Non stop begonias

I've never tried non stop begonias,  but after Spec mentioned then, I gave them a look.  I fancy their blousey look. Is it too late to get some corms and bring them into life or would it be better to try plug plants?  If plants, do they form corms for next year? Or should I give up for this year?

I'm a novice with begonias but I don't think it's too late - they like warmth and once they get that, they take off like mad. So go for it, I say!

I grow begonias and although it's not too late to start off a tuber, you may not get flowers until August. I usually start mine off when the clocks change and some of them are already in flower now, most have buds.

I'd suggest buying them as plants at this time of year, they're often in supermarkets in six packs and usually not expensive.

As for whether they form tubers, most will, however some modern hybrid begonias are seed raised and don't form tubers. You'd have to research the particular variety.

I highly recommend trying them. They don't require a lot of upkeep and they're useful to have in shadier areas as they're so bright and colourful.

I've bit the bullet and ordered some tubers from Farmer Gracy, with a discount code I had they ended up free, only paying p&p. I think you're right Garrett, I'll have to wait a while for flowers so in the meantime I'll keep an eye out in the supermarkets. The alternative was T&M plug plants, cheap because it's late in the season, but I didn't want or need 30 and who wants to pay T&M for anything.

I had a load of begonia corms a few years back - so many I didn't know where to plant them all. Did a few pots and some hanging baskets and, as usual, bunged the rest in where ever there was a gap..
Haven't spotted them this year, but I'm sure I'll find one in the bramble patch and some where I now grow beans. Great value for money plants - no wonder Spec grows them.

My tuberous begonias fromm 2022 thrived in that year. The original corms were a bit withered as they were in a late season sale and were about 2" dia planted 3 to a pot. They flowered beautifully so I was well pleased. I lifted them in the autumn and was gobsmacked at the size of the corms, a whopping great 5-6" dia. I managed to keep them over winter and planted them out this spring. Rather than 3 to a large pot I planted them singularly. They have flowered spectacularly again, but are much bigger plants.

Now we come to our recent weather, rain, more rain and wind. The begonias have suffered rather. Their stems are about 1" thick and i thought they were robust enough to stand the abuse but the blooms are huge and heavy so several stems have broken. To date they show no signs of rooting in water.

I wondered whether begonias are treated as annuals and the tubers forsaken each year because they become too big if planted again. I hate to imagine how big the corms will be when they're dug up this autumn. I suppose you can cut them into smaller bits each with a growing shoot in the spring. Garrett I think you're the trusted expert here.

I've never had a begonia tuber get too big, mine seem to max out at about 15cm. I wouldn't throw them away as they just get bigger and blousier each year and I've never noticed any deterioration. 

You can also save fibrous begonias. I bought some Burning Embers plug plants last year and in late autumn brought the pot indoors to overwinter and they came back this year:

Thanks Garrett I'll save my tubers and put some proper support in. In mild winters I've also saved begonia semperflorens for the next summer. Some losses but worth doing. They didn't like those -8°C temps though. I like those burning embers.