Could someone please give me detailed instructions on how to best store my cannas? I am in Michigan and we will have a freeze any day now. Do I wait until they are dead or can I dig now? I understand dahlias have to wait 4-8 days after they are dead or cut down, are cannas the same? Do I seperate them before I store them? Should I wash them? I know I store them in my basement in peat moss but that is all I know for sure. Thanks for your help. Kay
Wait til the first frost to kill the foilage, then dig them up. Let them dry a bit for a couple days then store them in a dark and cool spot. If they need to be split they should be ok still.
Kay I will try this again, I had typed an answer once and internet connection dropped me. Like pepper23 says wait till the frost kills them. My neighbor has raised them for years, he digs his up and then washes them off dries them and then puts in bags like onion sacks and stores them in his laundry room in basement. I dug mine up and let them dry did not wash them, I put them in laundry bags that are available in most department and dollar stores. I then put them in garage and fought the dirt all winter. I will wash them this year and dry them. then put I same type bags and hang them in my gararge again.My garage never gets below 50 degrees in winter, it is heated.
Hope this helps... Tim
Kay follow link to Horn Canna farm and go to faq. there is question on digging and storing.
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/870/
This message was edited Oct 6, 2008 4:38 PM
Thank you taj12 and pepper23; your help is greatly appreciated. Horn Cannas' faq was very informative also.
Remember to be careful not to store them in anything that can't breath like cloth, paper or cardboard, they will rot or mold in moist areas, i did that to a small box i left in my barn last year. whoopsi poopsie!
I am in wisconsin and dug my cannas up in the fall after they died. My problem is that some of them (lots of them!) are growing already. I can't put them out till Mid May at least. Is there anything I can do, other than pot them up now, (which I do not have room for) to keep them?
I am thinking the basement is too warm. also, they are in white garbage bags which is probably letting light in? Next year I will have to try dark bags.
Thanks for your help.
Carol
Maybe try putting them in a dark place?? I have to dig mine too, here in zone 6! LOL we are just zone challanged!! Just be sure not to let me get moldy, I have had them mold some. See if the darkness will maybe slow it down, if not, you may have to pot them. Let me know what happens, I am curious! Keep an eye on them for sure!! Laura
Hi Murphy, my cannas have sprouted in the cellar also! Have been giving them a little water, don't know what else to do...hope they last til I can put them out!!
I know Im at the end of " what to do",,,but what I did is put them in the crawl space ( no basement) in plastic 8' high tubs,,and lined the tubs w/newspaper..I did not knock off all the dirt,,most tubers were bigger than my hand...they look great better than the ones that I put in the heated shed,,even tho it wasnt real warm...so far as of today,,they look great.. also I have been potting alot of mine,,some are 2' tall. Im soooo happy! :) D
Hi ya'll. I'm glad somebody started this thread. I have a slightly different situation. We don't have to dig cannas down here for the winter. But I'm thinning mine out so I can take them to a RU in May. I need to do it now because now is when I have the time to do it. Can I store them at room temp somehow or do they need to be kept cold til May or is it better to pot them now?
Im beginning to think you cant kill these plants..if it were me,,keep in shade,and dont knock all the dirt off...my friend lives in ocala fl. and she never digs hers up,,except to throw away,,they spread to much for her! good luck
My cannas I had in cellar are about 30" high...wanted them to be in center of flower pot but are tooooo tall now! Can I cut them down? They have not flowered.
any stalks you cut down will not flower.. they are lost for the season.. might as well let them grow to flower if you can. They will green up and flower as soon as you move them to enough light if they are not already green. I don't know how much light they are getting now. They are obviously warm and wet enough to grow that much! Should just go ahead and pot them up! LOL They seem to be happy enough. Wish mine were that tall .. cool today outside.. only 66.... was 80 yesterday.
Thanks Llaso, will just enjoy!
I have been wanting to try cannas, but I dislike plants I have to dig up in the fall....hence the storage issue.. are there small cannas that could possibly be kept in a container and then just brought in like for a house plant??
Ok, no response on that.
Well anyway, I inherited 3 cannas... so is there any reason why I cannot wrap them in paper towels, put them in baggies and keep them in the crisper in the fridge?
And would anyone happen to know what these are? My trader said she sent banna canna and petoria canna.. so those are my choices.. who is who?
Canna #2
I have no clue as to the flower color either so if you know, thank you if you canna help!
and #3.. I am guessing this is petoria, but help! Heck if I know!
Wish I knew more about cannas to help. . still learning myself! I'm like you too, don't like to dig things up!!
Oh, I dont mind digging in the warmer months, its the fall digging and planting I am not much on. Dang aurther yano!
Hey DIRTYGIRL71, got yer seeds BTW, many thanks!
So, ok, got those three cannas and still trying to think on how I should store them or if I should go ahead and try the houseplant thing? I think if I start them now, it will be to early to set them out and should wait a couple months anyway. I will pot them in a nursery can when the time comes, but storing them...Ima thinking to put them in the fridge crisper and not worry on them.
Ima thinking as long as the bulbs do not freeze, they should be fine in the crisper.
The trick with cannas is not to let them get too wet or too dry. One year I dug up fifty cannas, dried them, put them in a large trash can, and stored them in the basement. About half of them - the ones on top - died from getting too dry; but none got moldy.
I think the standard advise of packing them in cedar sawdust and keeping them in individual boxes in the basement would be the perfect solution, if one had the sawdust and boxes. When I lived in NJ, zone 6b I noticed that the cannas nearest the house - on a little slope facing south - survived several winters in a row. So I started growing them there.
I cannot think of why one could not just move them indoors and treat them as potted plants - but its a solution that would work well for two or three, not for ten or fifty. Unless one lived in a palace.
I leave my cannas in their pots,they get cut down and moved into a 50 degree spot in my basement.When the top of the container dries out I water a little and when spring comes around again I move them to a warm area in my sunroom and start up again with regular watering and fertilizer.After 2 years in good size containers I take them out of their pots and replant again.So Far no problems and the system seems to work
Kay, I have kept cannas for years. I do wait for the first frost. Then dig them just shake some of the dirt off and then I put them in bags I save from bird seed or chicken mash. I store them in a basement that is not heated. Some of them start to sprout before planting time. When I did bring them out of the basement I just cut the sprouts back to ground level and planted. Have never had any trouble. I always dig more than I need so I can share in the spring.
nymegen, that sounds like a plan.
So far the ones in the fridgerator crisper draw here are doing fine.
If I ever get to where I need a place for 50 of them in a pot, I guess my crawl space would work. Its nice and dry, the only thing is is moving the heavy pots... UGH!
lhettenhausen said "Remember to be careful not to store them in anything that can't breath like cloth, paper or cardboard, they will rot or mold in moist areas"
I have all mine stored in a plastic container with the lid just placed on but not closed.. all my canna roots are in sepreate paper bags with peat moss, in my basement.. its not finished so its cool down there.. My question is are they going to be ok... I have so many that i started form seeds that i dont even know what they are never got to flower.. I would hate to not be able to keep the apart..
jen
Hi smurf428! Wow those four oclocks you sent me were to die for!
LOL! Im new with canna SO I am trying to watch my new babies carefully. So far so good.
oh i'm glad... me too very new, seen them last winter and it was all down hill for me from there, i was hooked.. I bought some, traded for some, and seeds too.. now i would say i have a not to shabby collection started.. I just hope they last there first winter with me..
Well, I potted them cannas of mine up and watered them today.. I hope I am not jumping the gun as we still have 7-8 weeks of winter....They are under my lights on a shelf. No heat.. just room remp, although it is warm in that room..
Last year I started alot of my cannas early.I grew 30 of them in a 5"high,,10 x 20 tupperware tubs w/holes..they grew wonderful,they were 3" tall come spring when it was time to plant..I did, then 4 weeks later had 2 more weeks of freezing temps,,shortly thereafter,,they were growing just fine..since they didnt get to flower,,they used their energy to make more bulbs.. I left sooooo many in the ground this year,,just nowhere to keep them,,and friends dont give friends cannas :):)
lOL! Confused.. friends dont give friends cannas???! What about non friends?! LOL!
This is a first for me! I was wanting to try the dwarf, but those giants are also beautiful and I only have three!
No life yet....pace..... pace.... pace....
d_lilly how long did you have them in the tubaware before they got to 3".. Great idea by the way... I think I would like to start some seeds this spring this way.. It would make it easy to store them if temps got cold at night.. I grew seeds last year but just in the ground after no signs of frost, but this year i would like to start them sooner...
jen
Great idea with the tubaware...gonna start some seeds and bulbs of SOMETHING this weekend! Thanks for sharing the. Idea.
I wish i could, Hubby would kill me if i even put another pot of anything in this house lol.. Its a jungle in here... Once the temps get higher, mid april / early may.. When I can leave them in the sun all day, if need be store them in the basement or garage over night to save them from frost.. He'll be ok with that, he might even help me bring them in lol... I LOVE the tubaware idea to use for my seeds, or even a few roots.. I was going to use pots, but since cannas dont grow down it seems like alot of wasted soil..
jen
If I remember,I started in early feb. took about 5 weeks to get growth going,,then they started growing so big so fast, I wished I had waited,,due to lack of room..If I were to do it again,,I would time it ( for my region) 6 weeks before mothers day...hopefully they would only have about 3-5 " showing..then id never have to fret over frost...I have some small cannas about 6" tall right now but the bulb was the size of a marble,,i didnt have the heart to throw it away..ended up being a bengal tiger w/yellow,orange flower..glad I saved it...hope my picture worked...that was last year. this year is sooooo full, i can hardley start anything else...except ele.ears :)
