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growing canna from seed
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Posted by curios z5/6 NJ (My Page) on Mon, Jun 1, 09 at 3:52
could anyone having good success growing canna from seed
tell your secrets. have difficulty gettng them started. thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I got them to germinate after 4 days! I sanded a very small area until I saw the inside white. Some folks at Winter Sow forum got them to germinate by wintersowing them around January or February. They are the last to germinate according to their experience. I think, they brought it inside when it sprouted prior to their last average frost. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I collected seeds last fall and sewed them in the house in January. I kept the seeds on heat mats til they germinated, then immediately removed them from the heat. When they got to be about 4" tall I repotted them into 4" pots. I didn't try the sanding stuff, but probably will next time because the seeds took a really long time to germinate, about 3 weeks. Not all of them germinated but about 80% did. Cheryl |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I sanded all the seeds and all germinated. It only took them to germinate between 4 to 7 days. However, I think I am missing some gadget in my indoor growing. I really had a hard time making them grow inside. They were in a south window sill but I don't think the heat is not strong enough to warm them. Out of 16 seedlings, only 2 made it. Maybe, I should provide a flourescent lamp for plants that I will grow indoors. This is what I don't have. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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Curious...
You may check this link. I think it's very helpful:
http://www.karcheskycanna.com/growingtips.htm |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I too scarified all my seeds and all germinated in 4-5 days. I use 4' fluorescent shop lights to get them started until they are 5-6" tall. My first bloom is peeking out now. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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- Posted by njoynit Z8b Coastal ~seclude (My Page) on
Wed, Jul 8, 09 at 11:01
I don't scar mine,but I'd say mine roast in the ground combined with watering and just...sprout. i'd say they sprout faster in a large pot with potting mix,than in the ground,but I've not had rain since may 13th then got about an inch Monday.but I've been growing them this way for 4 years now....
plus Tx sun is different fromNJ. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I scarified mine and put in south window in March. I had to use a metal rasp on high speed drill to sand the coating off. Sandpaper wouldn't do it. I then soaked them in warm water until they swelled, then planted. The dwarf ones are blooming now. Very rewarding experience. I would love to do it again if I can find someone with fancy canna seed to trade. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I'm in z5 just north of Toronto Ontario (Canada). I hold the seed with a pair of pliers, and rub against a wood file until I see white. Rinse in water, and drop them in a water bottle just enough hot water from the tap to cover an inch over the seeds. I have some starting to sent up a stalk. I'm thinking if I planted them in more sun they'd bloom sooner. The ones right along the fence were from rhizomes, but you'll see they aren't much different than the seed grown ones. I started these around Easter:
 mid July
 early August
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RE: growing canna from seed
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| That is great. Are you saying you drop the seed in the bottle with just water (without soil?) I am anxious to try this. Thanks a lot |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I just found this forum by accident searching for information on growing Canna from seeds (usually in the salvia and hummingbird forums). Here's some interesting information I found and thought I'd share with others interested in the subject. Would love to hear back from anyone who's actually tried this. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/canna/msg0319472524516.html Sandra |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| Yes, drop the seeds in the bottle with hot water. I keep the bottle on top of a heat mat without putting the cap on the bottle. I also rinse every day and change the water. when a small white nub pushes out from the seed, put the seed in a pot of soil (I put 1 seed per 3" pot) nub facing down. Cover the pot or put the pot in a sealed baggie, then on top of the heat mat, and remove when you see a shoot come out of the soil. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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- Posted by lgslgs z6 SE ohio (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 28, 09 at 15:07
| I just wintersowed mine in February (see winter sowing forum) without soaking, sanding or nicking. Here's what first year plants from seed looked like in August: 
Lynda |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I decided to experiment come this past spring with an ebay find. I followed the scuffing of the surface and dropping in a glass of water until the white nubbie appears plan all the while thinking "it either will or it won't". I planted the seed once sprouted a bit and to my suprise it grew/bloomed. The only white one I have so far but a favorite none the less. |
Here is a link that might be useful: White
RE: growing canna from seed
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| The ones I started from seed in March bloomed this year. The dwarf ones bloomed in July and the other one is blooming now. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| milosmom, I really like this in white. Do you know what is it? I've never bought seeds or plants from ebay because you never know what you'll get. Did you have a good experience with your purchase? Sandra |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| This is my first time growing cannas and from seeds. I scarified the seeds like stated above and they are now soaking in water. Someone said that I should wait until a little nub grows out of it before putting it in soil but this is the second day it's been soaking and there has been no changes, no nubs and the seeds are the same size. Should I go ahead and pot it or wait? What if nothing comes up? :( Sandra
Zone 9b |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I change the water twice a day, and refill with hot tap water (not boiling water) every time. Take out and plant any seed with a white nub nub-side down. You should see shoots breaking soil within two weeks provided the pot is kept moist and relatively warm |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| Lynda, your planting in the tire is amazingly pretty. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| Here is a photo of seeds that have just germinated. The third seed is one that was just collected and is placed there for size comparison. Thought it might be helpful to see. 
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RE: growing canna from seed
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| Very nice! Mine are still in water but never germinated. Guess the seeds were not viable. Should I go ahead and pot them anyways just in case or should I give up on them? Sandra |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| i say pour hot tap water over them and see if they start to swell up. canna seeds, because of their hard coat, have an extremely long shelf life under proper conditions. seeds that are seven years old germinated fine for another lady on the forum (can't remember her name off the top of my head right now). |
RE: growing canna from seed
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This is how I do mine and have almost 95 - 100% germination even with old seeds: bring 1 cup water to boil, let cool 1 - 2 minutes, pour the hot water over the seeds in a styrofoam cup. Don't get nervous if you hear cracking sounds that is the shell coat opening up. Gently change the water ever 2 or 3 days with room temp water. No need to scarify or scrape or anything else.
I wait until the root is about 1 inch and then plant them in the same cup with planting mix (hole in the bottom) until they are about 6 to 8 inches tall before separating them out. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| I've read a lot about everyone's technique and did the boiling water thing and then I've been keeping them in water since. It's been about a couple of weeks now. I even tried to change the water twice a day using hot/warm water from the microwave. The seeds never made any cracking sounds and there are no nubs growing. I think I tried all the techniques I read about and took everyone's advice but nothing. Guess I'll wait for a couple of weeks and then plant them in a pot and see what happens. The seeds probably just know that I have no idea what I'm doing and are laughing about it. lol Sandra |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| Sandra, cannas should be perennials in your zone. I know they can reseed in your zone, have you tried just direct sowing them? sometimes the easiest way is to just toss them outside and let nature take on its course. the boiling water method has been around for ages and does work. but it is not the best method because you can damage the seeds really easily. the cracking from the seed is from the seed coat/shell cracking from the heat. and the inner seed (embryo) can be damaged from the immediate gush of hot water that rushes in. it's generally recommended now that hot water from the tap be used instead because it doesn't get nearly as hot as boiling water does. of course, the seeds could be the problem and not your technique. some hybrids will set 'empty seeds' which are like seeds but are empty on the inside. Other times, the seed inside never fully developed. I would suggest cutting one open to see inside the seed, or just sand a few places on the seed to make sure there's actually a seed inside and not just an empty shell. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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| Hi Sandra, I see you are in NJ. So am I. I have been growing canna from seed for a while now. I have tons of seed and would be glad to send you some that just came off my plants this week, if you like. My system is to sand off a spot on each seed with a file (while holding the seed in a pair of pliers) then drop it into a cup of hot tap water. I leave it sit on a warming mat for a couple of days until I see the little white sprout coming out. I then plant the seed and put it back on the heating mat. In less than a week I will see a sprout coming up. At any point after that, I remove the pot from the heating mat and put it under flourescent lights. It will be about three months until the plants will be too tall to keep on my shelves under lights. By then, it will hopefully (!) be Spring! In the last three years I think I've had only three seeds that didn't germinate. I had bought them on eBay and wonder what their history had been. Email me if you would like me to send you seeds. Good luck! PS: often the GW email doesn't reach me; also post here, please. |
RE: growing canna from seed
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milosmom,
I really like this in white. Do you know what is it? I've never bought seeds or plants from ebay because you never know what you'll get. Did you have a good experience with your purchase? Sandra
________________________________________________________ I'm sorry Sandra, things have been hectic for me and I haven't gotton back over here in quite some time.
Unfortunatly, I do not know what the white one is or if it has a specific name. I don't buy an enormous amount of plants/seeds on ebay for the "unknown" factor but I was browsing and come upon the listing for the white seeds that was reasonably priced so I thought why not give it a try. I had a really good experience with the seller who I purchased from and will be looking forward to hopefully finding different colors via the same way next year. :) |
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