Tuberless Begonias
 

I just dug up some begonias I'd planted early this year, expecting to
find some kind of tuber to store over until next winter. But alas,
there was nothing but a root system down there. I know there are at
least two different types of begonias, but I was sure this was the
tuberous kind. Could it be that I dug it up too early? Too late
perhaps?

-F

Tuberless Begonias
 

"Fleemo" wrote in message
om...
I just dug up some begonias I'd planted early this year, expecting to
find some kind of tuber to store over until next winter. But alas,
there was nothing but a root system down there. I know there are at
least two different types of begonias, but I was sure this was the
tuberous kind. Could it be that I dug it up too early? Too late
perhaps?

-F
They must not be the tuberous kind - the tubers are there when you plant
tham and there when you dig them up to store. In fact, the tubers just keep
increasing in size over time. The only way they would not be present if they
were the tuberous type of begonia is if they had rotted, but your plants
would have died in that case and it would have been obvious.

pam - gardengal

Tuberless Begonias
 

It has been my experience that "non-stop" tuberous begonias do not produce
that same type of big tuber at the end of a season that other
bigger-flowered varieties do. Perhaps these plants are usually grown from
seed or from cuttings rooted the previous winter and therefore have not had
the time to develop a big juicy tuber - I'm not sure. But while they bloom
prolifically all summer long, they usually don't have much of a tuber at all
under the soil come late fall- sometimes nothing but a mass of roots. I
usually relate them to the small dahlias raised from seed - which usually
also do not produce much of a tuber by summer's end.
"Pam - gardengal" wrote in message
news:%56zb.282671$275.1001558@attbi_s53...

"Fleemo" wrote in message
om...
I just dug up some begonias I'd planted early this year, expecting to
find some kind of tuber to store over until next winter. But alas,
there was nothing but a root system down there. I know there are at
least two different types of begonias, but I was sure this was the
tuberous kind. Could it be that I dug it up too early? Too late
perhaps?

-F
They must not be the tuberous kind - the tubers are there when you plant
tham and there when you dig them up to store. In fact, the tubers just
keep
increasing in size over time. The only way they would not be present if
they
were the tuberous type of begonia is if they had rotted, but your plants
would have died in that case and it would have been obvious.

pam - gardengal

Tuberless Begonias
 

"gregpresley" wrote in message
...
It has been my experience that "non-stop" tuberous begonias do not produce
that same type of big tuber at the end of a season that other
bigger-flowered varieties do. Perhaps these plants are usually grown from
seed or from cuttings rooted the previous winter and therefore have not
had
the time to develop a big juicy tuber - I'm not sure. But while they bloom
prolifically all summer long, they usually don't have much of a tuber at
all
under the soil come late fall- sometimes nothing but a mass of roots. I
usually relate them to the small dahlias raised from seed - which usually
also do not produce much of a tuber by summer's end.

You're correct in stating that "non-stops" do no produce much of a tuber the
first year. The ones I purchased were started from seeds, a bonus in their
reproduction, and were small seedlings when purchased. They did grow and
bloom well the first year (zone 3), but the tuber they produced was almost
non-existent. I found that most of these tiny tubers dried up and died if
dug up and stored. To counteract this, I left them in the pots in which they
were growing with the growing medium, and watered a couple of times during
the storage period. By the end of the second year, most of them had
developed large enough tubers to survive normal storage methods, and by the
third year many of them produced tubers as large as the those regularly
sold.

John