Begonia Tubers - No Activity

I was admiring some pendulous begonias last year - so I bought 10 begonia tubers ( not cheap!) T and M fiery selection. I planted them as per the cultural instructions, dimple side up and just covering the tuber with compost. The results 7 of them have sprouted(?) after one month, and are doing very well at a temperature of 20c. Three have not shown any growth. Are there any tips to get them to start ? Or should I consign them to the big green wheelie bin?

TIA

 

Hi Smiffy,
Correct me if i'm wrong, but do T&M not have a guarrantee? Write to them and they will send replacements. Worth the cost of second class stamp.

 

Thanks for the reply Gingernutsman ( I do hope they get better ) If I can find my receipt I'll read the T & C and send em back. I also have 2 Lobelia seeds that did not germinate......I wonder if I can send them back

 

smiffy, give the corms a s c r a p e with a knife and check they are white or maybe reddish under the skin, if its brown they are dead.
Some can take longer than others to sprout, I usually like to see sprouts before I pot them up.
Just a spaying now and then, in March, layed on the bench can get the sprouts going.
I then plant in seed trays with the tops of the corms proud of the surface.
I only pot on and bury the corm once the shoots are about two inches high.
Sounds a bit of trouble but it does let you see whats happening at all stages.

Two lobelia seeds?
Lobelia seed is minute, are you refering to roots which you bought?

 

Going to take Pete's advice myself, was a bit let down with my own pendula's as well :thumb:

 

They might have gone Rotten.
I planted up 18 begoina corms this year and lost 2 because they went rotten.
Unfortunately, it's just one of those things.

 

All 12 from spalding's have done nothing for me..... going to contact them now.

 

First apologies for not replying to this thread - I am not getting any email reminders of posts.
Thansk Pete, bashy, AG and Dover dave . I'll try scraping them to view the corm flesh. But as you say I suppose you can expect some failures. On the positive side the other ones are doing really well - hope they dont go belly up .

 

I bought a load at the GC recently and discovered why they were so cheap - they should have been planted months ago. However, I have put them in a tray of compost and most of them are showing some growth, so all may not be lost.

 

sorry to hijack this thread but I have 6 corms which are sprouting nicely in small pots with the corm level with the sompost. When I plant them out do I bury the corms into the compost and bury the growth or do I sit them on the top like they are now?
TIA :confused:

 

I always bury them slightly, it helps them to stabilize the stems, but if its a hanging basket type, pendulous, then it probably doesn't matter much, either way.

 

Thanks Pete :thumb: