Canna 2012

Harry - I was interested to see that you soaked your for a day and spurred them into life.

Is this a recognised way? I am fearful of them rotting off over the winter from being too wet. But presumably if you just soak the rhizome and then repot in compost that is only slightly damp, this won't happen.

 

I don't really know if soaking the rhizomes is advised Peter . I always soak my begonia tubers for 10 minutes , so I thought a wash and a soak of the Cannas would be OK. Results after one week 2 out of the three are sprouting . The one I left in a container has at least 10 stalks after 2 weeks Now wether to lift store and plant rhizomes V growing from seed I am still undecided .

Now the bad news , I isolated and have binned this Canna Marabout grown from seed , it is about 8 weeks old. Is this the virus Hope it does not effect my others .

 

Just potted on my first ever Canna seedlings, so I've now joined the club!

Question - as it's of the same order (Zingiberales) as Heliconia, are they equally heavy feeders? I have an on-line "buddy" in SoCal who grows his Heliconia in pure cattle poo!

 

Hi Keith. yes they are very heavy feeders, in fact myself and I believe PeterS were "over-feeding" our Cannas last year (once they were in full active growth) and they were thriving on it..

 

Thanks Harry, I think I will have a go at soaking one and not soaking the other of two Canna tropicannas that I have.

I think that there are quite a few, but not all, plants that benefit from overfeeding. There is no question that Brugmansias like it. One source said they can give 10 times as many flowers as an unfed plant.

So, like Bilbo, I tried overfeeding my Cannas and a few others last year. The Cannas loved it. My Echiums responded a bit during the summer, but when I took them inside in the late autumn they were so soft that the tips turned to mush.

It would be nice to have a list of plants that appreciated gourmand meals.

 

I have a lot [60-ish plants] of Canna warscewiczii [grown from seed last year] which have quite mall tubers. I don't really have space to start them off in individual pots, can I just plant them straight out once they have started to shoot? Will just a cover with fleece or straw do now if we get a frost?

 

How about setting them up in deepish seed trays, to get them going.
Then in early May, plant them out.

I used to do that with dahlias.

 

Too many plants, and too few trays! These aren't previous, as such, as I have plenty more seed ... they are probably too small to keep, long term, so planning just to use them for infill for a couple of years until I have other things which can take over.

 

... unless ... you have a suggestion for a good / cheap source of suitable trays ??

 

Years ago I used to make them out of wood, thin rippings off boards, usually just thrown away.
But obviously if you dont have anywhere local to get such things its not a proposition.

I'm sure you could just plant them out, but they might be very slow to get going in cold soil.

 

Ah, good point. Well ... I think this lot are just going to have to take their chances ... too much else I'm trying to do this Spring. I'll report back later in the Summer.

 

my seedling .


plus part of my canna rizhoma.

 

Sal - mine are going well too!
Your Clitoria and Lathyrus are looking good too!

 

thanks keith , if you notice the top picture you can see you lathyrus and the 3 clitoria coming up .
Very strange the light tall cannas at the back are the thai canna , planted at the same time of the musifolia grande , altensteinii and tuerckheimii , but the thai are much bigger, didn`t expect that .

 

I had!! That was why I commented pal!