of September , in suitable spots, I don't think they need misting. I'm not saying this is right, simply this is what I do and they don't complain.
I hope this helps.
thank you Danae(dan-Ah-ee), and sorry for not getting back before. life's busy!
1. yes, you're quite right. i did just that, and it was fine.
2. thanks. there are quite a few new leaves now. and the cuttings are doing brilliantly. i'm going to start potting them. but i must find homes for them, as i'm running out of room!
3. true!
4. i've only got a small flat (see #2!) i don't think mine are going to be outside, so i'll mist them then. maybe next Spring i might think about putting them outside. so i suppose i'd better use terra cotta pots, then? our circumstances are different, so there's no "right", apart from what's good for your plants, but thank you very much for the advice.
i've been quite remiss and not planted the Begonia cuttings yet. they are doing really well, and i'm going to do it tomorrow. when i took the cuttings, each one was quite long, and i didn't think to cut them down. consequently, there are roots all along the stems now. this would mean i'd need really quite large pots to put them in, and find room/homes for. is it too late to cut some of the bottom of the stems off, with their roots, as there are plenty further up? or would this be too big a shock for them?
You could try planting the bits you cut off too. I can see no reason why they shouldn’t grow. Keep the compost moist when you plant them … the new roots will be used to the moisture so wean them gently.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
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Yes, ColmO, I use sand for drainage. Perlite does a similar job too.
I water my plants when they need watering. I feel the surface of the compost for dryness or, more often, I lift the pot to feel its weight; the lighter the pot, the drier the compost. This might need a little practice but if I can do it, anyone can. Not a brilliant gardener, not me! Over the years, I’ve killed dozens of plants to prove it!
The amount of water in the bucket should be sufficient to fully cover the whole flower pot and the top of the compost. I follow the instructions on the container, when adding fertiliser to the water.
As for lack of space, you can put two cuttings in one jar, you know! You can give spares not only to family and friends but to a charity shop too; some of them do sell plants – not all- but only in spring and summer. You may need to keep them at home till then!
In short, give your plant adequate compost, a large enough pot, plenty of water and light- not direct sunlight – and “haircuts” when needed and it should thrive for you.
You can try talking to it too. I do. My plants and I are the only ones who listen to me. Usually…
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.