I have a question. Last fall someone gave me several cannas, and as I understand them you have to dig them up every year in the fall and replant them in the spring. I am in zone 5A, when would be the best time for me to plant them? Right now we have another storm getting ready to hit us tomorrow (snow).
New to Cannas
I also forgot to ask. Someone gave me some cannas seeds, is now a good time to start them indoors?
I would wait to plant your cannas until the ground is workable and you get some warmer weather. Cannas love heat and its just too early to plant in your zone right now. I recently germinated my first cannas. I planted 20 and had 4 germinate. I used a good seed starting mix and soaked the seed for three days and nicked the seed prior to planting. Canna seed has a very thick hard casing. You need to nick the seed untill you see the white under the black casing. Good luck!
SueME, I'm also in zone 5 in Denver. Now or in the next couple of weeks, you can start in 1 gallon pots, like you get at the nursery, in your garage. Put them close to an interior wall so they get a little extra warmth. Plant out around your last frost date, Mothers day here. With our shorter growing season, they need all the extra help they can get. Good luck.
and sueme, ask brian williams. he said to sow canna seeds on top of the soil. that blew me away. how did you sow yours dwr?
I hope you don't mind me jumping in here too :-) I nick and soak canna seeds and then put them under lights in a damp coffee filter inside a baggy. So far (touch wood) I have had 100% germination with this method.
mamajack - I started mine in small peats pots with a seed starting mix after soaking for 3 days and nicking them. Again, I had 4 out of 20 germinate....
Don
dwr, did you cover the seeds with soil? i have never started a canna seed but i know i would have buried them. but brian up in kentucky says he starts them on top of soil and here we have a canadian doing it in coffee filters. i am so surprised. lol.
Also...I only soak for 24 hours, in hand hot water. This may sound absolutely crazy to some of you, but I use a small thermos so the water stays warm. I don't know if it really makes a difference or if it's just coincidental, but I have always had 100% germination to date.
Mama - I did bury the soil. Please note that I got the seeds from Ebay and they could have been old, I have no way in knowing.
Don
ginny that's a great idea. if i could keep a thermos safe from my son i would get one.
Is your keeping it safe a problem because he's young and might break it or because he's a little older and might borrow it for himself?
The breakage issue could be resolved by buying a stainless steel one. That's the kind I use.
The borrowing issue could be solved by keeping it in your bedroom closet. The seeds don't need light while they're soaking for a day inside the thermos, and when you're not using it to soak seeds it should be safe from "sticky fingers" :-)
Don,
I didn't have very good luck with my canna seeds until I started soaking them in water & a little bit of perioxide. I also put them on a heating pad. After that I didn't have any trouble getting them to germinate.
BB I didn't use peroxide or the heating pad but the next time I will. Thanks for the tip..... Don
So what is on the list of things to grow now ? I noticed you were looking for some iris seeds but haven't seen pods on mine yet. I just planted some candy tuft seeds and will be planting some lily of the nile seeds as soon as I get them in the mail. I'll let you know how it goes.
Hi BB - Ok I've planted about 20 day lilies, and 30 Canna's along with having over 300 day lily seedlings. Now I'm just planting some annuals and perennials, waiting for this fall to plant some Iris'. Oh yeah, I 've also planted 6 roses, 3 climbers and 3 tea's. Nothing else for right now as I am tired of digging holes in this very hard ground LOL. How about you!
Don, I'm lucky here, I have sand but a lot of my plants, especially the cannas are in big tubs. I think a couple of my cannas have buds on them but not sure since this is my first time for cannas.
Thank you for all your replies. I am now soaking them and will nick them next. I think I will try half of them planted and half laid on top of the soil.
SueMe, I might be wrong but I think they are suppose to be nicked first, before you soak them, or at least that's how I did mine.