Canna ~2013~

As the last Canna thread is approaching 600 posts , I thought we could treat ourselves to a new thread for this season .
I am not growing any Canna from seed this year , but I have received my Canna Bengal Tiger or Pretoria from Hart Cannas today. These are rhizomes which look like they have been cored out of the main plant . There is plenty of rhizome and root and compost around each one - they look fine to me.
Now never bought rhizomes before , am I best to store them in loose moist compost in a cold dark garage , pot up with my other rhizomes in early March and bring into the warmth and light , or should I start them now ?

TIA

 

Just for info I have attached the Hart canna Cultivation sheet below . May be a few pointers on there for any growers.

 

Ive put all my cannas-in-pots in my greenhouse, where its mostly above freezing (unless the fuse blows again) - hopefully they will all be ready for splitting up & repotting when it warms up, but I collected quite a lot of seed last year so it would be a waste not to start some more off "just in case"

 

I'll bed them down then tomorrow in some loose moist compost . Early March is about the right time to pot them up . Space and more importantly Mrs H's patience are at a premium in March and April with all my other plants in the house

 

Hi folks.

Sorry to butt in, but I was thinking it might be a good idea to create a 'sticky' on Canna seed propagation?

 

Good idea Freddy . All the Canna interest started with PeterS post on Cannas which is a sticky . Some had grown them before and they guided us newbies with some pretty good advice. I have listed the threads from the last couple of years below . In there is world class information on seed purchase , scarification ( Scrungee) , planting and raising. Now can anyone condense this from the 600+ posts , to form a sticky ?

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/canna-selection-advice.943/
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/canna-seed-supply-highly-recommended.39905/
http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/should-i-divide-this-canna.43703/
http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/canna-2012.40030/

 

Hi folks.

What I meant was (in case I've been misunderstood) the actual method whereby you score/soak/sow. Also, information about timing, lighting etc. I'm about to sow mine, and it just struck me that this might be useful?

There are others much more qualified to make such a post, but sure, I don't mind having a go

 

Btw, any problems with using some posted pics? I wouldn't want to infringe any copyright issues

 

Here are my trusty tools for scarifying the seed.................


Just a cheap knife that I use for all sorts of things which is bought to life by the knife sharpener (my fave kitchen tool).

Take a couple of minutes. Easy to hold the seed in a bit of Blu-tack.

 

I nearly took my finger off trying to use a Craft knife ...

someone posts a picture of a plant label (for depth), pliers and a file. That's now my preferred method now .... just got to find the photo ...

 

It was Scrungee:
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/canna-2012.40030/page-5#post-520890
in the Canna 2012 Thread

 

I almost broke a sweat using blue tack and my girlie nail file i guess i better get a scrungee kit for my next batch