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xeramatheum

Bringing in the Seeds!

Xeramatheum
18 years ago

As I was making my rounds today, counting heads and watering I noticed some of my canna had seeds ready for harvesting! It's so rewarding to harvest the offspring of something you raised from birth to maturity!

Is anyone else finding ripe seeds?

X

Comments (12)

  • seedbandito
    18 years ago

    As a matter of fact... whilst making my rounds today, I found some seeds from my Robert Kemp and Canna variabilis. Anticipating lots more from Orange Beauty, Richard Wallace and Florence Vaughn. The variabilis are ones I started from seed this year.

    A neighbor I had said you couldn't start the seeds from the cannas!! Funny, I didn't have any trouble at all :)

    Happy harvesting!

    Nancy

  • skygardening
    18 years ago

    Never done the seed thing yet. Have too many cannas to devide. Guess I will do it soon just for the experience, although I have never been much into seeds. How do you know when the seed is ready? How do you know when you have a viable seed?
    Sky~~

  • Xeramatheum
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Hi Sky,

    Canna's are really easy to grow from seed. The really neat thing is that you will never know what you are going to get either. They don't totally breed true to the parent. From the same parent, the canna's I grew, 12 plants, 4 were red, true to the parent, 1 was orange & yellow, 5 were red and yellow and 2 were reddish orange.

    {{gwi:534403}}

    In this pix you can see fat green & brown capsules .. the brown ones are ready for harvest. The green ones obviously aren't.

    {{gwi:534405}}

    This is what they look like. These are rather small in comparison to others I have.

    If you decide to grow them, you need to drill/file a hole in the seedcoat til you see white. Then soak for 24 hours in hand hot water then plant. They will start shooting up in about 2 weeks, even earlier if they are in a hurry.

    X

  • cantstopgardening
    18 years ago

    Do you sow the seed this fall, or wait until next spring? I would think next spring, but nothing surprises me anymore with plants! *grin*

  • jenna1
    18 years ago

    I brought in a bunch of OMEGA seeds this afternoon and have some JOURNEY'S END just about ready to bring in. Haven't really looked too closely to other cannas as we just got home from vacation.

    These will be going to my sister who I've just recently introduced to cannas and now has a new plant love. Funny that in all the years that I've been growing cannas that she never paid any attention to 'em, now she can't get enough.

    Jenna

  • Xeramatheum
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    CSG, I sow seeds pretty much all year round. I have a greenhouse. It is heated in the winter, not growing heat but don't freeze temp, 38 degrees. It can get into the upper 90's on a sunny day with the vents and doors closed. I started these guys last October:

    {{gwi:534407}}

    The picture below is dated January, you can see them tucked in a corner under the bench, they are around 3 months old. Doncha love baby pictures? lol

    {{gwi:534409}}

    Just yesterday I sowed some columbine and a week ago some clematis. I'm going to be planting more perennials in the coming weeks so I will have flowers next year.

    In my experience, the baby canna plants can take really low and high temperatures and do ok.

    X

  • PIGEONBOB
    18 years ago

    This is my first "Canna" post, so be gentle! I harvested about 20 seeds from "Meyerbeer", which I really like. I hybridize Daylilies, so am very familiar with growing flowers from seeds. I do approx. 1200 a year. My question, do the canna seeds need a dormant period, do they need a cold period? How long after I have harvested them do I start to grow them? I do have access to a friends' greenhouse. I'm in zone 5 so outdoors is not possible. Sorry for the rookie questions, but I would like to try these. Thanks. Bob

  • Xeramatheum
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Bob,

    Cannas don't need a cold period and you can plant them immediately or wait. You've probably noticed they are hard coat seeds. You need to scrape or drill a hole in the seed until you see white. Then soak for 24 hours starting in hand hot water. Then just put them in some good draining potting soil about 1/2 below the surface (i use those 4/6 pack trays you get for seedlings). Leave them outside in a sunny place, they should start sprouting in a week or so. Once they have sprouted and you see roots coming out the bottom of the container, plant them in a 1 gallon container or larger for over wintering. They can take temps as low as 35 degrees with no problem as long as they are hydrated.

    X

  • PIGEONBOB
    18 years ago

    Great, thanks for the help, I will start them soon. This should be exciting! Bob

  • faerybum
    18 years ago

    sorry for the redundancy... so im in ny in zone 5, no greenhouse. can i plant them now and keep them inside, will they get really huge by spring time? or should i wait so theyre not so big?
    thanks,
    ustya

  • pdxjules
    18 years ago

    Excellent info - Thanx X, & all!

    I harvested seed from Red-flowering green leaved Swap Rhizomes (my neighbor Dana's cherished Gramma's Cannas.) They are vigorous and spreading, but I am excited about possibly getting variations from Seed. A GardenWebber in PA may send me some other varieties to try too, yay.

    I don't think I have the guts to try a Drill, but I have a good serrated knife that will get thru anything without jumping off to bite my fingers.

    I need more space. This was my first year for planting gifts of Dahlias & named Iris too...so all remaining grass in sunny areas is Doomed. No more August brownout - just vibrant bloom! I have lots to learn - and enjoy the process. We had frost yesterday - so I figure it's time for some light leaves as mulch - will read a bit to be sure.

  • butterflychaser
    18 years ago

    Not all cannas make seeds. Richard Wallace is one I can think of off the top of my head. It will make seed pods, but they'll be empty.

    BC

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