Tuberous begonia update: Zero signs of insects (phew!)

(Also zero signs of begonia yet, but that's normal at this stage.)

I'm still keeping it in the kitchen though rather than the plant room, just in case.

Tuberous begonia update: NOT eggs after all I don't think

I unbagged the pot a couple of days ago (keeping it in the kitchen) -- what looked like eggs no longer look like anything.  I'm guessing it was some type of fungus maybe?  But everything looks decent now.  Will leave downstairs in the kitchen though for a while longer, just in case.

OH NONONONONO!!!!! EGGS ON TOP OF THE TUBEROUSO BEGONIA SOIL!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today I happened to notice what looks like hundreds of small white eggs throughout on top of the soil of the tuberous begonia!!!!! WTF!??!?  This has never happened before.  I can only guess that if these are in fact eggs, some critter came in with the bulb when I brought in inside in the fall, and despite being in a paper bag with no water or anything for several months, somehow the critter survived and laid all these eggs!?!?!?   Maybe if there's only one, the eggs won't be viable?  Wow, what a mystery.

So I immediately took the pot downstairs and double-bagged it to make sure everything stays inside.  Will see if anything emerges from the "eggs"....   I sure hope these aren't critters because if so, obviously I'll have to toss the whole thing, and TB has been around for quite a few years, has been a nice tradition.

Not seeing sign of any eggs etc. on anything else.... fingers crossed.

~~~~~~  See updated posted Feb 12th:  Doesn't look like they were eggs after all... (fingers crossed)

Wakey wakey, tuberous begonia!

^^^

Wakey wakey, tuberous begonia!

^^^

Begonia is back!

Looking good!  It woke up a while ago, and is a nice size now.

Tuberous begonia potted up

Wakey wakey!

In my home-mixed mix.

Tuberous begonia tuber brought inside

A hard frost must have hit this week finally, as the plant was obviously kaput.  The thick stems were still intact, so maybe I should have / could have waited a bit longer for more frost, but I wanted to get all the containers washed up today as it's the last nice day (high of 18!).

Begonia appeared!!!

Yay!  I was about to give up on it.  Glad to see it's still here.

Begonia potted up

My one remaining begonia.  Wakey wakey!

(in a mix of last year's remaining Promix, with vermiculite)

Tuberous begonia in full flower, so many bright yellow blooms

This is the one remaining viable tuberous begonia whose tubers I overwinter each year.  I don't know if they get more and brighter blooms each year, or maybe the weather has been just right, but wow, looking amazing right now.

Tuberous begonia and button flowers transplanted into containers

The button flowers have been fully hardened off for a while now, so went ahead and put them into their permanent containers.

The tuberous begonia was part of Group B, but since its permanent home is full shade (along the fence) and it's huge for its little pot, I went ahead and transplanted it.  Very root bound but looks good so far.

Hardening off started today for ALL remaining indoor plants (= Group B)

Today = 2 hours in the SHADE (2:30pm to 4:30pm).  (Had planned on be 1 hour, but, oops.)  Then back inside under the lights, which I moved (shelf and all) into the living room since there will be a LOT of in and out while hardening.

Very warm today and awesome forecast, with highs in the 20s!  Nights going down to 8/9.

I will call all of these Group B (Group A being the zinnias, whose hardening off started a little while ago).

Group B includes...

- basil

- tomatoes

- ground cherries

- zucchini

- rondes

- butternut

- cushaw

- cucumbers

- sunflowers

- tuberous begonia

- and a few scattered slow-growing zinnias.

Tuberous begonia started

 Moved the one remaining yellow tuberous begonia from its paper bag winter hide-away into its starter pot with the Promix.  Now we wait.

Yup, first frost has come and gone

Tuberous begonia is completely kaput now, whereas it was still standing upright a few days ago. I think that plant is my best judge, as the zinnias are clearly unhappy/dying but didn't droop over. Kept the tuber of course.

Tuberous begonias: Only one of the two sprouted

One is looking good, took a while in getting started but has several nice big leaves now.

The other one -- no sign of.  Will leave it a while longer.

One begonia has appeared!!!

Just as I was about to write them both off.  One has appeared.  The other hasn't yet.

No sign yet of tuberous begonias

No sign at all, from either of them.  Will keep waiting, and seeing.

Tuberous begonias have been started

Started the tuberous begonias today.  This is later than last year, when I started them on January 12th which I felt ended up being too early.

Begonias both doing well

Both of the begonias are looking great.  The pink one, which appeared first, has even started having flower buds.  The yellow one, which appeared substantially later, is catching up quickly, great healthy leaves.