I've just bought 15 Canna's of different varieties and want to grow them in pots. These are something I know little about, amongst many other things, so any advice, apart from don't grow them!, would be greatly appreciated. What size pots are best?, what recipe for the compost is needed?, watering needs?, feeding needs?, overwintering needs? - help!!!
There was a thread here Armandii on Cannas http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/cannas-10-things-t1888.html I kow very little about Cannas - other than having read a book. However I believe that they can get pretty big and so think that the bigger the pot the better. I grew three plants from seed last year in a 35 litre pot. But hopefully this year they will be bigger.
I think if you can find a warm spot they actually do better planted out in the border. If growing in pots its difficult to say how big would be needed as cannas cone in all sizes. In general I'd go for at least a 10in pot per plant. But I'usually start in a smaller pot say 6in for now and move them up once well rooted. They like a good spongy compost that holds water. Lots of water and feed once established:thumb: At the end of summer I dry them out and cut off the foliage, in that order, then keep frost free but cool.
Hi Pete, well I've bought 3 each of the following: Wyoming Yara Florence Vaughn King Humbert President Carnot So they're mainly red and yellow and of differing sizes. Like I said, I know very little about these plants - another adventure!
Hi Armandii, I don't know much about canna's, the reason being they are a favourite food of slugs and snails, which in my garden is the reason for not growing them. Good luck!
Hi Sheal, I've been on the look out for slugs and snails for the last few weeks. I've put out slug baits and ...... nothing! I've not seen one slug or snail this year so far, so I'm hoping that's a good sign - although it could be an indicator that something's wrong with the life chain system. One thing that is advantageous is the fact that I've got sandy soil and it drains so well, which doesn't encourage slugs and snails to proliferate!! I'm looking forward to growing the Canna's, both PeteS and Pete, have helped me on that. I do tend to jump into areas I know nothing about and have to find out the hard way!!
A nice collection there Armandii. I only know Wyoming and King humbert. Just keep an eye open for virus. I had quite a nice collection a few years ago and lost the lot to virus, I had not heard of it at the time so I'm only getting back into canna growing very tentatively these days.
Where did the virus come from, Pete?, and is there any way of protecting against it? It must have been a real downer to lose your Canna's, how did it affect them!