I heard we may get our first frost tonight. Do I need to dig them by the moon light? Will they be ok until the first hard freeze? Do I cut the still blooming plant stalks? Do I leave the stems and flowers attached when I store them for the winter? Rachel
frost
My canna's here in Summerville which stay in the ground survive killing frosts with no problems even a few hours of upper 20's so I don't think you have to go canna digging by moonlight tonight. Just to be on the safe side, water them if it's been dry.
X
dig them up before the ground freezes. cut the tops to about 2-3 inches to the ground. wash the rhizomes, let them dry. strore in a cardboard box over winter. thats what i do and i only have a tiny bit of loss. like 1%. so that works very well for me. everyone does it different though!
What about if we already got a frost? Got to high 20's last night. Poor cannas look sick. Did I lose them? Also nobody answered Rachel's question about how much foliage to leave attached during storage. Thanks!
McGlory, you probably didnt lose them, ive let mine frost before, but cut them down to the ground and mulch them heavy if you cant dig them up or you may risk losing them. goto this website http://www.karcheskycanna.com/ and click on "Growing Tips" and you will find a more detailed way to store your cannas then i gave!
Thanks, MrE! That site has a wealth of information. Just what I needed.
Thanks!! Just what I needed to know!
I'm curious. I did my rhizomes similar to MrEli's method. I dug, trimmed, washed, let dry, stored in cardboard boxes with some ventilation holes popped along the sides. On reading the tips at the website provided above it suggests::::
If cannas are in the ground, dig them up, leaving as much soil around the roots as possible. You will want that soil to be moist, NOT wet. Let sit a few days if too wet. Put the whole “root ball” (clump) inside a large plastic bag ( a large trash bag will be fine). Clear bags are nice so you can see what goes on without having to open. Cover any bare roots or rhizomes with damp peat moss, filling the holes, gaps etc. with the peat. "Close" the bag by folding it over loosely and store in a cool place, but where the canna roots and rhizomes will not freeze. Again a temperature of around 50°F is good. Into spring, you will notice the clumps start to sprout.
I'm curious how many ppl do this method ?? I have about 15 more to do and while that method would be much less time consuming I worry that it sounds as if it would promote rot. I think it's the plastic bag part that has me worried.
So I'm curious how many ppl do the soil and plastic versus the trimmed, washed and dried out method ??? I know that I could experiment and do these last ones in the other method and see which does better for me but I was bad and just bought these....lol. I don't want to kill them before I ever see them bloom!! They arrived with roots in tact and peat loosely around them in plastic bags.
~Julie =0)
I'll bet you could store them just as they arrived and they'd be fine.
I generally dig mine up, cut them down to about 3" anout the rhizome and toss them in a brown paper bag. I've yet to lose one.
I also over-winter quite a few of them so they have a jump start on the season. I like the foliage and they are very happy growing in the sunroom. Ditto my EEs.
Hey, has anybody heard from Rachel since she posted this?
I've Dmailed her repeatedly since I returned (starting Oct. 17) to see if she's ready for me to send my end of our trade. I've heard nothing (and I know she wanted those african violets), and I haven't seen her posting anywhere (not that I get everywhere), and I'm concerned. It's getting pretty cold for shipping, and I owe her! I'm also just concerned that something has happened. Hopefully she's just busy and hasn't been able to get online. I'm sending her snail mail today.
Also, I was wondering -- is the Parking Lot forum the appropriate place to post a "Where is so&so?" query like this?
Thanks!
Post your "where is so and so" thread in Mail Call, critter. :-)