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marguerite_gw

Begonia sempervirens 'Fairyland Mix'

Thompson & Morgan are selling seeds of these begonias, double and semi-doubles. I'm just wondering has anyone here grown them this year, their first, I think, in the Thompson & Morgan catalogue. If so, I'd love to know how they turned out.

Comments (9)

  • Woebegonia
    11 years ago

    Haven't tried T & M seeds, but every year I do plant the semi and dbl semp seeds from Harris Seeds, I like them very much.

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi woebegonia,
    I sowed the seeds, I think, because they were almost invisible. First I thought the packets were empty. I read on the web that I should open them onto a piece of white paper, but even at that, I couldn't see them very well, and I have good eyesight. There were supposed to be 100 in a packet. A packet of quite ordinary ones had 2000 in it supposedly, and they were quite visible. Can you remember how long it takes them to germinate normally? 15 to 60 days it says on the packet. It will be difficult if it takes two months to know if I sowed anything at all. I hope they turn out like yours. Many thanks for the reply.

  • Woebegonia
    11 years ago

    Begonia seeds are the tiniest in the plant kingdom. I always inspect with a magnifying glass, otherwise you can't see with the naked eye if they are crushed or all chaff and debris. I would have expected T & M to use pelleted seeds, a lot of dealers do that now. 'Semps' as they are affectionately known, usually germinate for me from five days to maybe 10 or 12 days, bottom heat speeds things along. I think when yourpacket says 60 days they are just covering bases, so to speak. I wouldn't wait two months for semps, they should be up long before that. I have some extras of the Harris if you'd like to try them sometime.

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    woebegonia, many thanks for the reply. I am going to look at my seed tray right now! I really hope something will come up soon. I would love to try some of your spares and to send you some seeds too. Do you like anything else besides begonias? You can reach me at elder@iol.ie anytime. It's the same address as on my page. I have the begonia semperflorens seeds I mentioned in the post to you but they are just singles. So begonia seeds are the tiniest of all seeds. That explains how hard they are to see :)

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    My first seedling came up on Monday. My heated propagator had been inadvertently thrown out (by a tidy husband) so I filled hot water bottle after hot water bottle to stand the tray on. I actually thought the seeds might have literally been dust, not just 'dust-like'. However, it looks like there was at least one seed there :)

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I must be crazy, not to notice the mistake in my title to this thread. I just spotted it today! It should be Begonia semperflorens, of course. Sorry about that, everyone.

  • Woebegonia
    11 years ago

    Good! I hope you have more germination showing by now. I will contact you soon about seeds.

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    No, sadly, no more up yet, but perhaps patience will work wonders :)

    Many thanks indeed.

  • marguerite_gw Zone 9a
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Two more almost invisible seedlings emerged this morning! I'll post back in a month or two, or if a hundred come up together :)

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