Growing From Seed
WIP
Overview[edit]
Growing Begonia seeds can be a daunting task at first
Materials and Tools[edit]
Clean White Sheet of Paper
To go cups or food containers make great enclosures to starting the seeds.
Needle Nose Tweezers can helpful when moving seeds around on the substrate and transplanting the seedlings once they are mature enough.
Spray mist bottle for watering.
Growing Medium[edit]
A good substrate for starting Begonia seeds should be airy but fine enough that seeds don't fall to deep in-between the gaps. Begonia seeds need light to germinate so the seeds will do best on the surface of the medium. The grow medium also needs to be sterile to avoid harmful organisms such as mold, algae, moss, gnats and nematodes. You can typically safely sterilize a substrate using heat such as steaming it with hot water or lightly watering the medium and microwaving it in while Tupperware to the point it starts to steam. However avoid getting the substrate to hot or burning it as it can cause the chemical compounds of the substrate change
There are many good pre mixed growing mediums available depending on your area. However making your own can be easy as you don't need many ingredients. Peatmoss can be a good organic matter to use when mixed with other substrates to make it more airy and hold water better (however alone it becomes to dense and can stunt the development of the roots. Adding substrates such as akadama, perlite, and pumice can help keep the soil airy enough for healthy growing roots.
Begonia Weirdo's Simple Seed Starter Mix One part small akadama and one part peat moss.
Watering[edit]
Make sure to use a good sterile water and spray bottle as you can easily spready fungus and algae through watering. The growing medium should be lightly moist but not overly wet.
