Here is my baby

I think you would try to save it like any other tuberous begonia. It looks GREAT!

A guy in CA has a massive tuber that he has overwintered for years. It must be 8 to 10 inches across and weighs a few pounds! I've never had luck with saving any so I've given up on growing these except as annuals.

Here is a photo of the massive tuber on FB (if you are on FB)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=635097569892286&set=pcb.633210840061913&type=3&theater

Do we know how he did it? The overwintering I mean....

Lots of tender loving care? Living in CA? You could contact him to find out.

If you live in the cold north as I do I simply let my plant get a little dry, leave it in its hanging pot, and put it in the basement for the winter, the leaves and stems will dry and drop off, and if the basement is as cool as ours, you should be able to remove the tuber and let it revive when you think new growth can happen,that is, when you expect other tuberous plants to start to show new growth. I start checking in February to see who did make it and who didn't.

I take the tubers out of their pots before it freezes. They dry out and after all the plant stems have fallen off I put them in labeled sacks of peat and keep them in a cool room during the winter. I start checking in Feb too and when I see one that's starting to sprout I plant it under lights. I do loose some, but I get such a kick out of the ones that make it that its worth it for me.

So my basement is heated, so I think it might be too warm. I read of others who placed them in a fridge. I wonder how that would work......

I kept mine in our heated basement several winters. Last winter I had them in a storage closet which is next to my furnace and I think that was too warm. Still many of my tubers made it. I will try to keep them in a little cooler spot this year, but in our house- instead of taking them to my mom's basement closet which is much cooler. If I keep the door closed in our spare bedroom it will be the coolest spot in the house.

Ok too cold here, bit the bullet and dug them up and they are drying in the garage.. I will keep the thread going, I hope with good results

I'm further north than you (3b in Canada) and I've been successful some years overwintering begonia, dahlia & canna tubers in our unheated and insulated garage, but other years not. The spot I use is the most inside spot of the garage, that is surrounded by the house on both sides, in a cubby area beneath the stairs leading up to the house, and I've stored them in ample amounts of sawdust for insulation (in buckets). Yet some years they've shrivelled up and died?

I'd read one comment, once, somewhere, to try laying them flat on basement concrete, in an area that isn't used by kids or pets or will be left alone (far corner beneath crawl space maybe?) and covered with a thick blanket to insulate. I've not tried that but now that I am reminded of it I may try it with my tubers this year. The garage spot I've spoke about is not easily accessible to check on them when our temperatures get really cold, for me the crawl space would be easier.

Good Luck, I hope you can keep it - it is so lovely!

I wrap my dahlia bulbs in saran wrap - individually and that has helped keep them from drying out. I'm in Iowa and my unheated, not insulated garage would be too cold for these tubers - they would freeze and die. The tuberous begonias especially don't need to be that cool, just put them in a sack of peat and store them in the coolest spot you have- and if that's just a regular heated room, still many of them will live. At least mine did.

Interesting on the plastic wrap. What about bubble wrap? Fortunately in Atlanta, most dahlias survive the winter in the ground.

For Caladiums I stick the pot they are in on the top shelf of my light stands with no water and no light other than ambient for winter. I pull them down in early March to see if they started to sprout and if they have I move them to light and start watering and fertilizing.

If you have room, try the bottom of the refrigerator, protected by sawdust or something similar. I like the suggestion about using Saran, I plan to experiment with that.

the saran wrap is only for the dahlias - I've never used that for the tuberous begonias. Interesting idea about the bubble wrap - I wonder if you'd get as tight a seal, or would that matter?

Tape over the ends of bubble wrap and it should be fairly tight or put the entire package in a Ziploc bag. You can buy large envelopes with bubble wrap cushioning if your tubers aren't ginormous. HA! I've shipped cuttings in those envelopes in the past which worked.

Tubers still not very dry.. The stems still have not fallen off.... I will just wait for awhile longer.........

Maybe your garage is too cold and damp for them to dry out. I brought mine in the house.

I'll try that Thanks Maryjo

I'm going to try to save my tuberous begonia in zone 5 NW PA. I remember my mom saving tubers on newspapers with sawdust in our NE OH basement. I'm wondering if sawdust gets hot like mulch if you don't wait until it's older. Anyone have an answer for this? My begonia doesn't look the same as cheddarchicks. It has large pink hanging flowers. Not sure how this will work, but I really like the flowers. Today it is 69 and my flowers are still blooming....not sure when I have to dig up the tubers.

I don't know if sawdust gets hot. I usually let mine air dry in the house, and then put them in bags of peat and label them. All tuberous begonias can be saved not just the ones like cheddarchick's so don't worry about that. It was so hard for me to bring mine in when they were still blooming about a week ago, but I had so much other gardening stuff to get ready for winter and we had some pretty cold nights. You can leave them out till it gets to freezing temps. Bring them in before it freezes because I read that a hard freeze can harm the tubers. Frost may kill the plants, but I think the tubers would still be ok. That is so cool that your mom did this when you were a kid!

Sawdust ( and wood shavings) are used as insulation for a lot of tuberous begonias when you buy them as bare tubers at nurseries/big box stores.

Before ice makers, some entrepreneur from Boston (I believe) found that by packing cut ice in sawdust and shipping them via sailing ships to the southern states kept the bulk of the ice from melting! Amazing but true.

Sounds like your mom was a pretty smart lady- and you too!! Do you have access to sawdust? Can a person buy it?

Thanks. We have a wood stove so saw dust is no problem here. Don't know if you can buy it. I am right on Lake Erie which holds the heat for me now ( and the cold in the spring). Think I'm going to have to dig them up with the blooms on cuz it is November.

Find anyone with a chainsaw and ask if you can get some sawdust when they cut trees or firewood. I'm sure they will give you as much as you can handle. A workshop can provide some sawdust too but it will be much finer.

A sawmill would have mountains of it but I don't think you want that kind of volume.

Thanks hcmcdole, I'll keep that in mind -maybe a guy down the street! grace, when I dug mine out I couldn't stand to throw away the gorgeous blooms so I put them in cups and vases of water. They didn't last too many days but it helped me at the time!

Thanks for all the help. I never thought of sawdust

Still hasn't had the stems drop off......Think I will wrap them and leave them...

what do you mean wrap and leave? maybe the stems could be helped to come off with a little gentle pulling. I had to do that with a few of mine. Are you putting them in a bag with peat or sawdust? I am thinking if you leave the stems on they could rot the tuber while being stored all winter.

I tugged gently yesterday. Not budging.. I am worried about leaving them on for just that reason...

Hmm sawdust....would sand work? Fresh out of sawdust LOL.

Peat works too. I just heard today from someone on Planet begonia (she's from Scotland and her husband hybridizes begonias and they have 3 greenhouses) and they just wrap the begonia tuber with paper towels and rubberband the name to it and put them in a box and store them in a cool room in the house. I would be afraid mine would dry out. They start them up again in Jan/Feb so maybe they don't have time to dry out? Maybe next year I'll try that with a few and see how they do.

Agggghhh too many ways to screw them up.....I think I will do all 3 tubers different ways....

cheddarchick, I love the opportunities for experimentation with gardening- and keeping other's previous experiences in mind all the while!

Just wondering how everyone's tubers made it. Anyone else getting ready to start growing them?

Mine made it through the fridge stage. Just took them out over the weekend. Still firm but no growth yet. What did yours do?

Most of mine made it but I did loose a few. Some were questionable when I put them away in the fall. About 2/3 of them have sprouted a tiny bit so I have potted them and will wait for the rest before I pot them. These are assorted tuberous begonias. I am very pleased with the success rate of the tubers I bought last year from Cal Begonia!

nice.. Do you have a link to them?

I'm sorry, I don't know how to do links,but here is the website: calbegonia.com

O I guess I did do a link!

iBs. boliviensis, 4 grandis, griffithiana, micanthera all showing life, looks like I lost B. cinnararina, but I have seeds so will restart next fall. Our plant nursery has tubers of the tuberhybrida ready to sell, most do not have the little 'eyes' showing yet though.I didn't try the refrigerator this year, all were in their pots in the basement,

I didn't do the refrigerator thing either. I just kept them in a cool bedroom in bags of peat. Some of mine had very tiny eyes last fall when I was packing them up. Cool that you have a plant nursery! What state are you in?

Great question!!! Where are you located Woebegonia?