Do any of you grow begonia grandis? Are there any special germination requirements like cold strat? Does it reseed invasively for you?

Karen

I have this one but bought as a plant. It does expand out around the base but has not been crazy. This has been planted out for about 2 years, tends to bloom late in the summer.

I found this page which says the seeds should be propagated at room temperature: http://www.robsplants.com/plan... and read that seed should be sown when fresh.

This page says seeds can be very slow to germinate: http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant...

It sure is a pretty Begonia! I've never heard of a begonia becoming invasive so I will be interested to hear what others have to say on that matter.

Yes, I saw that stuff at Rob's plants. Wondered if anyone here had experience with it.

I might order some seeds for this . Was hoping to find pelleted but no luck. Summerhill sells them as raw seeds. I'm really not good with those tiny dust-like seeds.

Karen

Not much luck with the dust-like seeds. If you do grow keep us posted!

I will.

Karen

I winter sowed the seeds. Had just a few germinated . Lost the seedlings due to neglection.
Also got a few plants in a swap. They are a bit disappointing. They bloom late here and there are more leaves than flowers. The branches easily break if you touch them or with strong winds we often have here

Hmmm.... that doesn't sound promising. Thanks for the input, Jonna.

Karen

Karen, others might have other experiences, but for me it was one of the most disappointing plants I grew.

Try the vermiculite to sow dust like seeds. Just sprinkle them on top. See http://www.seedsite.eu/article... for more info. Although the Begonia seeds were not a great succes, I still had some germination. Vermiculite is perfect to sow dust like seed.

I don't have issues with wind breakage but I that it is not that showy of a plant like a Dragonwing begonia.

Jonna, I tried your vermiculite method for begonias last year and was a total failure. They stayed so tiny for so long that I wasn't able to prick them out and transplant. They sprouted like crazy but most just turned yellow and withered away in the vermiculite.
begonias

The echinacea worked great with the vermiculite. They're much bigger, faster growing seedlings and I was able to handle them.
echinacea

Karen

Begonia grandis is a beautiful begonia either as an individual plant or in the landscape and is probably the oldest begonia know to us having been immortalized from antiquity in Chinese Art. It is also one hardy in the ground to New York. To see it at its best in the landscape go to this website:
http://dctropics.blogspot.com/...

I'll post another comment about begonias from seed since I can only figure out how to post one website per comment.

Begonia grandis is a beautiful begonia either as an individual plant or in the landscape and is probably the oldest begonia know to us having been immortalized from antiquity Chinese Art. It is also one hardy in the ground to New York. To see it at its best in the landscape go to this website:
http://dctropics.blogspot.com/...

I'll post another comment about begonias from seed since I can only figure out how to post one website per comment.

Growing begonias from seed, even the rare ones, is very easy, but a bit different. For example I plant in 1 ounce portion cups, putting ice pick holes in bottom, and seed on top of mix with no covering, but then kept under light and in a covered container until fairly large. To down load my complete article go here: http://www.begoniahouston.org/...

Wow, that website is really something. I never did get seeds for Grandis. Maybe next year.

Karen

Karen, did the B. grandis seeds that I sent you not germinate?

No, but it was my fault. Not long after I sowed them my elderly Mother got very sick. I neglected house and home to care for her. My plants all dried out, some plants died... So it was my fault. My Mom then died March 30, and it took me a long time to get all of her "stuff" taken care of.

I might have held back a few seeds, but I'm not sure.

Karen

I am sorry that you have lost your mother.
And I know how events like that interrupt gardening.

I have sprouted Begonia grandis in ordinary cell trays, under lights.
But they take along time so I start Begonias in January or December even,-- if I am organized.

There is next year Karen. Great piece of mind that you took good care of your mom.

Oh my goodness, Karen, I'm so sorry about your mother.

I'll try to collect some fresh seed this fall. They produce tons of seed but I have to actually catch it before it spills or blows away.