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dennisoates_gw

Bulb cutter on canna,a

dennisoates
9 years ago

What do you think of using the bulb cutter to dig up a canna and transplant ?

Comments (4)

  • canna2grow
    9 years ago

    Before replying about tools for transplanting cannas we would need to be sure just how advanced your cannas are at this time. Is the photo you posted in the other thread a current picture? How loose is the soil in the bed?

    Just for the record, the above pictured tool would not be adequate for dividing or removing cannas. The clumps typically are too large to get large enough rootstock for good survival using a small plugging tool.

    If your cannas are as far along and actively growing as I suspect, we are a bit late in the season for the easiest transplanting or thinning. It can be done but requires a bit more effort.
    Kent

  • gardenper
    9 years ago

    I've had new plants grow from something as short as 1" , as long as it had an eye for a new plant. I have usually divided in early spring, when the plants come up and I can tell their general location.

    But I usually would go in and dig with a shovel or spade and get out as much of an intact chunk as I can. However, I can't say that a bulb planter couldn't achieve the same thing -- just that you would be cutting your tubers into smaller pieces without knowing what you're getting....also assuming your tubers are about 4" or less underground.

  • kiwilad55
    9 years ago

    Greetings. The pictured tool is something I would never use myself on my cannas.
    I divide my cannas up every three years - get in with a pitch-fork and uplift the whole plant.
    Leave to settle for a few days lying out of soil.
    In the mean time I load the soil up with plenty of compost, seaweed, horse manure and anything else I can find.
    Dig that all in
    and then discard any of the old "spent" rhizomes and replant healthy shooting tubers - then give away any spare on not wanted tubers for others to enjoy.
    All you need is a pitch fork and a sharp knife !!!
    Cheers.

  • Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
    9 years ago

    Agree with the last. There's no way you could happen to 'aim' that tool in the exact right direction, and hopefully the rhizomes are well advanced of that phase anyway, branching out in different directions. I usually snap them at the joints when separating. You can move them anytime you'll be around to make sure they don't get dry enough to wilt.

    Dug these up and moved them here last year, early summer. Some I'd removed the foliage so they weren't taking up so much space in the bucket, some still had their stalks attached. This pic is from September (when I dug up a bunch of these to share with other people.) This spring, the spot was full enough to divide again. You really can't kill Cannas unless they rot in a pot.

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