Bedding Begonia

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Whitefly

Whitefly

Aleyrodidae

A puff of white when you brush the leaf, and stickiness underneath.

, Spider mites

Spider mites

Tetranychidae

Fine pale stippling in hot, dusty, dry weather. Visible webbing means you are already late.

, Thrips

Thrips

Thysanoptera

Silvery streaking with black specks — the specks are how you tell them from mites.

, Vine weevil

Vine weevil

Curculionidae

Notched leaf edges are only the warning. What kills the plant is underground.

.

Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

,

to keep them in check — plant nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Bedding Begonia indoors about 12 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in warm soil (around 20–25 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 14 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in partial sun, spaced about 20 cm apart. Expect the first blooms in roughly 90 days.

Keep track of the seeds you own.

Companion Planting

• 
  Winged bean
  

  Winged beanExcellent pair

  • ❧Winged bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that Bedding Begonia feeds on
  • ❧Bedding Begonia draws Bees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Winged bean roots deep while Bedding Begonia feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  round leaf lavender
  

  round leaf lavenderExcellent pair

  • ❧round leaf lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Bedding Begonia
  • ❧Bedding Begonia draws Bees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧round leaf lavender roots deep while Bedding Begonia feeds near the surface — no competition
• 
  Spanish lavender
  

  Spanish lavenderExcellent pair

  • ❧Spanish lavender attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids and Whitefly and more that attack Bedding Begonia
  • ❧Bedding Begonia draws Bees that improve pollination for both
  • ❧Spanish lavender roots deep while Bedding Begonia feeds near the surface — no competition

How to grow Bedding Begonia

1. Sow12 weeks before frost
2. Germinates14 days
3. Space20 cm apart
4. GrowPartial sun
5. Harvest~90 days

Water: Medium · Height: 25 cm · Soil: Moist, well-draining, rich