Begoniafan's Inbox

I would of thought that it would be best to hand water them, or else they may become over watered and as Drc726 says, they are meant for summer irrigation. Plus it means that if you are visiting them to water, you can remove and snails and any dropped or diseased leaves.

I think they work like chicken or in my case wild bird drinking bowls ,as the water level drops it is brought back to the level, not a good idear in the winter I should have thought, the gravel tray better because plants will only take what they need.

Unless the garage is heated then the drip system and the plants are likely to freeze during the winter in Lanarkshire. I don't grow begonias but try to keep my bulbs only 'just moist' during their dormancy period.

Is this really for summer irrigation? over wintering plants need much less water might be difficult to judge the amount?

Gosh... no idea - never tried. We have shallow trays filled with gravel which we put pots into and water the gravel with a wick to remove the excess water but a drip-irrigation bag sounds 'affy posh!

Still waiting for the wellies pic...:o)

Never mind begonia at least they wont rust!

I'll go take a look :o)
If you have any photos of your garden footwear, wellies etc. that would be useful for my recent Welliepedia blog, please and for GoYpedia Wellies and footwear section which I edit. Thanks. :o)

This looks to be quite a sheltered area...
is it protected from winds ?

Maybe you should make sure the pots you're leaving outside are frost-proof. They can be expensive to replace if lots get cracked. Also remember plastic pots don't give so much protection to roots as do stone/china pots.

My thinking is usually no natural light in a garage so what do you intend to over winter in the dark? Are the outside pots frost proof?

Do you have a photo of this sprinkler and container set-up please...sounds a good idea. :o)

Well then, they should be okay - it'll even be a bit warmer with any sun coming in from the south.

The stem is the most vulnerable part so you could use lengths of the foam insulation they sell for water pipes.

You can leave them in their current pots - not promising they'll survive in the garage though - no light at all and possibly not warm enough, but these days, with heating, producing an unheated room in the house isn't easy... good luck anyway.

Unless you live somewhere very mild and sheltered, they won't survive the winter outside. You can overwinter them as houseplants indoors, or box them in spent compost/sand mix, cut the tops a bit and leave them in a cool room, watering just enough to stop them dying from drought, probably a drop every 6/8 weeks. Then repot them in March and start them back into growth again in the house, put back outside mid to end May.

well I looked at them before planting them and using my best knowledge, judged that one side was the top and one the bottom, them planted them.
I decided to move some and notice that the roots were growing from the "top".
some of the others had already started growing so I left them upside down and their still producing great flowers now.

If your plant cannot take up the water it is given in a day or two, the plant is sitting in water which most plants hate. Your plant likes it on the dry side so ensure its pot has plenty drainage holes, then drill a few more.

To test if it needs watering push a BBQ wooden skewer down to the roots, leave it for five mins. then take it out and if its damp don't water. If it's dry, water.

Another reason for non growth could be Vine weevel grub which can decimate plants roots and can kill the plant.

I hope this helps. If it doesn't, at least it gave you something to read.

I will probably wish I hadnt asked this Usernut but why did you plant all your anemone de caen upside down? as I've just got some.

I only mentioned this about pot size for this particular plant. As too large a pot size and or over watering is known to cause root rot in this plant. letting the compost die out occassional seems to do it no harm. it does not need fertiler ( tonic) till its established, Try neglecting it but keep it warm in winter as volunteer said.

General rule of thumb: If you don't know which way up a bulb should be, and you can't find out from anyone else, then you should just plant it on its side. Its a reasonable compromise. With some bulbs it is indeed far from clear which bit is the top and which is the bottom, even with the most careful scrutiny. ... I've digressed from your question.

Planted all my anemone de caen upside down and they still produced fantastic flowers.

Funny how it is Squirrels that eat them in some places, here we lose crocus to mice, planted the right way up or not! (The corms, not the mice!).

Are the pots too big at this stage? As this can cause root rot as well as too much water.

I once had a stretch of grass I wanted to underplant with crocus and daffs, iris etc....but I ran out of time before the top soil arrived!! I went out and scattered all the bulbs very roughly over the whole area - literally as the load of earth was dumped on top .....result...a wonderful patchwork of colour in due course. Nature will sort it out....you wait!

Unless you fancy going out and digging them all up and starting again, I wouldn't worry too much. Hopefully you don't have grey squirrels where you live - here in London, they dig up all the crocus bulbs and eat them as fast as we plant them, upside down or not....

We have planted many spring bulbs upside down. At one time we planted Crocus's, every other one upside down, a large area with 5000 corms. It made very little difference in flowering. Our main enemy was squirrels.

Some bulbs will be weakened by planting upside down as they have more work to do.

Some exotic bulbs are planted on their sides to avoid waterlogging the tip of the bulb. The plant knows which way is up ( or down). Didn't you ever do the bean experiment in school?

Do the pots have suitable drainage, are the plants waterlogged in this 'lovely' summer? You will need to protect them through the worst of the winter, against a warm wall or in a greenhouse, porch or conservatory. Don't wrap them up all winter but use sacking and straw over the worst weather. They do grow slowly, too. They are not the hardiest of palms, try Trachecarpus fortuneii for true winter hardiness in Britain.