I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but I'll give it a shot...
I'm more of a veggie grower than anything else, but I recently set out some Red Canna seeds and they have sprouted! What do I do now??? Since this is off season, should I treat them to the grow-light during the day, or just leave them in a window.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Canna Seeds
I know nothing about Cannas except they like heat. The following article does not mention light until the seedlings are bigger. I would think they would benefit from light. You might also ask on the Bulb forum.
I found this:
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-2-28-787,00.html
Once canna seeds have been scarified, they are easy to grow. Harbage suggests sowing them a quarter-inch deep in a tray of vermiculite 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost date. Keep the vermiculite moist and the room temperature between 65°: and 70°F during the day and at 60°F overnight. The seeds should germinate in about one week. When the seedlings reach about 6 inches tall, transplant them into individual pots filled with a premoistened, well-draining potting soil. Add a granulated organic fertilizer to the potting soil (follow application recommendations on the fertilizer label). Keep the potting mix moist but not wet, and place the plants in a sunny (southern exposure) window. As the plants begin to actively grow, the soil will dry out quickly, so check daily and water when needed. Gradually harden off the cannas and transplant them outside, adding plenty of compost to the soil, following the last-frost date.
Keep in mind that most cannas are hybrids bred for their flamboyant blooms and foliage. Seeds from hybrids will not come true to type, which means they will exhibit characteristics that are different from those of the mother plant (but not necessarily unattractive). If you're feeling a bit on the wild side and don't mind growing a few mystery plants, go ahead and start cannas from seed. If you want exact clones of your canna plant, you'll need to propagate by division. The book The Gardeners Guide to Growing Cannas, by Ian Cooke (Timber Press, 2001), has excellent information on propagating cannas by seed and division, as well as information on cultivars and the history of cannas.
Oh, isn't that exciting??? Wouldn't it be cool if they all come out differently - LOL!
Thank you for the article. Since the plant stand with the grow light on it is in the south-facing window, it will probably be ok without the light, but I don't think it would hurt if I gave it a little blast in the evening when I get home, just to extend the day a bit. I didn't germintate all of my seeds, so I can try again if I mess up too badly ~:-(
Thanks for your help! Wish me luck!
I did read somewhere else that they will flower in about 90 days from germination. When they do, take a picture and let everyone know how they came out.
If they even grow, there will be no stopping me!!! These seeds were given to me in a trade in 2004 and I couldn't even get them to germinate. This year I am trying to clean out my old seeds, so I decided to try eveything - no need taking up space if they're not going to grow. I soaked them for days, put them out, a voila! 5 days later I have 2 prouting and another appears to be poking out of the next cell! I don't even know if summerwind is a member anymore - I will have to look her up.
Thanks for the support!
sequee, congrats! i only grow 1 canna (tropicanna) and it grows FAST. you'll have thrills coming your way =).
I'm embarrassed to say that the first 2 seeds that germinated are actually Pride of Barbados!!! The third li'l fella is definitely a Canna, though, and looking very cute and hardy!
I can hardly wait!
Here's my baby!
Wooo hooo! That baby will be four feet tall in a couple of months. LOL
oMG - I can hardly stand it! Poor little guy, I'm sure it's "Groan...here she comes again!" I have to be very careful not to kill him with kindness!
Can he eat yet? Think he'd like a light snack of plant food?
I really don't do much with them other than keep them under good lights until they are about 6" tall. If you start fertilizing now, you may have a man eater on your hands in a months time. LOL I am sure there are many opinions on the matter but at the most, I'd consider a very dilute feeding if any. I've been growing canna from seed for years and will actually be starting about 250 of them in the next couple of weeks and I have never pampered them until it gets closer to time to put them out. I usually nick a handfull of them and toss them in a butter bowl or something similar and seperate them when they are a few inches tall. I think after your little experiment here, you are going to want to do this a lot! LOL
I'm already totally annoyed with myself. A Round Robin came my way with several different varieties/colors and I didn't take any because of my preipous luck! Now I'm awishin' it would fly back by! (Keep in mind I planted 4 bulbs last year and none of them bloomed, so I'm still awaiting my first-ever blooms!)
Sequee,
If you plant canna roots or even grow them from seed, try planting them in a large rectangular container that you can bring indoors over the winter if you're concerned about their ability to overwinter (actually you're in a borderline zone, so if you plant in the ground and mulch heavily and protect them, you might be surprised!). Cannas are easy to grow but like heat and a lot of water, so if you're able to grow them until the root system is large enough to produce bushy plants and lots of flowers, you might get great results. I suspect starting from seed they never really get to get off the ground before your growing season ends. The good thing is that they don't root all that deep, but instead form a broad horizontal root system just few inches under the soil, so a large container about 8" or 10" deep would be a good choice.
The things perennialize and spread here to the point of being invasive and are next to impossible to get rid of. They were taking over my garden after two ir three years and so I got so frustrated that I ripped them out - and I found this huge interconnected root system that covered several square feet in each location! You can have them!!!!
I dug mine up last ear and some are over-wintering in pots, while others are in bags "to sleep" a bit! I think I may try to leave a couple in the ground next summer to see what happens. I can give them a nice coat of pine needles and grass clippings to help protect them. It will be an interesting experiment. I love to experiment.
Thanks for the tips!
BTQ, my neighbor's Canna grew huge and flowered like crazy, and 2 of mine were from him. I think they may have had too much shade where they were, once the trees filled in... I guess that's another good feature with conatiner gardening - they can be moved to follow the sun!
My baby is growing up!
YIKES! That wasn't a very good shot. LOL! Let's try one in green!
Growing in leaps and bounds!
Janice, how is your baby doing now? I am getting ready to start seeds here :)
Huggers
Janis
I will take a photo tonight. I am quite please with him and am thinking about putting him to ground this weekend. He now has a little brother popping up, too!
Thank you for askig. This is such a great sport! It is soooo nice to finally be out and playing in the dirt. And my neighbor's 16 year old son just got his driver's license, so he's out to earn gas money! He is eagerly awaiting my arrival home from work each evening and is doing the muscle work. Ahhhh, it don't get no better than this!!!
Thats great! I can't wait to see them!
I need a 16 yr old that wants to work! Send me yours! LOL
Janis