I know it's not the right time of year to do this; but, I have 5 canna seeds soaking, then I will nick them in a few more days and put them in peat pellets. Then when they start to show leafs I want to pot them up, what medium do I use in the pots? Garden soil? Potting soil? Potting mix? or Garden mix?
joy112854
Planting Cannas in doors what type of medium do I use?
potting mix like jungle growth for flowers and vegis from lowes. it's really fluffy and light. never use garden soil in pots. potting soil is too heavy too. before i shot my mouth off, i should have also said that there is special seed starter mix available at most garden centers.
This message was edited Nov 21, 2008 6:35 PM
Trick and sand: Thanks, are you talking about Miracle Grows seed starting mix? If so that is great as I have two bags of that left over from Spring/Summer, should I add perlite to it? I have some of that left also. I'll grow these babies indoors for now til March and then out they go. LOL
joy112854
I grew some last year in starter mix. Planted three in a cup and had 8 cups and 8 out of 12 that came up made it. I planted them in Jan but will do it a little earlier this yr. right after Thanksgiving. 6 of the 8 bloomed and I have some pretty ones and some nice rizomes to plant next Spring. You know that they will be brand new plants like hostas from seed right? Here is one of them. It was 18 inches tall and I named it Bev's Beauty but won't patent it. You have to grow them for 3 yrs before they are stablized. BEV
Bev: That one is simply beautiful. I got mine from a seller on this site; and, got bored with it being so cold, got that planting fever and just can't sit still. So; took the seeds out of the fridge and started soaking them, their are five of them and I hope at least one or two will sprout, will baby them through the winter and then transplant them in the garden this next Spring. I had some that I grew from seed that seem to be doing pretty well in the garden, that was till we started getting cold weather, now they are going dormant I see.
joy112854
Your lucky. I have to dig all mine and save for next Spring. BEV
Bev: That one is beautiful also. Yeah, but, I'm a little sad when I look out front and don't see my canna blooms any more. Can hardly wait til Spring now.
joy112854
Ok, I am in zone 5...I just received 3 small canna roots... if I plant them now they would have to stay indoors, what are their chances of bloomining in a house that has filtered light? AND, if they get too big for the pot, can they be transplanted without harm? I wouldlike to grow them in containers to move to my viranda come April-May when the spring is here.
Any advise?
My trader told me one is petoria canna and the other is banna canna.. I have no clue who is who and the darker one I have 2. WHat color are the flowers and how tall willthey get?
Here is my canna #2
Blossom Buddy: I have had great success with Jungle Grow for containers or Coconut coir and perlite. Both are light and don't compact too easily especially if you add perlite to the medium. I'm able to plant mine in the ground here though, as I don't have to dig up the rhizomes for storage in the fall/winter. I just put them down for winter by treating them with systemic for bugs, then putting down my preen in the beds, then adding Black Kow for mulch, they then come up next Spring.
joy
Cool! I think the potting medium I have will do.
I just discovered that my #2 canna pictured above is the pretoria! WHooHOoo! Love it!
Heres its link on plant files!!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/3303/
The other two then must be the banna's
What a nice trade that pretoria is! I cannot wait to see what color the blooms are!
So, ok, I decided to put these in my crisper in the fridge. I have stored daylilies that way for long terms and well, I figure as long as they are dry and not froze, they should be ok. Anyone of you canna experts have another opinion, tell me soon! They are in the drawer now!
Soz, ok, now for my zone, now I am a thinking, I could start them in my house. but what month would be a good time to pot them? My frost date is mid April so they could go outdoors then, but I would like to get a jump on them so any advise or should I just now wait until April to even start them?
Can't help you there, I'm no good at storing bulbs or rhizomes.
joy
LOL! Well, maybe someone else will be! Thanks for the thought on it though!
BLOSSOMBUDDY:
Your canna #2 is the Pretoria. It will have medium green and white stripes on the foliage and the blossom will be orange. They're medium height, (about 4-6 feet) and not particularly prolific in rhizome production, beautiful blooms though.
Oh man, cant wait! So when should I pot it up for starting indoors for this spring? Im anxious!!!
I had a banana canna that I got the first week in may and potted it just till the frost was clear.. It was over 8 feet by september and wow did it ever multiply.. Never flowered though.. Thats fine cause i only wanted it for the leaves anyways.. We start seeds here the end of may.. So you could start as early as you wanted but I go for a month before I'm going to plant in the ground.. Others go right from the basement to the ground.. I have also started seeds the last week of may (nicked and soaked then right in the ground) and our season is over october and I had a bunch that flowered and nice size bulbs too.. I wasn't sure about storing them as I thought they would be rather small, but theres no problem there a good size.. Some were even big enough i could share with my mom..
jen
HI Jen, hey thanks for those seed you set.. The 4clocks were stupendous!
Sounds like a plan.. just need to figuer on the meduim.. I have some potting soil and cleancompost I think I will use.. does that sound like it would be ok? Go about 50/50 in a real large pot. The compost is almost as pure dirt as the potting mix!
So far the cannas I have in my fridge crisper are well and good! Fingers crossed they will hold a few moere months so I can pot them in the house!
I dont really get picky on the soil cause they all go to the gound anyways.. I'm not an expert on soil so i gave up trying.. I had them from seed in very bad clay soil, and black top soil, and some more in just dirt.. all did well so..
Great than I got my soil for them! Thanks for the help!
Potting them up today
BLOSSOMBUDDY how are your cannas doing?
jen
smurf... no life yet! pace pace pace!
Hi Folks,
I've never tried growing a canna in my life. I just bought acouple bags of canna tubers at the nursery, i have a potting room in the basement with lights and I have acouple trays full of potted dahlia cuttings from Corralitos'. Can I Start the cannas in a tub of starting mix - perlite, partially decomposed wood mulch, and coir?
Please provide directions. I'm in zone 5, May 15 last frost date, what kind of organic fertilizer do they like? How often?
Thank you.
I have planted cannas in many different soil mixes from crappy clay to top soil mixed with manure.. they all did well.. I 'm no expert but cannas grow in a wide range of soil in my mind...
heres what i got off a website
step 1
Fill the planting container with a well-draining potting soil. Moisten the potting soil. The canna rhizome should be started indoors in the winter. (I think this can be done anytime before last frost)
step 2
Dig a hole as large as the canna rhizome and several inches deep. Plant the rhizome horizontally, 3 inches deep, with the eyes facing up.
step 3
Cover the canna rhizome with potting soil and pat the soil down with your hands to fill in any air pockets. Water the soil lightly.
step 4
Place the planting container by a sunny window. Keep the soil moist and watch for shoots to appear over the next few weeks. (or in your basement room)
step 5
Move the container outdoors when the danger of frost has passed. Place the container in a location that will receive at least six hours of sunlight each day. (or now plant in the ground if you plan to do that)
step 6
Fertilize the canna regularly with a 12-4-8 fertilizer. Cannas are heavy feeders and respond well to frequent fertilizing. (I use miracle grow about twice a month)
step 7
Water the canna frequently. During the growing season, cannas can be thirsty plants and some areas will not receive enough rain to keep the soil
step 8
Move the canna indoors to a sunny window if frost is predicted. The canna will require less water and fertilizer during the winter months while it is being kept indoors. Or this is where you could store in a cool place for winter (ex basement, garage..)
hope this helps, good luck but watch out Canna's are addictive plants..
jen
Still no life on mine...hmmmmm
Do you have them under lights?? I dont understand why there not growing.. I have some in the basement in my winter storage box there all starting to get roots, and some have started with 3" plants already.. I think i will pot some up soon..
I started seeds on april 2nd and one is coming up, they take 10-20 days.. But i dont understand why a root isn;t growing.. Mine come up in a matter of days 2 weeks at the most..
jen
No, they are in nursery cans and outdoors now. They were under lights when I first planted them. They were pretty small bulbs as I recall.. I just may have to unpot one to see if they just did not rot in the pot.
ya i cant see them taking that long to come up
Well, as soon as I get a chance I will kknock a can apart.. right now, Im just gonnna keep wateringthem and wait and see.
I went into the basement today to check on my winter storage box, I had cannas that were about a foot tall.. 4 different types were started, of course they were yellow almost white from no sunlight.. So the rest of the day I spent planting 4 different canna roots, I put about 4-6 roots in each clump.. I told hubby today that he needs to order the earth (lol thats what we call soil) cause i have to get that other garden started.. Were putting in another garden this year its an L shape 18' x 3' deep then 24' x 3 deep, and the corner a bit more rounded.. I was planing on getting it done the first few weeks in may, but i dont think they will wait that long in the box.. The ones i planted today i have a bunch of so if the weather takes them away i havent lost anything.. But temps havent been below freezing other then 2 nights and well its was more of a frost then a ground freeze.. they might be ok.. Tomorrow is going to be 80 we a month ahead in all other flowers so, we gave it a go...
jen
They croaked.... owell....