I uses to live in San Francisco and had no problems with begonias growing under a porch. They always bloomed profusely and tubers always got bigger each year. Even the seeds i started in march of 2011 made tubers the size of a baseball. Albeit, we have a long growing season and the right temps. I gave them all up and moved to MA and boy is gardening different. I started with Blackmore and Langdon seeds feb of 2013 indoors in Boston. Those that survived the move outside all created tubers the size of a peanut to the size of a golf all. Out of about 100 seedlings, I culled out about half that did not have double blooms and the next spring, only about 20 made it. I kept them too cool in the basement. None bloomed summer of 2014. Mainly because I used regular topsoil with some weird mulch incorporated. They did all survive and their tubers were slightly bigger. I have started more Blackmore and Langdon seeds.mi started a batch dec 15 2014 and about 100 have been reported into 50 cell trays. I just started another batch last week just for backup. They grew really well when I had them under a 4foot shoplight on a shelf above the stove but started dying and damping off when i moved them to the basement with no bottom heat. My advice is to start very early if you want tubers and enough time to evaluate flowers to cull, being feb a the latestThey generally create tubers in the fall when day length decreases so they need enough leaves and a big enough root system to do that by September. Also give them bottom heat and use a looserepackaged potting mix. I made the mistake of potting them up in whatever was around only to find the the pH of the black mulch I used was close to 7.5

So they must have a natural period of dormancy they require. I'm hoping we may have another month before first frost, but there are always surprises. There's no sign of slowdown, they're blooming heavily. Some got a late start (they were started outside and it was just too cold). The pre-made hanging basket one is a knockout. I've GOT to keep that one alive for next summer! The leaves and flowers do look tuberous-type, though leaf form is larger and a little different from the ones I bought bagged as dormant tubers.

ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH... (heehee) Bulbs seems to be a catch-all name for that sort of thing. They ARE tubers. The other means of propogation are seeds for wax begonias and cuttings. Start them in early spring. Too early yet girl so hold your horses, that is unless you have nice sunny window for them. Set them just below soil surface in moist, peat-enriched soil. Keep in sunny window until weather is warm, then keep in part shade. Water as soon as soil is dry and water from the bottom. Tune in come late summer for tips on overwintering! Although that info should be easy to get.

They're not that complicated at all. A few tips I learned over the years. There is a concave and convex side to the tuber, concave, the depression, should face up. Roots will develope over the entire bottom of the tuber, the shoots come from the convex depression. Plant them only deep enough so that the soil comes up to the top of the tuber, but not over the top into the depression. As far as siting, I have them on the north side of the house, they get some morning sun, and some afternoon, but nothing during the heat of the day. They always do quite well here. In my experience, they are heavy feeders, put some Osmocote in the soil when you plant, and then CLF at half strength every time you water. At the end of the season I have had tubers double or even triple in size. When you plant, put a tall sturdy stake in right away as you will need to tie them up eventually, and this way you won't damage the tuber later in the season. Some of mine were almost 2' tall last summer. Steve