Finally came up and looking very good! It was planted in January. All I did was drill a small hole in it, soaked it overnight and planted it. No bottom heat.
X
Journey's End Seedling
looks good
Hey is that one I sent you? I got one sprouted that has red tips on the leaf and another green just like that one. The other four are just now putting out a root but haven`t come up yet. It should be interesting to see results. I have 6 journeys end seeds started.
Yes .. it's the one you sent me.
X
cool. how deep did you drill?
This message was edited Mar 21, 2007 3:38 PM
Cool , I thought it was so neat that finally one of my cannas I liked would make seeds. :)
This is Mom.
I can`t wait to see what kind of plants the seeds make. I`m so glad you started them!
I too have a couple seeds planted from a envelope labeled Journey's End. Mine also came from a generous DG'er! I believe at least one is up...but I can't remember for sure....I will look Friday when I return home. - Arlan
Pheitmeyer I use my dremel tool and drill just enough to see a bit of white.
I love starting canna from seed because never know what you are going to get!
X
X - I like that drill idea. My garden is arranged by foliage / flower color (white zone, red zone, blue/yellow zone) so I need to know what a plant looks like before I plant.
But I can see how waiting for the bloom would be fun!
Be very careful .. being round, the seeds have a way of slipping when you start to drill. Don't hold it with your fingers what ever you do!!!! . I grab mine with some wire cutters and gently make a dent in the coat, then turn the seed, grab it again with the wire cutters and drill the hole in the dent.
X
I use a thin carbide cutting wheel on my Dremmel, holding the seed carefully in a small pair of "channel locks" pliers, and just touching the seed enough to cut through the seedcoat to reveal the white material underneath. Quick, easy, and I don't have to worry about a drill bit slipping off of the smooth spherical surface that X references above.
I have found that I can let the seed rest in the work surface and lightly grasp it with the small pliers which are also laying on the surface. This way I only have one plane of movement I must stabilize while lowering the Dremmel wheel to the seed.
Arlan
I soak for 24 hours and this softens the seed a bit so it is easier to work with. Then I use a little pair of hand pruners to gouge the seed coat in a few places. I don`t recommend this for others because it requires skill and you could cut yourself. The drill idea would be way better for sure! Then I soak another day and plant. I think being warm all the time and the bottom heat idea works great.
Those little round black seeds like to jump too and they often go places like under the fridge or stove and then you need a flash light and a stick to get them out.
Next time I'll try the cutting wheel .. certainly sounds a lot easier than drilling.
X
anything to get those sprouting ratios up! :)
X- are you saying that it took 2 months to sprout?
Yes because it had no bottom heat and was in a greenhouse which was kept at dont freeze temps. My heating system comes on at 38 degrees. They sprout much faster if the soil is warm.
X
This message was edited Mar 24, 2007 11:08 AM
It was kind of like winter sowing then.
Well sort of .. the soil temperature probably never got below 35 degrees. I don't think canna seeds could survive any heavy duty hard freezes that last longer than a day.
X
I use my dremel with the drum sander to sand just until I see white. Works well and little chance of going too deep. I can even hold them in my fingers to do it... guess that is because I am used to holding small things while sanding... small wiggly things at that... I use the dremel to do my 3 dogs toenails.
Tammie
I've just sown my first Canna seeds. I filed them first and then soaked them for 48 hours. I have them on a heating pad set to low. I have heard that germination takes about 2 weeks under these conditions. Is that about right? The seeds I purchased were for small-flowered species cannas. I am hoping to attract a few hummers to my yard.
I just received the seeds so I couldn't have started the seeds any sooner than now. Will it still be possible for me to get flowers this season, from the seedlings?
Thanks,
Mike
You will have blooms in plenty of time. I started seedlings in late July last year and got blooms on them before the first cold weather arrived. I left them in their big pots outside and they are growing again.
Tammie
Hi Mike .. I've had canna I've started from seed bloom in 16 - 24 weeks. If the seeds are really fresh you may seed signs of germination in a week! When using heating pads there is a tendency for mold to develop because of stagnant air. This can be averted by keeping the air around them moving. When I used to start seeds indoors by heating pads and grow lights, I put a fan across the room on low to keep the air moving.
X
LL & X,
Thanks for the info.
My growing season is considerably shorter than yours, but I still hope to get some flowers before frost. (:o) Summers here can be very hot and humid and I believe that cannas love that kind of weather. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens. At the very least, I should get flowers next summer, for sure.
I'm just a little antsy for spring to get here and the growing season to begin, and I really want to see the flowers now!!!
Thanks again,
Mike
Lol .. we know exactly how you feel!!!
X
i heard that first year cannas are harder to store over winter.. is that true? and is there a way to help them not rot
My 1st year cannas stayed in their pots outside all winter and are growing now... our low temp this year was 19. We had a week that it stayed below freezing but sun got to the pots almost daily to keep them a little warmer.
I have been starting seeds by sanding with the dremel until a little white shows... put them in a small container with warm water and some polymer crystals and let them hydrate. I set it where the warmth of the sun will keep them warm and wait a few days. I just leave the seeds in there until I see the root begin then move it into a small pot of soil. Seems to work very well.
Tammie
Will cannas grow year around or do they need a dormant period? I was wondering if I could keep the seedlings growing for two years and then let them go dormant after their second season? I would guess that the rhizomes of seedlings are fairly small after their first year of growth and that makes them difficult to carry over. I wonder if really pushing the fertilizer would help build the rhizomes to make carry-over easier?
I just checked my seeds and they are germinating! I have seedlings!!! Woo hoo...
I just purchased Canna 'Wyoming Dwarf' from Park Seeds (hopefully, not a mistake) because this canna had red leaves and yellow flowers. I thought all red-leaved cannas had reddish flowers?
Thanks,
Mike
I started to dig in one of the pots my 1st year seedling was in and found it full of rhizomes. I may even dig some out. I wanted to add a second canna in the pot.. it is a 5 gallon pot.. the original seedling says.. "no way it's all mine" LOL They seem to grow rhizomes a lot faster than I thought.
Tammie
Here are my canna babies. I think that Xeramtheum sent me the seeds. They said canna patens. Thank you Pauletta
Looking really good!!!!
X