Canna 2012

I hope I'm as successful as that with my donated seeds

 

What do you mean by 18 so far Armandii How many more have you got planted ? Will I need to have a machete to get past Crewe on the M6

 

Yay!!
My first Canna have germinated

Thanks Sal!

 

Now I know my seeds will germinate after 2 days soaking + 6 days in a propagator, what's the latest sowing date to get them (Canna Indica) flowering this year?

 

Today would be good

 

Dear Canna experts .... when can I actually move the seedling in my greehouse? As at the moment in the greenhouse my old rizhomas have started to sprout new leaves.
ps . thanks to you lot, this is my first year that I`ve managed to keep all the rizhomas alive.

 

It had to wait a day until I'd sown/potted up loads of other stuff, but I did get my chipping method down to about 5 secs per seed:

1) Place pliers over seed with their nose resting on something the thickness you wish to remove:



2) Grip seed in jaws and rotate pliers through 180 degrees:



3) File off seed coating to the exact pre-determined depth every time:




Now I've mastered that bit, I just have to become an expert in growing them.......

 

I got to do my Canna tuerckheimii yesterday. Seed much smaller than previous Cannas, so the grip-and-file technique was out. :(

So I got brave with another technique I have seen recommended:

Put in a decent sized contain (mug will do).

Just cover with warm / tepid water

Fill the container with water straight from boiling kettle. The seeds should "crackle" as the coats crack. Well they certainly did that!

left them a couple of minutes, then tipped out the hot water and repalced with hand-hot.

(I will replace the hand-hot water with warm-water 3 or 4 times a day for a couple of days, and then transfer to moist kitchen paper [covered with cling film] until they chit).

I also did some 50:50 with some large seeds ("Tropicana White") to see the comparison, and whether the boiling water damaged any.

All 4 that were "boiled" have expanded, and don't have any "crumpled" skin left; of the 4 that were chipped 3 have expanded, 1 not (or not much), and all still have some crumpling to their skin.

proof of the pudding will be if they germinate, or not

 

Kristen - I had some Cassia seeds the other day which are also very hard and small. Soaked with the near boiled water for 24hrs, and then rocked a very sharp filleting knife over the surface of them, sliding them between the tangs of a fork to hold them. Soaked for a further 24hrs. The following morning they were starting to germinate.

 

Are there right & wrong ways up to sow Canna seed? I just had a poke around in the one pot without any sign of germination and the shoot was going downwards - so I gently levered it out and turned it round 180 degrees.

 

Root comes first ...

 

Clever method Scrungee , like it

 

Can you expand on this a bit Kristen , cheers

PS - 2 minutes later- Its OK got it now the root will form before the shoot. Would the root form from the scarifying mark though Is it better to put that face down when you plant the seed ? Or do they just sort themselves out ?