There are purely garden plants, there are exclusively indoor plants. But there are also flowers that are friendly to both open ground and home living conditions. These include begonia - a plant that blooms very beautifully, is quite unpretentious and pleases with its flowers for a very long time.
Exotic Origin and Species
The begonia is home to the South American continent; it is very common in Central America and in southeast Asia. However, the plant began its journey around the world precisely from the West Indies, where it was first scientifically described by the French Plume, who named the flower in honor of the organizer of the botanical expedition Michel Begon.
Now there are more than a thousand plant species, and the number of its hybrids exceeds 2000. Begonias are very diverse: these are perennials and annuals, bushes and grassy subspecies, wintering and evergreens. As indoor plants, varieties with decorative leaves are usually grown. In our apartments and various institutions, coral begonia is often found, and its owners sometimes do not even suspect what kind of flower lives with them. In people, this species is often called the "cabbage". He is loved for unpretentiousness and bright red color of leaves, which they acquire with an excess of sunny color.
However, if you are interested in flowering, attention should be paid to tuberous begonias. There are a great many of them, with very different colors and various flower shapes.
Breeding
Despite an unambiguous definition (tuberous), these flowers can also be planted using seeds and cuttings (both leafy and stem). Using seeds is a very complicated matter, but experienced gardeners prefer this method, since seedlings in the most unusual way combine the properties of their parents. However, there is plenty of fuss and difficulties with this method, and if you are not engaged in floriculture professionally, pay attention to other methods.
Let's start with a simple
So you need begonia. How to plant a tuber, you have some idea, but you need a tuber. Usually amateur gardeners just buy it. And here it is important not to make mistakes. Rule one: its diameter should be at least 3 cm. Rule two: choose a tight nodule without wrinkles and cracks - they indicate overdried, and it may well die. Rule three: tubercles should be present at the top, and they need more - these are growth points. If your acquisition is great - carefully cut it into pieces, and you will even get more than one begonia. How to plant a tuber purchase? This is the next step.
If you have a garden
As already mentioned, these flowers grow beautifully in the open air. But before planting begonia tubers, check the soil in your area. Her reaction should be neutral. If the earth is acidic - do liming; if alkaline - neutralize it with gypsum in advance. You can plant tubers in May, if the year turned out to be warm, but for reliability it is better to wait for June - the ground should warm up quite deeply.
There is another way to plant begonia tubers in open ground. They can be sprouted beforehand, as is done with any - for example, vegetable - seedlings. You can plant for germination in February. If you chose this path, figure out a few rules on how to sprout begonia tubers. Firstly, they do not shoot at the same time, so if some are "without movement" - just wait. Secondly, when the majority in the planting sprouts, the container must be rearranged in a lighter place (but not under direct sunlight!). Watering should be less frequent and not plentiful at this time. After a week, seedlings need to be given nitrogen fertilizer. If by this time some tubers are left without sprouts, they must be removed. It remains at the right time to simply plant the seedlings at a distance of a third of a meter from each other.
Home growing
No less remarkable begonia grows in the premises. How to plant her tuber in an apartment? The principle is almost the same as when planting in the garden. Dates differ - as a houseplant, a flower needs to be planted at the end of February or in March.
The pot should not be very large, but not small, not too wide, and so deep that the tuber is covered with soil, but growth buds are not hidden. Do not forget to pour drainage at the bottom of the pot. Leave three centimeters from the top of the planted tuber to the edge of the container. When the sprouts stretch for four centimeters, the soil will need to be filled up almost to the edge.
In order for tuber begonia to be successful, they must be properly prepared. To do this, they remove old roots and carry out preventive disinfection. Enough tubers for half an hour to place at least in a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate.
additional information
So, you already have begonia, how to plant a tuber, we figured it out. It remains to take into account the latest details. Do not chase for a completely fresh planting material. The tubers retain the ability to germinate for at least five years (provided that they, of course, were stored correctly). If you divide too large or old nodules into several parts, sprinkle the wounds with crushed charcoal - this will prevent their decay. Begonias grown from whole but deformed tubers (concave, flattened, with lateral grooves) will bloom, but worse than their “sisters” from even ones. If your flower is planted in the garden, keep in mind that it is a treat for slugs and snails. Just in case, sprinkle the earth around it with shells or small gravel. If begonia lives in an apartment, provide it with a bright, draft-free place, otherwise you will not wait for flowering. The same applies to watering - it should be morning, early: during the day you burn the leaves, in the evening you risk ruining the roots.
And the rest is not expected much trouble. A little patience - and you can admire the flowering begonias!