Canna ~2013~

Lovely day here as well John , we even managed a glass of Pinot and a bottle ( very large!! ) of San Miguel on the patio As soon as the sun dipped behind the horizon - it got really chilly/baltic though .
A quick aside on this Canna section though. I am planting my (first) Dahlia corms tomorrow do they need to be indoors or in a GH with a nighttime paraffin heater

 

Hello folks.

I'm pretty sure this question has already been answered somewhere already, but I can't seem to find it Anyway, the situation is this. I've just potted on my Canna's which are growing nicely, imo. It's looking likely that in a couple of weeks they will start to outgrow their current home, in the heated propagator in the greenhouse. So, when the time comes, will they be ok out in the greenhouse which I'm maintaining a minimum of 4c at night? If not I guess the only option is to bring them in at night?

 

Hi Freddy, ideally they will need to be kept at a minimum of around 10 degrees at night, they will take down to 4-5 degrees but it may well stall/slow their growth. Odd nights at that temp won't do any harm, I look at moving mine out of the house in to my unheated greenhouse by early May where they will stay for about 3-4 weeks before going out at the beginning of June after being hardened off

 

Hiya Bilbo.

As I said, it'll be a couple of weeks before I need to move them on, so maybe by then night temps will be up anyway

 

Thanks John

Freddy if you had properly studied all the 1375 posts of Canna 2012 and Canna 2013 , you would have known this question was answered on March the 14th 2012 and also on Feb the 17th 2013 ! Please copy out all the posts and hand it in by teatime tomorrow...............

 

Can't I just have the 'dap' instead?

 

Can i ask please..when will they need feeding and what feed??

 

I only feed after planting out in late May. I plant with a handful of BFB and give them a Tomato feed from mid summer onwards ,whenever I feel like it , seems to work

 

You could fleece them, in the greenhouse, on cold nights to try to keep the temperature around them a bit warmer. And close up the greenhouse earlier in the day so that it retains heat into the night - so the falling temperature meets the rising temperature outside around dawn. Of course this doesn't work on overcast days :( but it can help to restrict the number of chilly-hours that the plants are subjected to

 

I give mine a weak liquid general fertilizer before planting out - Miracle Grow or something like that will do. I plant out with chicken manure pellets, which will boost growth, and then switch to high potash / Tomato feed once they are flowering.

 

Thank you fellas,sounds simple enough x
All i have to worry about next is..how to squish them all in the greenhouse

 

Hiya folks.

Looking ahead, what would be a decent final sized pot for my 'Brasiliensis'?

 

Once Cannas are in full growth I have found that you really can't 'over feed' them, myself and Peters had some excellent results feeding more than the recommended amounts, producing some stunningly healthy and large plants

As seedlings there should be enough in the compost as potting on occurs on a regular basis, but I do start to feed mine a weak solution every 2 weeks until they are in their last pots before planting out, they then get the recommended dose until they're planted out. I always use chicken manure pellets too and then liquid seaweed and tomato feed.

Freddy I grew Altensteinii in 7.5lt pots last year and they grew as large as the ones in the ground (10ft+) BUT they did require a lot more water and they're a nightmare to keep upright in strong winds. However that species of Canna is a giant, I would go for a 7.5lt-10lt pot for a single plant.

 

Guys I`m really upset with cannas this year , today I found that my stuttgart Rhizomas is dead , I was really looking forward to see this one.....

if anyone found some please let me know .

thank you all