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grancru

Stuttgart Canna??

Grancru
16 years ago

Does anyone have experience with Stuttgart canna? I bought a few rhizomes and planted with the rest of my canna. Everything is coming up but the Stuttgart. Are they just slow growing and I need to be patient?

Is it true they need a little shade as opposed to full sun like most?

Grancru

Comments (21)

  • eloise_ca
    16 years ago

    My Stuttgart is already up about 2 feet here in So. CA. Is it still cold there in MI? Once it starts getting warmer there, the rhizomes should start sprouting. Stuttgart does require some shade as it burns easily; however, I do have some growing in the sun, but the ones with some shade are prettier. I don't know what your weather is like, but you can experiment by planting some rhizomes in the shade (ground or pot) and leave some out in the sun with your other canna. Sometimes, the other plants give Stuttgart enough shade to protect it from too much sun. Enjoy it as it is a beautiful canna!

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    I had Stuttgart planted in both full sun and part sun last year. Both burned up even though the soil never dried out. I also tried epsom salts with no noticable benefit.

    This year, I am growing them in pots with lots of water and no drainage. I have read that several people had success with this method.

    If they still burn up this year, they are going to the compost heap! ;-)

    Regards,

    Rokal

  • Boca_Joe(zone 7b) southern Delaware
    16 years ago

    I think the problem may the fact that is very little to no chlorophyll in the white areas of the leaf. If you look it's usually the white areas that burn.

    I have grown mine in sun and shade for years and they both burn. I do think that some Stuttgardt strains are more stable.

    They do need tons of water and fert to put on agreat show.

    Good luck everyone!

    Boca Joe

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    Like Boca Joe, the burning on my Stuttgardt is isolated to the white areas of the leaves.

    Has anyone tried an anti-transpirant like Wilt Pruf?

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    Rokal, don't give up on you Stuttgart. The fist year mine burned in the sade also. When I put them in the pot with no drainage and kept them in bog condition and as Boca Joe said I did not have any burning even in sun. Each year they got better.

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    They should have a way to go back and correct your post. LOL!!!

    Let me try this again. The first year mine burned in the shade. Grown in pots with no drainage and lots of fert as Boca Joe said. I have a good looking plants. I have them all over the garden some in shade some in sun.

    Here is a pic no doctoring no close up pic of only the good leaves. This one is in the sun.

    {{gwi:526099}}

  • Grancru
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I always keep all my canna in pots with no drainage and standing water. Some even in fish tank gravel and only water. They always do amazing once sprouted which brings me back to the original post. I have planted 3 pots with Stuttgart and still not coming up. All my other canna have broken ground, even the Lucifer that was purchased with the Stuttgart. It has been getting very hot here so I am crossing my fingers these will pop up soon.

    Marquest, yours look great!

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    grancru, we sorta hijacked your post. LOL

    The first Stuttgart I brought never came up. I had it planted in the ground for a month. Nothing. So I pulled it up and put it in a pot and still nothing. This after three months. I had purchased it from Hirt and was told they were selling non-varigated Stuttgarts so I requested a refund.

    It did not rot it was pink and healthy looking it just never would sprout. I do not know if it would have sprouted eventually but I was not willing to wait all summer and have a green Stuttgart.

    I ordered the one I have had for 4 years from thewatergardenshop.com and when it arrived it had leaves.

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    marquest,

    That is a nice looking plant! I really want my Stuttgardt to perform well this year. You pic just gave me extra motivation to pamper this canna.

    grancru, Stuttgardt rhizomes are long and "ropey". They also tend to have fewer eyes. If you rec'd a ropey rhizome with no eyes, it may take some time for it to develop one and start to leaf-out. As long as the rhizome is firm, you are in business.

    Regards,

    Rokal

  • nucci60
    16 years ago

    marquest, I too ordered a stuttgart from Hirts. It now has five leaves and I swear it is a striped beauty and not a stuttgart. I will bet t flowers yellow and not orange.

  • passion_for_flowers
    16 years ago

    I have 3 stuttgart rhizomes (package bought) each one looked like they had one eye, and were firm. I planted them about 3 weeks ago and was wondering how deep should I had planted them. They are just below the surface. I also pulled the one up yesterday and it looked no different then when I put them down. I soaked the rhizomes in some epsom salt and water before I planted them.

  • nucci60
    16 years ago

    passion for flowers, IMHO I would have planted the rhizomes at least 3" deep. when they start growing, the roots have to support the top growth.I made that mistake my first year and when the cannas got big a strong wind toppled them. the rule of thumb is 4".be careful with water because canna rhizomes can rot if there is no vegetive growth.I started some indoors in pots last year and lost almost all of them from too much moisture before they sprouted. good luck!

  • passion_for_flowers
    16 years ago

    Thanks for the info nucci60. Tomorrow after work I will get them a bit deeper in the soil then I have them now. If the rhizome doesn't like to be wet I better move them because where they are at I keep the soil very moist. But they don't sit in water.

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    Well, the results are in...

    Despite my best efforts in pampering this plant, many of white areas on my Stuttgardt are burning up! Epsom Salts, heavy watering, and pots without drainage did not stop the burning.

    Perhaps there are some genetic differences amongst the Stuttgart / Stuttgardt / Stutgart cultivars that make some less prone to burning?

    It is a really nice looking plant but the brown areas really detract from its appearance. I may offer this one to the compost gods at seasons end!

  • green_thumb_guy
    16 years ago

    Hi Rokal,

    I bought a stuttgart a few weeks back. It came form a nursery where it was growing in a sheltered polyhouse. It receieved bright light but did not actually get the sun on it. My backyard is south facing and gets sun almost the entire day. Things really cook in the hot sun. I placed my new acqisition on our patio in a tub of water. There were a few burn marks to beign with. But the woman at the nursery told me that they will burn from too much fertilizer. My stuttgart has done really well (for the few weeks we have had it) and we have had scortching weather. I haven't added anything to the water. It sure does go thru a lot of water in the heat. Maybe you are pampering it too much. I'm guilty of that with a lot of my new plants.

    Green Thumb Guy

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    Rokal, how are you storing it through the winter. I leave mine in the pot in a cool spot and give it a half cup of water once a month starting about Dec, Jan around March if all the leaves have died most time not it starts growing. The area I keep it in is cool 50-60.

    As I said the first year mine had a lot of burn but since the second year it just gets prettier and prettier.

    I am also growing mine like green_thumb_guy. When we say water I mean water. In a pot with no drainage fill with soil up to about 4 inches below the top of the pot the rest is water. That is "4 of water at all times. I think if it is scorching hot this is really a pond plant.

    This is a plant you cannot drown. It wants water more than anything.

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    I had a suggestion maybe we should trade a bulb this fall and see if it is your water or the plant. Since we no mine is not burning and mine has stopped. We could test the theory of all Stuggarts are not created equal. LOL!!

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    Hi green_thumb_guy and marquest,

    Last fall, I dug up my rhizomes and stored them in grocery bags with some peat moss. The grocery bags were put in cardboard boxes and stored on my basement floor. The room temp is around 60. I store all my canna this way and experience no loss.

    As for watering, I drilled a hole about 6 inches from the top of my pots and fill them until water starts to flow steady out the hole. This means they are sitting in several inches of soupy water. I replenish the water several times per week.

    I fertilize them every 1-2 weeks with standard strength water soluable fertilizer mixed with 1Tbsp/Gallon of epsom salts. All of my other canna that I grow in containers and in the ground really love this regimine. I use Promix for my potting medium and add Osmocote slow release fertilizer per label instructions.

    green_thumb_guy, I may try placing the container in a large tub of water to see if that helps.

    Marquest, how often do you fertilize? Does your potting mix contain fertilizer? If you have extra rhizomes this fall, I will do the swap with you to see if my theory holds water ;-) Or, I can ship you something else that you don't have yet.

    I'll try to post a pic in the next few days of my not-so-happy canna.

    Regards,

    Rokal

  • marquest
    16 years ago

    I know it is hard to get past that need of a drainage hole. But, can you try using a pot with absolutly no holes? That way they are sitting in the water that is what I am doing.

    Do you remember seeing this post? http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/canna/msg0814564325672.html

    I fertilize every two weeks with Shultz bloom booster, and once a month with 1 tablespoon of epsom salt to a gallon of water. Mine are planted in Miracle-Gro Garden Soil. I put some of my homemade compost on top of all my plants in the Spring.

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    Thanks marquest. I initially did not have the drainage hole in my container. The reason I added the drainage hole 6 inches from the top is to prevent the canna from flopping over. About a month ago, we had a very heavy rainfall with high winds which caused my canna to lean almost to the point of falling over.

    I think the problem is that my water-logged Promix doesn't provide enough structure to hold the plant roots firmly in place. I may try using a heavier soil like garden soil and plugging up my drain hole.

    Also, since I have more than one plant to experiment with, I may try repotting one in pea gravel and submerging the entire pot inside a larger pot.

    At this point, I have nothing to lose since I am not happy with the current state of this plant.

    Thanks for all of your help and suggestions.

    Regards,

    Rokal

  • rokal
    16 years ago

    I see that Stuttgardt is the hot topic on the forum these days :-)

    Here is an update on my stuttgardt:

    This container is sitting inside a small tub with a few inches of water. I replenish the water in the tub daily. As you can see, this is still not enough to stop the burning.



    {{gwi:532080}}

    I repotted my other stuttgart into a container with straight pea gravel and keep 4" of water above the rhizomes at all times. This one is growing much slower but is suffering much less burning.

    Regards,

    Rokal

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