Summer flowering bulbs make outstanding partners for shrubs in your garden and are an excellent way of adding instant colour to shrubs which are at their peak in spring or autumn.
Spring is the perfect time to start them off and our simple guide will show you how to plant beautiful begonias!
For this task you’ll need:
- Multi-purpose compost.
- Your begonia bulbs.
- A seed tray kit, comprising of a large seed tray and gravel tray.
- Water and a watering can.
- A label and pencil.
Preparation
Fill your tray with multi-purpose compost, and then ensure the compost is moist by watering thoroughly.
Check your begonia bulbs carefully – they’ll need to be planted with the hollow side face upwards.
Planting Technique
Position your begonia bulb on the surface of your compost and then twist and push down to ensure good contact between the bulb and the compost – as Marcus demonstrates below.
Looking After Your Bulbs
Continue positioning your begonia bulbs – you should be able to fit six to a standard size tray. Place this tray into your gravel tray and keep the bulbs in temperatures between 60-70 degrees, a window sill indoors is ideal.
And don’t forget to label them!
Transplant into individual pots once leafy shoots are produced and then into their final positions in June once the frost risk has passed.
Begonias are ideal for conservatories, bedding, baskets and borders and will do best in light shade. Make the most of yours by planting into pots which you can move around the garden for colour wherever you need it!
We have a huge range of summer flowering bulbs to choose from plus all the kit you’ll need to get you planting – so pop in to see us soon, and prepare an explosion of colour for your garden!
May: Potting On & Dividing your Begonia Bulbs
The begonia bulbs we planted in March have started to produce growing shoots, and May is the time to pot them on. It’s also the right time to divide them if you want to increase your plant stocks too – and here we show you how to do both.
By the beginning of May, your bulbs should look something like ours.
Let’s start with potting on…
You’ll need some plastic pots for this, and loam-based compost.
First fill your pot with enough compost so that there is room to put the bulb on top and fill around with the compost.
Then carefully extract your begonia bulb using a dipper – start by loosening the compost all around it and then gently lift, ensuring that you keep as much compost as possible and therefore lessen the risk of damaging the tiny roots.
Carefully place your begonia bulb in the centre of your pot and gently fill around the sides with compost, but DO NOT firm in.
Pot on all of the bulbs you want to in this way before you move on to dividing.
Dividing bulbs
May is also the right time to divide your bulbs if you want to increase your plant stocks – and for this you’ll need to select bulbs which have more than one growing point or bud – as shown on the right.
Carefully extract your bulb as previously and place it on the workbench. You can cut your bulb into as many pieces as you have growing points or buds, making sure to use a sharp knife, cutting gently and cleanly, and making sure that you also have roots on each piece too.
Then apply a fungicide powder to each cut face and leave for 2-3 hours for the cuts to dry out and a callous to form – you can then pot each piece on as above.
Once all of your bulbs have been divided and/or potted on, keep them on a warm windowsill and plant out in June when the plants have developed and all risk of frost has passed.
