Begonias are popular for their beautiful foliage as well as their beautiful blooms. They come in many different varieties and can be a great colorful addition to your patios or directly into the flowering beds.
To keep begonias blooming. You need to provide a good draining soil
You need to select a good location.
You need to provide adequate water
Make sure they have plenty of nutrients for blooms and flowers.
If you provide them with the right soil, water, and proper fertilizer. Your begonias will bloom.
Let’s dive in deeper and discuss all these in detail. If you are really interested in keeping your begonias blooming, then continue reading this article till the end. Let’s start!
Table of Contents
Soil Required To Keep Begonias Blooming
Begonias need well-drained soil. Make sure to check the potting drainage hole.
This plant loves humidity and so don’t keep it in a dry place. Instead, keep it where you have also kept your other plants.
The moisture from surrounding plants will gradually evaporate and get mixed in the surrounding atmosphere and thus making it humid.
If you don’t have other plants then you can also keep a pan filled with water near your begonia. Don’t place your begonia in that pan by the way because then it can cause wet soil which your begonia won’t like.
Actually though the begonias like humid conditions, they won’t grow well in the wet soil. It can cause root rot.
So long story short, have soil that is well-drained. Giving the plant the right medium will help in its better growth and thus increase its blooming potential.
Sunlight Required To Keep Begonias Blooming
This plant loves sunlight but not too much. It actually prefers bright but indirect sunlight. You can place it in a location where it can get the morning or evening sunlight.
But always keep it safe from the strong sunlight in the afternoon time. Getting this kind of sunlight will help the begonia plant to grow well.
So don’t give it the sun the whole day. It can get damaged because of it.
And remember, if you give begonia adequate sunlight every day, then it will bloom well.
If you keep your begonias totally in a shaded region where the flower doesn’t get enough sunlight then the chances of getting flowers on your begonia will be quite less.
So the important point here is adequate indirect sunlights for better growth of the plant.
Water Required To Keep Begonias Blooming
Over-watering begonias should be avoided. As it can cause root rot. Also, underwatering is not good, right?
So the best thing is to water the begonias adequately. As a rule of thumb, you can check the upper soil layer. If it gets dry then you can water it. If it’s still moist then you can wait for some time before watering again.
Giving too much water will cause root rots. Generally, it is good to water the begonias in the morning. This is because throughout the day the extra moisture would evaporate because of the heat of the sun and the soil will get some time to dry itself.
Thus, it will prevent any case of root rot that could have occurred due to water accumulation.
If you have planted begonias in the pots or hanging baskets then again the same rule will be applied. Keep some time between the waterings. It will allow the soil to become dry and thus any chance of waterlogging.
If you are unsure whether or not the plant needs watering you can dip your finger an inch or so and check the moisture by yourself. If the soil feels sticky then that means there is some moisture and so wait for some time.
However, if you feel that the soil is now dry then you can water it.
Giving adequate watering is important because water is also one of the essential components of plant growth.
Fertilizer Required To Keep Begonias Blooming
Now regarding fertilizers, you can give begonias liquid fertilizers once in about every 10-15 days. You can choose the phosphorus liquid fertilizer.
If possible you can also dissolve the micronutrient powder in the fertilizer. You can also give organic fertilizers if you prefer that.
And by the way, if you want you can also give a little less fertilizer to your begonia. It will be okay enough.
So keep giving the fertilizers to the begonias at adequate intervals. If the plant gets good and enough nutrients then it grows really well.
Pruning Required To Keep Begonias Blooming
Another thing you can do for better growth and better blooms is to keep removing the dead, damaged, bent flowers. This will help the begonia plant to focus its energy more on the growing parts of the plant.
And if you are noticing uncontrolled growth of your begonia, then you can do cuttings and control its growth. Doing this will cause the growth of new branches and the plant will start growing in proper shape.
Don’t worry you won’t need to throw away the cuttings (unless you really want to do so). Actually propagating begonias from cuttings is quite easy.
You can just place the cutting in the soil at some depth and thus you can have more plants.
How To Have More Big Begonia Blooms?
You might have noticed that some begonia flowers are quite big, with vibrant colors. While some aren’t that beautiful and look small, as if not developed. So why is this so?
Actually, begonias are monoecious, which means they have separate male flowers as well as female flowers on the same plant.
And the showiest begonia flowers are the males, while the female flowers are those with few petals.
Now a plant’s main goal is to reproduce itself, thus producing the seed. Whereas, our goal here is to have big beautiful flowers.
So what we can do is just remove the female flowers. By doing so, the plant will focus its energy more on the development of male flowers.
As a result of this, we can have more big begonia blooms.
Conclusion
In short, here are the 5 key elements that are required to keep your begonias blooming:
- Well drained Soil
- Adequate bright indirect sunlight
- Adequate watering
- Supply of proper nutrients
- Do necessary pruning
So I hope now you know exactly how to keep your begonias blooming. Begonias are generally hardy and easy to grow. If you have the right knowledge and if you can implement that knowledge at the right time and in the right way, then you can succeed in growing this plant. Enjoying its beautiful blooms. That’s it! Happy gardening 🙂
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