I've started my begonias. Only a few were sprouting this year. Usually when i take them out in March, they're all showing some sign of life. Hope it doesn't mean they're dead! :-/

I'm waiting for my recent order from Botanus and then I'll be starting a bunch of begonias in the basement. I don't think they ship them until mid-April though.

I've never done it before, but it's pretty straight forward isn't it?

Maybe I should visit a WalMart and give it a try =:)

I've started bulbs indoors for years being that I hail from good old unpredictable Edmonton! I have started tulips, daffs, asiatics, dahlias, glads, daylilies, hostas, irises, and even peonies in the house in early spring. Many I have overwintered in the garage in peat moss or shavings and then potted them up in the house. I usually start my glads every year this way and any others that didn't get planted in the fall or are bought early from Can Tire or Walmart. Never had any problems to speak of. :) I often pot up most of what I receive in bare root or bulb form as I like to give them a head start in the pot and then just put the whole root ball in the garden in summer or after blooming. Works for me. :) Looks like we are going to have another long, cool, wet spring here. :(

Ginny

Gil, several years ago, i believe it was Sierra who gave me a tutorial on starting begonias, and it has really worked well for me. Put some soil in your container - a couple of inches - and place your tuber on it. I usually tamp it in a bit. Once it starts putting out leaves, add more soil. Keep adding soil until it's at the right level, not exactly burying the leaves each time. I've had really good results over the years, and some of my bulbs are now 5 or 6 years old.

Marcia, how much water, at what temperature, and how much light is needed?

Do we do other bulbs the same way?

Thanks!

I water sparingly, regular room temperature and normal light conditions. Other bulbs, no - glads, lilies, etc. just go into a pot as if they were going into the ground and then transplanted later.

I plant my dahlia tubers the same way that Marcia plants begonias. They stay in the garage until the soil is up to the top of the pot...then they get to come in the house after breaking through that last level of dirt. For me, that works much better than poking around in the soil 3x/day to see if anything is growing :-), which is what I would end up doing! I plan to start my caladium that way too, as soon as I return from the store today with more potting soil!

I have some dahlia tubers that need to be planted. Maybe i'll try that way as well. Do they need to be soaked first? Mine looks like it should be! LOL

I wouldn't soak them, due to worries of mold, except when I figure it's either do that or toss it in the compost. But I have been known to dip them or spritz them. I'm only planting tubers once the eye breaks. If I have one that looks like it should be viable but hasn't sprouted after a long while, that's when I spritz or dip.

I'll check mine again. When i looked last, there weren't any signs of life as yet.

Spring comes with so many temptations. I have a row of potted up lilies in the green house and some day lilies plus dahlias. I took my dahlias out of storage today and except for the pale new growth they came through the winter really well and they are now potted up too. Even though I did not want 5 of the same daylily (Visual Intrigue) I knew I had friends who would take the extras, one of those have sent up a scape already. It doesnt matter which store I go into..if they have a rack of bulbs or body bags of plants I have to look..and usually buy...lol..Jean

Looks like many are starting to put bulbs up. Im excited about all the canna varieties that Ive gotten- Durban, Pretoria, Black Knight, Chocolate Sunrise- However now Im worrying that many of these might be infected with the dreaded canna virus since I bought most of them from big box stores.... Any suggestions on where to get virus free cannas???