Begonias

Hi a couple of weeks ago i planted around 18 begonia tubers direct into the borders ... i have just been looking at some U tube clips and i appears that i should have started them off in pots in the warm .. and get them established before planting them out .. so now i am at a loss at what to do !! shall i leave them there or dig the lot up and re pot its the first time i have ever bought Begonias .. i have only planted them shallow around an inch deep.. please advise me thankyou ... Michael

 

Personally I'd dig them up and plant them seed trays, barely covered.
Put them somewhere warm.

Once the shoots are about a couple of inches high, harden off and plant out.

The ground is still fairly cold.

 

I would dig them up and put into pots or trays of compost, plus the slugs love the new growth otherwise you may not have many left, did you plant before or after all the frost we have had.


Spruce

 

Do not make the mistake I made when I had baby begonias in 9cm pot ,I over watered them. They survived but I did read that begonias do not like their feet wet at night,in other words do not water them late in the day so roots stay wet overnight.Not sure if there is any truth in that but I am sure a member would know.
The ones in greenhouse now I tend to keep on the dryish side now.

 

Hi MJ , dig them up . Begonias can only go out late May . When you are growing from tubers , plant really shallow . So you can see 1/4 of the tuber above the compost. If all is well about 75% will show. I only grow the trailing Begonias , lovely plants that will see you through to November

 

You are right about only watering in the morning and letting them dry out during the day .

Spruce

 

Must admit, I never heard that one.

 

Thanks for all the replys Guys and Girls ... decisions decisions .. Spruce i did plant them out after the frosts ... but we did have a couple of unexpected one's .... thing is they dont tell you in the garden centres of the difficulty of rearing Begonias .. not even any planting instructions .. its the first time ive tried Begonias and TBH i thought it was just a matter of planting them shallow and wait !! i dont really want to dig the lot up so i think i will go talk to them and see if that helps
Thanks again .. MJ

 

You need to dig them up. May well get more frosts, and that will kill them. Even if not with the cold soil at this time of the year they will be slow to sprout and come out of dormancy, and unless it stays dry any prolonged wet, before they have sprouted, will cause them to rot.

Fill a pot with multi purpose compost. Just gently push the tubers into the compost (with the concave side UPwards) so that part of the tuber is sticking out of the compost, stand in a tray of water for 10 minutes to get the compost wet, from below. I would put in a plastic bag and put that in a warm place (airing cupboard for example) but check it at least once a day because once the start sprouting they need light. They will be happy on a window sill (take the plastic bag off) once they sprout, as they don't need a huge amount of light, but greenhouse would be better. plant out once it has some decent leaves on it, and personally I wouldn't plant out until end of May as there is always a risk of frost until then - probably more so this year as the season is so late, and ground / sea temperature lower than normal.