Gingers - cutting back?

This is a similar question to HarryS

I have overwintered Hedychiums and Cannas in my garden room with a minimum temperature of 8C to 10C. Most of them were outside and received a bit of frost last autumn before the garden room was finished. So I can't say they have been fully overwintered above 8C. However, the Hedychiums have kept all their leaves and are 2 to 3 feet tall, and many of the Cannas have old rather tatty leaves, which are still green.

Should I cut them both back now to within a few inches of the ground - obviously leaving fresh shoots alone? Or will they remain more advanced and grow bigger if I don't touch them?

 

With the gingers a tidy up of old tatty leaves but I woudnt cut them right back you may kill them or put them back so much they wont flower, normally the goodness would of gone back in the plant in the Autumn but you didnt let that happen you, may get some new shoots but not as many.

With the canna's I would do the same just a tidy up, as they will send up more shoots from the base when they get going, if old stalks still look tatty then I would cut them off and leave the new ones in place.

 

Think someone (might have even thought is was you?!) suggested to me last year to cut Gingers back, on the grounds that otherwise the tired leaves linger and delay the flush of new ones ... which in turn delays flowering.

Either way, I think keeping them in until July, before planting out, will help bring forwards flowering - maybe by as much as a month - and get it to happen before the frosts come.

 

I was thinking the same earlier, I've got a Hedychium spicatum in the un heated GH which hasn't lost its leaves either.
The cautleya spicatum and Assam orange both lost there's.

So do I chop them back?

 

I know in milder climates they dont cut them back if they havnt died back but just take out the tatty ones at the start of the season as they struggle to put up fresh growth ,

 

It was me Kristen, I can only really speak about H.gardnerianum, I left the old leafy stems on one year, after years of cutting back to the ground, and found the plant in question did not put up new shoots until nearly July, far to late.
The overwintered stems will not flower.
It usually puts up shoots, even when grown outside all year, in late May.

Even my outdoor plants this year have still got foliage, first time I can remember since 1985.

 

Pete - you have given me something to think about - especially the comment that overwintered stems will not flower. But what happens in the wild when there is no one to cut them back?

Kristen - I am sure you are right about keeping them in till late. In fact I may keep some under glass all year - to see the effect. I have never had my gingers flower for me yet. Perhaps partly because they weren't very big - and also the cold.

 

Mixing up my Petes - what with me being a byslexic dastard and all that !

And you being further North? Never sure how much difference that makes, you aren't that far North surely ?

 

Peter, as I said I was really referring to H. gardnerianum, I never had flowers on overwintered stems, Kristen sent me a plant of Hedychium, ..........., sorry but the name escapes me at the moment, but his plant did have a few flowers on the old stems, but then went on to form bulbils.


The best flowers were still on the current years stems.
I've cut it back to ground level and its still dry in the garage at the moment along with the others.

In the wild I assume you get a mix of stems, some flowering some not, I've never tried growing them year round as you are, mine have always had to put up with a cold winter.
They do seem to put up some very strong shoots around late August, I find, maybe given warmth they could flower around Christmas?

 

H. greenii ?

 

I dont remember plant names as well as I used to.

 

Thnaks Pete. I mentioned gingers, but a lot of the plants I have been tidying up recently are Cannas with old stems.

Can I cut these off without fear?

 

As to Cannas, I've always cut them back once dry, again its down to overwintering on quite cool conditions, if you keep them warm enough to grow then maybe the unflowered stems from last year might flower this year.