Begonias not sprouting...

blaugranamd · Mon Apr 30, 2012 11:58 am

So it's almost May and my begonias haven't shown any signs of life. I dug a few of them up today and they look just like they did when I planted them nearly 6 weeks ago. They're really the only flowering plants I have in my small backyard and I really wanted some color this year. I have 3 pots of pendula begonia bulbs and about 12 more double begonias in the ground below. I have kept them well watered and they only get about 2 hours of mid-day sun. Any help?

rainbowgardener · Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:25 pm

Do you know your begonias are cold hardy for where you are? Some begonias are quite cold hardy and some are only hardy to zone 7 and have to be dug and stored for colder climates.

blaugranamd · Mon Apr 30, 2012 3:19 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:Do you know your begonias are cold hardy for where you are? Some begonias are quite cold hardy and some are only hardy to zone 7 and have to be dug and stored for colder climates.

Not sure, but I just got them this year and since they've been planted temps haven't gotten below 32 but 2 or 3 days total separated by a week or so each.

blaugranamd · Tue May 01, 2012 1:02 pm

I've gotten mixed advice based on a few articles I've read. Should begonias be constantly watered before sprouting or should they be allowed to dry? I can move the baskets to under the porch to keep them dry if necessary.

Should I pull the bulbs and put them in something else until they start to sprout?

blaugranamd · Wed May 02, 2012 11:49 pm

blaugranamd wrote:I've gotten mixed advice based on a few articles I've read. Should begonias be constantly watered before sprouting or should they be allowed to dry? I can move the baskets to under the porch to keep them dry if necessary.

Should I pull the bulbs and put them in something else until they start to sprout?

As for the tubers, they're Van Zyverden double begonias and pendula begonias. Other than that, I don't know type. The hanging baskets are plastic with a sort of drainage basin in miracle-gro potting soil and the ones in the ground are in generic bagged topsoil. All are planted about 4" deep. Should I water them less, plant them more shallowly, or add some peat moss to the soil mix? I really want these to flower this year

blaugranamd · Tue May 08, 2012 9:35 pm

Well it would seem most of the tubers in the ground have at least sprouted about 2" and it seems like I probably planted them too deeply, like 5-6". So I got a bag of peat and mixed that in with the top soil so they're now in about 50/50 mix of peat and generic topsoil planted about 1.5" down so hopefully they'll still put up some color this year.