Begonias (and Salvias and Heliotrope) from seed?

[applestar]

I want to start begonias from seed this year. DH want wax begonias, and I want the perennial begonias. But I don't seem to see begonia seeds offered very often. I think Park Seed or Burpee had wax begonias last year in their catalog. Are they good sources? Any preferred source for begonia seeds? Any thoughts on perennial begonia selection? I need ones that are hardy to at least zone 6.

Oh, and how early should they be started? Last spring, I had one (1) volunteer pink flowered wax begonia that grew up in one of the winter indoor containers on a SE window sill (I have NO idea where the seed came from since I hadn't grown begonias in a some years.) Unfortunately, I don't remember when it came up.

[rainbowgardener]

Hi Apple - Just noticed that this post had been sitting there unanswered.

Perennial begonias are usually grown from tubers. They are very slow from seed. I've never done it, so don't have any advice for you, except that I like Park Seed and think they and their seeds are very reliable.

I put in my seed order to Jung Seed this year and I'm very frustrated. I mailed in my order (next time I will do it on computer!) right after Christmas. A few days ago, since I didn't have any seeds yet, I called the company. They confirmed they did have my order and said they send my seeds regular mail on 1/7. Well here it is 1/17 and still no seeds and with the MLK holiday, they can't come now til Tues. I'm getting impatient!

The annual begonias, which I have done from seed, are pretty quick, so you don't need to start them too early.

[applestar]

Oh! Thanks for replying Rainbow! I shoulda checked in here first, but I just now ordered some seeds from paseseeds.com They were one of the few places that came up with the Hardy Grandis seeds. Of course I had to order a few others too.

Pase Seeds Items
1 Begonia Hardy Grandis Perennial Seeds @ $2.99 = $2.99
1 Begonia Seed Fibrous Dragon Wing Red @ $4.99 = $4.99
1 Salvia Coccinea Forest Fire Annual Seeds @ $2.99 = $2.99
1 Salvia Coccinea Lady In Red Annual Seeds @ $2.99 = $2.99
1 Salvia Sage Azurea Perennial Seeds @ $2.99 = $2.99

Didn't order the regular wax/fibrous begonia mix because they only sold mixes at $6.99. Will go check Park now and see if they have more reasonable prices there. I've never tried buying from Pase before. I guess we'll see. I'm sorry to hear your Jung order is late. I HAVE ordered from them before and they usually come through.

As an aside -- I get Jung confused with Gurney's/Henry Fields (G and HF are same company) because of they all use a similar catalog format. But in the past, I've found Jung to send better quality live plants. I know *somebody* -- one of the "tractor-gardening" members mentioned he buys seeds from HF, so maybe their seeds are good.

Well, I'll go browse the Park Seeds website now.
Cheers!

[JONA878]

Tried many years ago to grow Begonia Semperflorens from seed and found a couple of things that may help.
Start very early in the season......three months before you would plant out.....as they germinate very slowly.
The seeds are like dust so handle with great care....one sneeze and its start again!

Sow directly on to the top of already dampened seed compost and do not covour with more compost. 61 F.

We found that a sheet of glass put on the top of the tray and then a square of wet news paper helps the seed to remain damp without having to water them.
Keep the newspaper damp.
Watch carefully for the sign of tiny green shoots as if left too long after germination they can grow leggy quite quickly.

Very fidley but if successful much cheaper than buying grown plants.

Jona

[applestar]

Thanks for the tips JONA!
Just to be clear -- you put the wet newspaper on TOP of the glass? How many layers -- just one sheet? To maintain a higher RH? Also keeps things dimmer inside, I imagine.... How far does the glass overhang the edge of the seed tray (is it wooden or plastic?) How much headspace is between the top of the compost and the glass? Sorry about all the questions.

[JONA878]

Thanks for the tips JONA!
Just to be clear -- you put the wet newspaper on TOP of the glass? How many layers -- just one sheet? To maintain a higher RH? Also keeps things dimmer inside, I imagine.... How far does the glass overhang the edge of the seed tray (is it wooden or plastic?) How much headspace is between the top of the compost and the glass? Sorry about all the questions.

Hi Star'
Sorry....should have made it clearer.
Use a standard seed tray....either wood or plastic.
Fill to about half an inch from the top.
The glass has then got that half inch of air space to generate a micro-climate.
The glass should be big enough to fully covour the box top all round.
The news paper does two jobs. Keeps the light out and helps to maintain the humidity.
I found two sheets were enough.

The glass must be removed once gemination has occurred as the high humidty will cause damping off if left.

[applestar]

I sowed the Salvias and Begonias (as well as Heliotrope) on Tuesday -- over a week later than I'd intended. I *thought* they all said 14~21 days to germinate. Well, Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' and Salvia Blue Angel/Gentian Sage (which I was worried wouldn't germinate because I forgot to cold stratefy) are both germinating today. When I checked again, Salvia Coccinea is described as germinating in 7~21 days.

IT'S ONLY BEEN 3 DAYS! GO BACK TO SLEEP!

The list is now:
1. Begonia, HardyGrandis (Z4)
2. Begonia, Fibrous Dragon Wing Red (Z9)
3. Begonia, Fibrous Pizzazz Hybrid Mix
4. Begonia, Fibrous Pizzazz Hybrid Mix
5. Salvia Azurea (Z4)
√6. Salvia Blue Angel/Gentian Sage (Z8 )
7. Salvia Blue Angel/Gentian Sage (Z8 )
8. Salvia Coccinea Forest Fire (Z9)
9. Salvia Coccinea Forest Fire (Z9)
√10. Salvia Coccinea Lady In Red (Z9)
√11. Salvia Coccinea Lady In Red (Z9)
12. Heliotrope 'Mini Marine' (Z8 )

[rainbowgardener]

I like the salvia coccinea, but this year I have salvia splendens (St. John's Fire), just planted it today, maybe a week or two later than I should have, or anyway later than I did last year. (I don't keep a lot of records but I save all the little plant label sticks which are marked with the date the seeds were planted).

I grew the heliotrope mini marine from seed one year and wasn't too impressed with it. Germinated fine and all, but did not thrive in containers and the flowers were barely fragrant, you could only detect it with your nose right in the flower. I thought a lot of why people grow heliotrope was the fragrance. But maybe it was because they weren't thriving.