Expert: Kenneth Joergensen - 9/11/2006

Question
At the end of the spring before last I planted some begonias in an outside pot.  This year due to neighborhood cats constantly being in my pot they did not grow back.  Recently, I emptied the pot to pack. I found a round, hard, slightly textured, green ball about1 1/2-2 inches in width in the soil.  It smells pretty good too. What is this?  Is it a surviving begonia ready for the winter?  If so, how do I keep it alive for next year?  AND how do you keep cats out of your plants?  Thank for your time.

Answer
Some beognias: tuberous begonias, will create small sphere like tubers. They are typically brown when dry, but can often be white, white-greenish, or pink when fresh. It could be one of this type. Plant shallowly in warm soil and see if it sprout. It is not winter hardy, so you can not plant outdoors if in a cool zone (you can plant outdoors on US West Coast, Florida or the US Gulf if you do not have frost). Keep tuber indoors to after first frost, and then plant.

Normally, tubers do not have a scent, so I am not sure it is a tuberous begonia, or if your found something that was burried (by squirrels ?). You could always give it try, however.

Here is a picture of a begonia "bulb" (tuber)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/kdjoergensen/gardening/bulbs/summer%20bul...

You must copy/paste the above link into ONE line (no spaces) and paste it into the address bar. If the above link has wrapped on two lines (due to the limited space allowed for these answers) you must put the link together as ONE (1) line without creating additional spaces, etc:

E.g.:
summer%20bulb%20types/d11.jpg

and not:
summer%20bulb% 20types/d11.jpg

(note that there is an extra space between % and 20)


Good luck

Kenneth