Begonia problem

by Jack
(North wildwood, nj)

Good begonias

My begonias did very well; then those on one side of my porch started dying while the other side continued to do well. Here are pictures.

Comments for Begonia problem

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Oct 14, 2021

Sorry!
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

This is like one of those things you see with the caption, 'one of these things is not like the other...' and it looks like you've posted two identical pictures. Maybe you didn't mean to do that, so I'll see what suggestions I can make.

It could be that your house is in a dip, with cooler air draining down towards the side of the porch with the dying begonias on.

They can't take cold, even before it gets to freezing or below. They really don't like it at lower than about 37 degrees F.

As they will not make it through the winter, I would dig out the survivors and grow them indoors for some winter colour, or take some cuttings off the ones you like the best.

The other thing that could be happening is some kind of pathogen that is in the soil from previous years, which is now infecting the new plants.

To combat this, don't plant anything in the same family in this spot next year, unless you can totally remove all the soil and put in fresh.

If any of these solutions will work for you, great!

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