August 09, 2006

Overwatered containers

Here is graphic evidence of the results of overwatering on potted begonias. The pots on the left were sheltered under the eaves, the ones on the right got the full brunt of several successive thunderstorms. These pots were planted to be identical and other than the different exposure to rainfall, have had identical conditions.

Overwatered begonia on right

Overwatered begonia on right

My hanging begonia has suffered a similar fate. A week of over-zealous watering by my plant-sitter followed by days of heavy rain was extremely hard on them. Normally, my habit of putting wadded newspaper in the bottom of my pots to hold the soil and moisture in is successful, but this year it seems to have caused problems for some of them.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

WOW... not that I doubted your earlier post about keeping the begonias on the dry side, but that's very compelling evidence! Will the smaller ones bounce back once they dry out? I hope so, because the full containers look so lush.

Janet said...

I don't know what to expect from them, I've never experienced anything quite like this before. The tuberous begonia is producing some healthy looking new leaves, so I think the tuber has a chance of surviving. As for the wax begonia, it doesn't much matter as I generally grow them as annuals, although they can be overwintered as houseplants.