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Begonias
I recently ordered some begonia corms which were advertised on Martin Lewis's money expert website...the instructions say they should be planted outside in February! As we are now in May I wondered if it was too late and I should store them till next year. If so, I have some sand if that would be ok to use. Can anyone advise please?
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Start them off now in shallow trays, plenty of time, dont cover just push in a bit, you can start them in any old compost you may have, anything from seeds that didnt germinate or compost from your bin, I save my old stuff from repoting to start them off. I wouldnt use sand though!
Keep slightly damp, not too wet or they will rot. When they are about 4 or 5 inches tall, pot them in their final pots, they will bloom till November if it stays mild. Then bring then in a greenhouse or shed or cupboard under the stairs, leave to dry right off then remove from the compost, wrap in newspaper, keep in a frost free place and start them off next year, just the same.
Brilliant Jan, keep us posted, we're a nosey lot!!
Me again.....I'm so cross - even after your extremely easy instructions Lyn, I seem to have managed to kill my begonia corms! I should have kept them indoors but did as you suggested above BUT didn't keep them in the warm! I brought them into my shed about a week after putting them into compost but I fear its too late. Only 2 of them have tiny shoots but they have stayed the same for 3 weeks now! I fear the others may have fluctuated between being too wet or too dry! Is there any hope? Some of them are so small its even difficult to tell which way would be up (they have no natural indentation). I guess I shall have to put this down to experience.
They do need warmth to start them off, you could try potting them up in new dry compost.
The tiny ones, have you lifted them to see if they have tiny white roots on the bottom. Even my ones that just live outside in tubs all winter are up now. If you buy them again, go for bigger ones, they stand a better chance and rarely fail.
Go to your garden centre, choose ones that have a really good defined indent And of a good size. If they havent rotted, they may still come.
I can see now that I didnt actually say keep them indoors I am very sorry about that.
Please let us know Jan.