Begonia care in winter at home: how to keep a plant in the apartment during cold weather, useful tips for caring for a flower until spring

Home begonias from year to year can delight the eye with their unique personality and variety of bright palettes. These plants are chosen to decorate the home, as well as personal plots. After all, flowers do not require close attention.

However, changing seasons affects the plants. They also suffer from winter depression, due to lower temperatures, less daylight hours. If proper care is not taken, the flowers will begin to wither, and the weak may die.

Subspecies of flowers

ATTENTION: Begonia is an annual or perennial plant that has a huge number of varieties that differ in bush size, leaf shape, color range of inflorescences, type of growth. Among begonias, the most common are flowering, decorative-deciduous, tuberous groups.

Flowering begonias densely covered with inflorescences of various shades: white, pale yellow, orange, pale pink, scarlet, bright red. The texture of the flowers is terry and semi-double.
Decorative leafy varieties differ in a juicy green shade of leaves having different shapes, sizes. This species does not have beautiful, decorative colors.
Tuberous begonias grow up to 50 cm in height, have a strong stem and large double flowers. Apply tuberous varieties for street and home growth.

Home Care

In winter, plants are at rest, this is an important condition for further development, the ability of lush flowering. Each species has its own wintering features. This begonia variety does not have a distinct dormant period. They grow well year-round. But with the advent of winter, it is necessary to lower the room temperature to + 16 ° C and reduce watering.

At a temperature of + 22 ° C and above, the plant needs abundant watering, it will grow intensively. However, due to the short daylight hours, the sprouts will stretch out and have a pale color. Therefore, in the winter period it contains sense to contain begonias in conditions of low temperature, minimal watering.

Plants need to be placed on a well-lit windowsill, excess light at this time will not hurt. You should also take care of an additional light source. Near the radiators, the flower does not feel comfortable. Insufficient humidity causes the leaves to dry out. To prevent this from happening, it is better to put the plants away from heat sources, or cover them with a wet cloth, which will increase the humidity level in the room.

Strictly ensure that the liquid does not fall on the leaves when moistened. This can lead to the development of fungal diseases.

You can not transplant, propagate begonia in the winter. The disturbed root system of the flower during the cold period is rather difficult to rehabilitate, and the development of diseases is possible.

Wintering in the apartment: what is needed?

Decorative flowering species do not require certain conditions. The parameters for them are needed the same as for decorative foliage:

low temperature in the room;
high humidity;
it is necessary to water the soil after the top layer of soil in the pot has completely dried;
exclude over-rooting and transplanting.

There are varieties that bloom all year round, they absolutely do not need preparation for the winter season. Just add, if possible, a little artificial light and provide winter nutrition with minerals (how to feed begonia, it says here). This will ensure a continuous flowering process.

Cold care for different species

Tuberous flowers are grown in open ground and in flowerpots on window sills., and below we will see how they can be saved. This type of begonias has a pronounced period of sleep, but garden and indoor plants winter under various conditions.

Garden

At the end of November, the tubers of the plant are carefully dug out from the open ground.
Cut the stems, leaving no more than 2cm. Shake off the remains of the earth and send for drying in a warm, dry, ventilated room.
After 10-14 days, the dried tubers are placed in a prepared box for further storage. The temperature and humidity conditions optimal for the normal conservation of natural material will be in the range up to + 10 ° С and humidity 80%.
The tubers are found in a natural substrate, sand or peat, which is recommended to be periodically moistened.

Indoor

If tuberous begonia grows on window sills, it is not removed from flowerpots for the winter. In order for the plant to gain strength and energy for further development, it is necessary to provide suitable conditions:

Move to a dimly lit place in the house.
Lower the temperature to + 15 ° C.
Water once every 10 days.
Maintain humidity 60-70%.
Do not fertilize.
Do not transplant or propagate plants.
If the leaves and stems do not fade for the winter, you do not need to trim the begonia.
Insulate the begonia pot so that the root system of the flower does not get too cold.

The right place

IMPORTANT: The main task of properly storing begonia at home is to maintain the necessary humidity in the room. With a dry microclimate, tubers can dry out, with increased humidity there is a chance of decay. The optimal limit varies in the range of 70-80%.

Suitable places for the proper saving of begonias:

Cellar or basement. Tubers are stored in containers with sand, sawdust or soil mix. Samples should not touch each other and be surrounded by a soft “pillow”.
Fridge. Here tubers are placed in a plastic bag with holes for ventilation, sprinkled with a substrate. Keep the bag in the box for vegetables. Periodically, you need to inspect the tubers for the presence of fungal diseases, mold, rot.
For indoor begonias in flowerpots, the best wintering option would be insulated loggias, balconies, cellar, heated greenhouses, the coolest places in the house.

Watch a video of preserving tuber begonia in the winter:

How to meet spring?

In early March, plants wake up from hibernation.

Garden:

The tubers should be removed and left for a while in a warm room so that they warm up.
Then treat the tubers with a potassium permanganate solution.
Before planting in the soil, it is advisable to germinate in wet sawdust or sand.
If buds have popped up on a medium-sized tuber, it can be divided into several parts.
Slices treated with ash.
When spring night frosts are no longer terrible, tuber begonia is planted in open ground.

Indoor:

In the early days of spring, indoor plants are moved to the lightest window sill in the house.
Little by little, they begin to resume the irrigation regime, gradually increasing the ambient temperature.
Before the phase of active growth begins, the soil can be changed for the plant. To find out if this flower is necessary is simple: the root system filled the entire space of the pot. Begonia should be transplanted into a flowerpot with a diameter larger than the previous one, doing this gently and carefully. There must certainly be a drainage layer at the bottom of the tank.
In the spring, little flowers begin to be fed. This is especially true for non-transplanted plants.
The soil in which they are located should be enriched with mineral fertilizers.

Watch the video on the awakening of tuberous begonias in spring:

Conclusion

In general, the process of winter storage of begonias is not complicated, even a beginner grower can easily cope with it. The main thing to remember: proper storage of begonias in winter is the key to healthy growth and excellent flowering in summer.