LorettaNJ said:What soil do you use, Tiffany? ... Begonias do much better and recover when I plant them directly in the ground.
Bingo!
A lot of my potted plants are in ground soil, especially plants that were put in ground for summer vacation. Not the light-colored stuff from a mowed area, but dark, rich soil from a cultivated area, where I've been adding compost and organic matter for years. When scooped up undisturbed, there is often not any kind of adjustment at all, they just keep doing great. I've never found anything from a bag that can yield the same great results. I'm also working on gathering as many clay pots as possible. My plants in those almost always do better than the same plant(s) in a plastic pot. There's a limit to the size of these though because of the weight. Clay pot + ground soil = HEAVY. I'm not recommending this for anyone, just saying what is working for me to answer the question.
