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Post by Cherry on Oct 9, 2011 20:17:48 GMT
Thanks Esther. Are yours really small ones too? The flowers were big.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Oct 10, 2011 6:48:48 GMT
I spotted these today  This plant really wants to spread, the tubers divide and it produces seeds and bulblets. I picked some off and put them in a seed tray to see what happens. Is this your perennial begonia WF? Yes it is Peony |
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Post by peony on Oct 10, 2011 10:29:28 GMT
I seem to remember when you were first given the tubers none of us had heard of perennial begonias, but they've been a real success in your garden and proved to be an attractive plant, especially for shady areas. Are you going to leave some tubers in the garden over winter, I think the man who gave you them said they are hardy?
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Oct 10, 2011 18:23:04 GMT
I planted lots of them around the garden, I shall be leaving those which worked in the ground, the ones which didn't look good where they were will be dug up. I will save these tubers just in case.
They came through the last two winters in his garden so they must be fairly hardy.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Oct 19, 2011 18:22:54 GMT
I dug two plants up today, the result wasn't quite what I was expecting. The original tuber had disappeared and there was a bulbous bit at the end of the stem  I think I shall leave the rest to die back naturally. |
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Post by Lou78W on Oct 19, 2011 18:46:37 GMT
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Dec 1, 2011 8:54:10 GMT
This is how my hardy begonias are looking. At the end of the stem is a large bulbous lump(s), I presume this is a tuber or tubers. They are firmly joined to each other and firmly joined to the stem. I was expecting them to all be separate and be separate from the stem. I'm not sure what to do with them now.  |
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Post by peony on Dec 1, 2011 16:11:59 GMT
This is how my hardy begonias are looking. At the end of the stem is a large bulbous lump(s), I presume this is a tuber or tubers. They are firmly joined to each other and firmly joined to the stem. I was expecting them to all be separate and be separate from the stem. I'm not sure what to do with them now. I think I would cut the stem back as close to the tuber as you can WF, and then dust the cut and the whole tuber with sulphur powder to stop any rot, then store them for winter. On the 'Swines Meadow Farm Nursery' website, they say Begonia grandis is hardy and spreads 'by self set bulbils dropped from the plant in Autumn', so from that I would assume that there is no need to dig them up every year. |
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Dec 1, 2011 16:26:34 GMT
Thanks Peony, I have some sulphur powder. Should I leave the tubers as a lump? Some have two or three tubers joined together. I sowed a seed tray full of the bulblets, the plants might not produce loads of tubers but each one produced hundreds of bulblets. I'll post the results in the spring (as long as I can keep them mouse free :  . |
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Post by peony on Dec 1, 2011 18:58:04 GMT
Thanks Peony, I have some sulphur powder. Should I leave the tubers as a lump? Some have two or three tubers joined together. I sowed a seed tray full of the bulblets, the plants might not produce loads of tubers but each one produced hundreds of bulblets. I'll post the results in the spring (as long as I can keep them mouse free : . I would try separating one first and if it come away from the main tuber easily, then separate all the larger ones. If they are very small I think I would just leave them attached for the time being. Some of my annual tubers grow bigger each summer, but not all of them, some seem to stay the same size for years, but as I've never grown the perennial ones I'm not sure whether they will get bigger each year. When you were given them, I think you said they had been in your friend's garden for many years, so the largest tubers you got then is probably their mature size, and the bulbils will eventually grow to that size. It will be interesting to see how big the bulbils have to be before they flower  |
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Dec 1, 2011 19:43:51 GMT
All the tubers were tiny when I was given them. Some of the original tubers have grown slightly and others have stayed the same size and produce a second, smaller tuber.
I was very surprised at the size of the plant compared to the size of the tuber.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Mar 7, 2012 15:15:44 GMT
Today I noticed the bulblets have begun to shoot.  They are about half the size of a pea, I wonder how many years it will be before they are mature? |
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Post by peony on Mar 7, 2012 15:52:41 GMT
They may be tiny WF but they have nice healthy shoots I wonder if because they are hardy perennial begonias the tubers never get as big as the non-hardy types. The non-hardy tubers are propagated by division of the tuber, and none of mine have ever have ever produced 'baby' tubers/corms. |
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Post by Rosie on Mar 7, 2012 16:23:04 GMT
Mine are putting out nice buds just now Sue, i doubt they would be winter hardy up here though  so i will take them in each year ;D |
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Post by Cherry on Mar 7, 2012 16:30:07 GMT
Are you bringing on the hardy begonias in heat WF? I started mine on the windowsill, but nothing was happening, so I have put them in the propagator. Maybe they should not be in there.
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I think I shall leave the rest to die back naturally.
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Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT