Ampel begonia - planting and care in the open field
Content:
The name "begonia" was given to the culture in honor of Begon (governor of the French colonies), the organizer of the expedition to the islands located in the southern United States. The most interesting species include ampelous begonia. On attractive bushes, foliage of asymmetric shape grows, luxurious flowers of various colors and shapes. It is easy to care for the culture, even a beginner can grow it.
Ampelous begonias: planting and care in the open field
Usually ampelous ivy begonia is grown in hanging pots, flowerpots. She is decorated with verandas, gazebos, terraces, arches in the garden. Outdoor plants require painstaking care. The ampel shrub has a root system in the form of tubers, shoots 20-60 cm long, large foliage 10-15 cm. It blooms with many unisexual flowers, which are simple, semi-double, double.
What does it look like
Landing
Tuberous ampelous begonia is planted with stem cuttings in order to preserve the original characteristics of the culture. It is also grown from seeds by placing each in the ground.
Planting and caring for ampelous tuberous begonia takes place in 2 stages: first, the tubers are planted in the apartment, after which the grown plants are taken out to the site.
Soil preparation is necessary so that the culture does not become moldy, so the substrate should be calcined in the oven for half an hour.
Planting tubers
When tubers are purchased, you need to carefully consider them, they should not be damaged. The top of the stems should be tight. It is necessary to ensure that there are at least three tubercles on each tuber, this indicates the presence of three buds.
Planting tubers
When spring comes, the cultivation of plants begins with planting tubers. They begin to germinate by placing the convex side down on a damp cloth. The place where the tubers stand should be warm and well-lit.
When small whitish roots grow on them, you can transplant them into the ground.
Broken brick and gravel are poured into low but wide pots on the bottom. After filling the soil. It is pretreated with fungicides. The tubers are placed on the convex side in a moistened substrate and covered with earth. It should be remembered that the top of the seedling should be a few centimeters below the top of the pot. When sprouts appear on the tubers, their upper part is covered with earth.
Picking
After 2 months, you can transplant the plants into pots with a height of 12 cm. First, you need to pour broken brick, expanded clay on the bottom, then add soil so that 1 cm remains to the edge of the container. The pots are placed on the windowsill. 2 weeks after the pick, the plants are fed with complex fertilizers, and then once every 2 weeks. After 20 days, the plants can be moved to the garden.
Care
Begonia like humid air, shading, lack of cold winds, nutritious soil. When the plant is hot, the tips of the foliage dry out. You can spray the air near the plants in the evening, but do not spray the foliage and stems, as water droplets can lead to stains and decay.
Preparing for winter
By the fall, the begonias fall off the foliage, the shoots dry out. It is better to transfer it to the house for the winter. But in winter, the room temperature should be 15 ° C. Pots, pots can be placed in a dark place and not watered. Then they take out the tubers from the pots, shake off the soil from them, place them for storage in a cardboard box filled with dry peat. Store in a dark, cool and dry place. The tubers should be inspected from time to time. If the peat is too dry, then moisten it. If a musty smell appears, ventilate the cardboard box. When sprouts appear on the tubers, they are transplanted into pots with soil.
Tuberous ampelous begonia: popular varieties
Ampel begonia is of two types. Plants that have tubers can be grown both outdoors and indoors. But the leafy ever-flowering begonia is planted only at home.
Alkor variety
Ampelous pink begonias:
- Alcor. The plants have fleshy shoots and bright emerald foliage. Blooms from May to October. In this begonia, the flowers resemble camellias in shape, the color in the center of the bud is faded pink, and along the edges - salmon;
- Pink reaches a height of 30 cm. The flower has thin stems and pale green leaves. The buds are small, deep pink. They hang down in the same way as the shoots;
- Venus F1. It has long stems, blooms before frost. Terry flowers are white and pink in diameter up to 6 cm.
Ampelous white begonias:
- Illumination White. A large number of snow-white double flowers are blooming. Roots in the form of tubers, long and thin stems, asymmetric foliage;
- Lapland F1. Flowers are double and semi-double, snow-white, with a diameter of 6-8 cm. They are similar in shape to camellias. The roots are in the form of tubers. Each plant has 5-8 hanging stems 30-45 cm long.
Variety Illumination White
Yellow ampelous begonias:
- Begonia Golden Balconi ampelous. The stems are up to 25 cm high. Flowers are orange and yellow, double, have a diameter of 13-15 cm. Flowers emit a pleasant smell. Blooms from May to October. For disembarkation, you should choose a well-lit or slightly shaded place. It is advised to plant in loose and nutritious soil that has a neutral reaction;
- Belleconia Ivory (cream). The flowers have pointed petals that resemble dahlias. The culture has falling stems 30-40 cm long;
- Margarita F1. The flowers resemble yellow roses.
Golden Balconi variety
Ampelous red begonias:
- Carmen. It has up to 40 cm long hanging stems and beautiful dark red flowers. Plants are planted in flower beds, they decorate verandas, terraces and gazebos;
- Belleconia Elserta (red). This is ampelous terry, not tuberous begonia. It has excellent immunity to disease and is very resistant to pest attacks. There are a lot of flowers on the stems, they are located on long, hanging shoots;
- Santa Cruz Sunset. It has stems 40 cm long. Flowers are orange-red, similar to fuchsia.
Variety Santa Cruz Sunset
Begonia bolivian ampelous
Bolivian ampelous begonia was discovered in Bolivia in 1864 by R. Pierce. He brought the plant to the UK. Bolivian begonia has tubers. She came from a species that grows on rocks, very sensitive to water and cold. Its daylight hours are 14 hours. It grows at temperatures above 13 ° С. She needs fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers.
Chanson
The bush grows 5-8 stems up to 40 cm long.The culture has semi-double and double flowers that resemble camellias, with a diameter of about 6-8 cm.The stems hanging from baskets, flowerpots, pots look great. Begonia looks great both blooming in summer and in winter alone due to its abundant greenery.
Scarlett
The height of Scarlett plants is up to 20-30 cm. The foliage is lanceolate, the edges are jagged. Leaves can be either bare or heavily pubescent. The flowers are large, double, can be of various colors: white, yellow, dark red. It grows 2 flowers in axillary inflorescences.
Ampel begonia is no worse than other species for home and outdoor cultivation, and in some respects even better than the same petunia. In leaving, simple rules should be followed, and then it will delight with abundant flowering.
