Part 3: Growing Begonia Plants from Seed

Just a quick update to say that my seeds have sprouted! They were planted on March 20, 2021. I first noticed tiny specks of green life on April 2, 2021. I had expected it to take longer to see some activity, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had taken off so promptly. Below is my first documentation of the growth.

I try to check the mini greenhouse every day, or at least every other day. I watch the moisture levels of the potting mix to be sure the tiny plants never dry out. In the beginning, I was using the mist bottle to spray the plants every day or every other day. It was still chilly outside, and the humidity levels hadn’t increased inside of my home. Luckily, these guys live in a seed germinating mini greenhouse with a lid plus they’re inside my greenhouse cabinet. It isn’t necessary for them to be inside my greenhouse cabinet, but this is the most convenient location for me. The light, temperature, and humidity are controlled enough that I can slip up here and there without severe consequence.

Here are the plants on April 7, 2021.

Quite a few popped up between April 2 and April 7. As time went by and I felt that most of the seeds that had the potential to germinate had done so, I started watering the baby plants with a watering can rather than misting them. I also was able, due to the deeper saturation of the water, to go longer between checks. I no longer needed to check every day or every other day. I probably should’ve taken more photos for documentation, but I think we’ll still get the idea of the rate of growth in roughly a week’s time. The seedlings are tiny. The perlite gives some reference to scale.

Here are the plants on May 8, 2021.

And today, May 14, 2021.

I didn’t spread my seeds very evenly across my entire mini greenhouse, so most of the babies are growing in the two nursery multi-pots on the right side. I made up the word “multi-pots,” so just to clarify - my mini greenhouse had four strips of biodegradable growing cells, with ten cells in each strip. Of those four, only the two nursery pot strips on the right side ended up with plants. The seeds are so infinitesimally tiny that it was hard to see where I was spreading them, let alone check for an even application across the top of the potting mix. I’ve since found other Begonia seeds that have taken well to hand pollination, so I will eventually remove those seeds from their pods and spread them across the available nursery pots that didn’t get any seed the last time. These seed pods are from various plants, not my Begonia ‘Lana,’ so it’ll really be a surprise to see what comes up. Some of the seeds I had pollinated intentionally, and others somehow popped up pollinated without any help from me. I do have various (very welcome) creepy crawlies in my greenhouse cabinets - one of which holds several Begonias, as well as my mini greenhouse - so it’s possible that they got to work and helped pollinate some of my plants.

Here’s a reminder of the mama plant ‘Lana’ from which I harvested these seeds.

And a peek of five seed pods from two different Begonias. I hope to open these up soon and spread them over some of the open growing surface in my mini greenhouse.

It remains to be seen if my Begonia ‘Lana’ will be true to seed, or if something entirely unexpected will grow from these seedlings. Frankly, I haven’t done a ton of research on the plant, and I’m just having a good time experimenting. Additionally, the seeds that I have yet to plant could be from Begonias that are true to seed, are not true to seed, or are hybrids of my many simultaneously blooming Begonias within a relatively small space. I have no idea what’s to come, which adds to the excitement!

If you’re new to this story, and want to catch up… Here’s the beginning! Part One: Begonia Hand Pollination Experiment. And next, Update: Begonia Seeds, Part Two!

Let me know what you think about the process, I’d love to hear from you! Email me here, leave a comment below, or find me on Instagram to chat about it!