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Is it terribly difficult to grow cannas from seed?

16 years ago

Hi I love, love cannas. This year I only have one variety because I lost most over the winter. We had an unusually cold winter here in the Pacific NW. I have been reading about people who are growing their cannas from seed. I love to start things from seed (although sometimes it is very dissapointing) and I would love to try. Some questions for you though:

If I start now, would I still get a flowering plant this year?

Where do I get seeds? I have not seen them locally

How do I start them?

Thanks a lot. Looking forward to this new adventure.

Thaks again

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Comments (7)

rokal
16 years ago
If I start now, would I still get a flowering plant this year?

Yes, you should still get flowers if you start seeds now, provided that they are grown on in full sun with plenty of water and fertilizer.

Where do I get seeds? I have not seen them locally

You can post a "WANTED" message to the Seed Exchange on GardenWeb.

How do I start them?

Nick or file the seeds until you see white. Soak in water for 24 hours and then plant in seed starting mix. They should sprout with two weeks. Cannas are very easy to start from seed.

Good Luck,

Rokal
jaceysgranny
16 years ago
Karchecky Canna usually has some seeds. They won't have all varieties since some don't make seeds. You'll have to look at the site and see what they have to offer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Karchesky and Harris Canna Collection
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The purchased seed should work fine. Seed is not a problem if the pollination of the plant producing the seed is controlled. The seed produced in your garden is from a plant produced from a cross and can revert to either parent or anything in between. The purchased seed will be an F1 cross where both parents are known and the resulting seed is predictable, though not as predictable as a plant produced from a vegetative part of a plant with no sex involved. Al
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I was unaware of that. Good to know. The canna in Q was a generic BBS plant. I will likely plant the seeds next spring since I have them, but without any expectations. Thanks.
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Personally the boiling water method is unnecessary to me...I achieve max results by doing your first step hold them with pliers and sanding with a file or other means then I drop them in a jar of collected rain water. Next I observe a few days when the white nub appears I take it out and examine it further and if the skin flexes I peal the outer layer off then...and if not I put it back in the water until it is peal able. .but that step is also unnecessary cause all you really need is to see is growth (the embryo starting to emerge) and plant it as is and it will grow...All other steps are just us being impatient lol
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I used pet nail clippers for my seeds. Make sure to file/clip the opposite side of the scar on the seeds(that is where you will see a white root poking out after soaking). I then soaked them for 48 hours changing the water occasionally with warm water. I used a seed growing kit with a seed starting mix. Keep them moist at all times. I placed the seeds under a T5 plant growing light. They germinated within 3 days, and it is now day 14 and the seedlings are 6 inches tall growing their 3rd leaves. They take off very fast. Once you see the roots sticking out of the bottom, transplant them into a 4" or 6" pots, I transplanted mine into plastic drinking cups, once they grow out of those, they will be planted outside. If you want to purchase any more seeds, get them from Karchesky Canna online, 15 out of 16 seeds i got from Alice germinated, now that is a pretty good germination rate. I also purchased rhizomes from her and they are growing very tall and vigorous. Good luck to you
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njoynit
16 years ago
I've grown many of mine from seed& they are quiet easy.On average mine we're blooming in 90-110 days.I kept them moist till sprouted.I have seeds to share too if would like just e mail me.You can get other colors from seed .They don't come true to seed.
bearstate
16 years ago
Here in CA, USA, I got my Canna x Generalis Seed from TradeWindsFruit.com. They have two varieties, orange and what they call Tiger Lilly Red.

I had a good deal of trouble getting them to germinate due to the high temperatures here in Bakersfield. However, after moving them to shade, they have now nearly all sprouted. I would think that folks in cooler zones would have less trouble getting them to germ, especially if they start them indoors and put 'em out later. See the post I started on 'Observation on Canna Germination' for more info and photos of the young plants.
mid_tn_mama
16 years ago
I'm so glad you asked this. I could not believe what cannas are selling for.

My question regards how to best harvest the seeds. I cut off the green seed pods from blooming plants. I had to clip while green, could not wait until they were dried on the plant.

How long do these need to dry?

Should I open the green pod and remove the seeds before drying?

Do these need to be stratified before planting?

How long before they germinate?

Thanks in advance
heatherk
16 years ago
I would love to know these answers too! I was thinking those exact questions this morning! I was collecting some canna seeds from a plant on the corner of a vacant house!
christopher_m
16 years ago
Actually germinating cannas is quite easy. You need to nick the outser shell to expose the white underneath.

Use a nail file or sand paper or something else to remove a small amount of the outer shell. Then drop the seed in a bowl of water. Change the water daily. When you see roots growing and some tiny foliage then plant in a proper sized container.

Chris

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