Tuberous Rooted 



FOR the amateur grower where only 

 a few pots of these showy plants 

 are required, it is best to purchase 

 the tubers in March or April, rather than 

 grow them from seed. When purchas- 

 ing tubers get them as solid and firm as 

 possible. Soft, pulpy tubers do not give 

 good results as a rule. The tubers 

 should be about one and a quarter to one 

 and a half inches in diameter, or larger, 

 to get good flowering results. Both 

 single and double flowering dormant 

 tubers can be purchased at all large 

 seed stores. 



STARTING THE TTIBBRS 



There is no better material for start- 

 ing the tubers in than pure sand of not 

 too gritty a nature. Tubers can be start- 

 ed in sandy soil, or in chopped moss, 

 but they do not start as readily or as 

 satisfactorily as in sand. The tubers 

 may be started singly in small three or 

 four inch pots, or a number of them may 

 be started in larger pots, seed pans, or 

 in shallow, well drained boxes. A box 

 three inches deep, and ten or twelve 

 inches square, will hold ten or twelve 

 ordinary sized tubers. Be sure and place 

 the tubers the right way up in the sand. 

 Usually the concave, hollow, or the flat 

 side of the tubers should be uppermost, 

 and the round or convex side down- 

 ward. The top of the tuber should be 

 just under the surface of the sand when 

 set in position. The tubers may be set 

 quite close together if a number are 

 grown, so as to almost touch each other. 



Waler the tubers with tepid water, 

 temperature of water about fifty de- 

 grees. Keep the sand well moist, not 

 too wet. The temperature of the room 

 they are grown in should be from sixty- 

 five to seventy degrees. If a box is 

 used, some half inch holes should be 

 bored six inches apart in the bottom of 

 the box. Artificial drainage, such as 

 broken flower pot. coarse gravel, coal 

 cinders, or lump charcoal about an inch 

 in depth, should also be used in the bot- 

 tom of the pot or box, to ensure good 

 drainage. Good drainage is very essen- 

 tial at all stages of the growth of be- 

 gonias. In about a month from starting 

 . them, the tubers should be rooted. 

 CABE AND otn/rrrRE 



When the tubers have a good root 

 system started and roots about an inch 

 in length and top growth just started, 

 they may be potted singlj in three or 

 four inch pots in rather light soil. A soil 

 made of six parts of good loamy potting 

 soil, one part fine sand and one part of 

 leaf mould well mixed, will make a good 

 compost for the first potting. Water 

 the soil well once after potting, but do 

 not keep it too wet after, for a time. 

 When top growth has well started more 



Begonias: Their 



Wm. Hunt, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



water may be given. When the plants 

 have become well rooted in the small 

 pots they may be re-potted into the flow- 

 ering pots. Six or seven inch pots can 

 now be used, for very strong plants an 

 eight or nine inch pot is not too large. 

 Use nearly an inch in depth of drainage 

 material, and a soil richer in fertilizers 

 than ever before. Eight or ten parts of 

 loamy, potting soil enriched with cow 

 manure and one part sand, well mixed 

 together, makes a good soil for them. 

 Leaf mould (or black mould) is not good 

 for them as it induces a too rank soft 

 growth. If the soil is of a clayey nature 

 a little leaf mould may be used. 



Do not disturb, the roots of the plant 

 when re-potting only to remove the old 

 drainage. Disturbing the roots of these 

 plants after starting is often disastrous 

 to them. Water them well once after 

 potting, then keep the soil only barely 

 moist until growth has well .started 

 again. Set the pots in a warm window 

 and shade them from the hot sun at all 

 times. Sprinkle the foliage overhead 

 but very seldom, if at. all, and only on a 

 fine bright morning, as it will cause the 

 leaves to spot and decay, if they are kept 

 too damp. Water the. plants with tepid 

 rain water if possible. Put a stake to 

 support the growth early, as the growth 

 is very brittle and easily damaged. 



FALL AND WINTER CARE 



When the plants are through flower- 

 ing and show signs of dying down, give 

 them less water until the foliage is quite 

 yellow, when no more water should be 

 given them. The pots, just as they are, 

 should now be stood away in a cool, 

 not too dry room or cellar, temperature 

 about forty-five degrees, so as to keep 

 the tubers dormant. They will require 

 no water until spring, unless the place 

 they are kept in is very dry, and then 

 only a slight sprinkling. In March or 

 April shake the. tubers out of the soil, 

 and start them as before mentioned. 



I have kept tubers in the way describ- 

 ed for seven or eight years and flowered 

 them successfully. Letting the tubers 

 stay in the soil in "pots is much better 

 than taking them out of the soil in the 

 fall and keeping them in sand, if room 

 can be found for storing them in the 

 way I have mentioned. 



Tubers may be started indoors and 

 the plants set out about the second week 

 in June. They like a fairly rich, light 

 loamy soil, well drained, and a not too 

 sunny position. They are not very re- 

 liable plants for bedding out. The tub- 

 ers should be dug early in the autumn, 

 before frost, and the tubers packed in 

 dry sand or soil in shallow boxes, and 

 placed away for the winter in the same 

 way as for those grown in pots. 



Growth and Care 



If a large number of plants are re- 

 quired it would be best to get a packet 

 of .seed of a good strain and raise them 

 from seed. The tubers will not be large 

 enough to flower the first year from seed 

 started in a window. By sowing the 

 seed in February or March, tubers about 

 half an inch in diameter can be grown. 

 Sow the seed in a shallow, well drained 

 seed pan or box with holes through the 

 bottom to allow of free drainage. Place 

 about an inch of broken flower pot or 

 lump charcoal in the bottom, over this 

 place a layer of moss or fibrous soil. Fill 

 the pan or box nearly level full with 

 finer soil, with half an inch in depth of 

 very fine soil on the surface. A soil com- 

 posed of four or five parts of loamy pot- 

 ting soil, one part sand, one part leaf 

 mould, one part of fine lump charcoal, 

 will make a good compost for the seed. 

 The surface of the soil should be quite 

 level and fairly firm. 



SOWING THE SEE© 



Sow the seed broadcast, rather thick- 

 ly on the surface. The seed is very fine 

 and should be barely covered with a very 

 fine covering of light material, put on 

 carefully with the fingers and thumb. " I 

 have found a covering of one part of dry 

 leaf mould, one part of fine sand, and 

 one part of dust charcoal mixed well to- 

 gether, a good covering for the seed. A 

 piece of glass whitened over lightly with 

 white wash should be placed over the 

 box. The glass should be tilted just a 

 little to admit a small quantity of air. 

 Later on, when germination starts, more 

 air and light should be given, but the 

 seed must not be exposed to the hot 

 sun at any time. Water the seed very 

 carefully with a very fine spray so as not 

 to rinse. The box or pan may be stood 

 in about two inches of water in a large 

 tub, and watered by absorption if a fine 

 sprinkler cannot be had. 



When the seedlings are large enough 

 to handle they may be transplanted into 

 shallow, well drained boxes in a com- 

 post of four or five parts loamy potting 

 soil, one part sand, and one part leaf 

 mould. They can be potted later into 

 three inch pots in the soil recommended 

 for the large tubers in pots. The aut- 

 umn and winter treatment of the small 

 tubers is very much the same as given 

 for the flowering tubers. 



Careful attention to the ventilation of 

 hot beds is one of the important means of 

 making plants stocky. 



Many house plants suffer from a ne- 

 glect to water regularly. Some varie- 

 ties that are kept in sunny windows re- 

 quire water every day. 



