Last September, in France, I came across a splendid Canna. Very splodgy,
orange/creme flowers with variegated red/green leaves. Some of the
flowers had set some good seeds - which I picked.

Seeds are quite large and hard - I presume they'll need cutting to stand
any chance of germinating. Has anyone grown Cannas from seed?
Suggestions? What are chances of germination? How long until they
flower?

Regards,
--
Larry Stoter

"Larry Stoter" wrote in message
o.uk...
Last September, in France, I came across a splendid Canna. Very
splodgy,
orange/creme flowers with variegated red/green leaves. Some of the
flowers had set some good seeds - which I picked.

Seeds are quite large and hard - I presume they'll need cutting to
stand
any chance of germinating. Has anyone grown Cannas from seed?
Suggestions? What are chances of germination? How long until they
flower?
Regards,
Larry Stoter

I've grown them in the past.
I didn't file or cut the seeds, but just put them in a pot in early
spring in the GH and left them to it :~))

I covered the pot with plastic to keep the soil moist and most of they
germinated fairly quickly.

As far as I can recall they took a couple of years to reach flowering
age.

More info at : http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/canna/

HTH , Jenny

I have germinated one (of four) seed this autumn, now sat on the kitchen
windowsill having grown quickly to 6" or so since October.

I placed the seeds on moist compost in a freezer-bagged pot in the airing
cupboard. Only one of four seeds germinated, and it took about 4 weeks.

In hindsight, I'd use individual pots and just leave them in until they
either germinate or I need the room for laundry.. .

Al.

"Larry Stoter" wrote in message
o.uk...
Last September, in France, I came across a splendid Canna. Very splodgy,
orange/creme flowers with variegated red/green leaves. Some of the
flowers had set some good seeds - which I picked.

Seeds are quite large and hard - I presume they'll need cutting to stand
any chance of germinating. Has anyone grown Cannas from seed?
Suggestions? What are chances of germination? How long until they
flower?

Regards,
--
Larry Stoter

"JennyC" wrote in message
...


As far as I can recall they took a couple of years to reach flowering
age.


I've had flowers in the first year from a February sowing - seed from one of
the commercial suppliers.

the original post's description sounded very much like Canna Durban -
unlikely to come true from seed, me thinks!

pk

I grew canna from seed it took 3 summers before it flowered. Id suggest
growing them from Ryzone. Currently I have 20 bushels in a cold cellar
for the winter. Cannas make the yard look so tropical, my cannas grow 9
foot tall.

Larry Stoter wrote:

Last September, in France, I came across a splendid Canna. Very splodgy,
orange/creme flowers with variegated red/green leaves. Some of the
flowers had set some good seeds - which I picked.

Seeds are quite large and hard - I presume they'll need cutting to stand
any chance of germinating. Has anyone grown Cannas from seed?
Suggestions? What are chances of germination? How long until they
flower?

Sounds as though the variety you have collected may be 'Cleopatra' a
hybrid that can have red and green, all red or all green leaves as
well as red and yellow, all red or all yellow flowers. It is quite a
curiosity and great fun to grow. However, it should be noted that
Canna hybrids do not come true from seed and although some of the
progeny may resemble the parents, they are rarely as good.
Nevertheless, it is fun to grow a few this way and you never know, you
might just get something that is even better. The best time to sow is
in January or early February , which will give the plants a good 14 -
16 weeks growing time before they can be hardened of for planting out
of doors.

Thankfully Cannas are extremely easy to grow from seed if you observe
a few easily followed rules. The seed coats are bullet hard (hence
the occasional common name of 'Indian Shot'). The best way of
enabling water to penetrate this seemingly impermeable barrier is to
nick the seeds, by holding them in a pair of pliers and using a file,
carefully cutting into the coat until you reach the white endocarp
within the seed. Only the tiniest amount needs to be exposed and it
is better to file too little away than too much. If you look at the
seed carefully, you will see a scar (hylem). It is through here that
the growing shoot will break through. You should file the coat on the
opposite side to the scar in order to avoid damage to the embryo.

The next step requires a bit of bravery, so you'll need to 'grit yer
teeth'. Place the seeds in a cup or beaker and pour freshly boiled
water over them. As soon as you hear the seed coats starting to
crackle and pop, immediately add enough cold water to cool them down
to luke warm. The seeds should then be allowed to soak for 24 or more
hours in a warm place - an airing cupboard is ideal. Inspect the
seeds and most should have swollen to almost double their original
size after 24 hours. Sow these just below the surface of lightly
moist, sterilised, soil-less compost and maintain temperatures of 25C
or higher. Germination will take no more than 48 - 60 hours and don't
be surprised to see first shoots appearing in as little as 24 hours.
Those seeds which have not swollen immediately, can be left to soak
for another day or so before sowing. In the early stages, seedlings
need to be kept at around 21C to prevent damping off.

Canna seedlings need lots of light and should be left to grow to the
second leaf stage before potting up into 8 - 10cm, diameter pots.
Once they have established well, temperatures can be gradually reduced
to 15 -18C. Pot on as necessary and keep the young plants moving by
applying half strength liquid feed at 14 day intervals. By May, the
seedlings should be in 25 -30 cm. diameter pots and will be ready for
hardening off for planting out in the first week of June. If you
start early enough in the year and maintain good growing conditions,
you can expect first flowers by July or early August.

Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK

Larry,
That was the most informative post I ever read! I just came home from the local botanical garden. I happen to find 36 golden Canna seeds and didn't know what to do with them. I must say, the boiling water sounds a little scary. I'll try it though -you sound like you know what your talking about.
I'm so glad I tripped over this website- my new favorite!
thanks Larry

"haplocom" wrote
I'm so glad I tripped over this website- my new favorite!

Website??? It's a Newsgroup, part of Usenet, the original part of the
internet. Gardenbanter just use this newsgroup sometimes but don't tell
anyone what we are and that you can deal directly.

If you are using Outlook Express as a Mail Reader then, when online, go to
"Tools" and click "Newsgroups" it will then look for all newsgroups on your
ISP's server, probably 30,000 or more so it can take a while. You can then
search for the interesting ones amongst those, go to them and have a look,
and subscribe (it's free) to any that interest you. Then when you click to
open the files on OE, near the top on the left, your newsgroups will appear
underneath "Inbox", "Deleted Items" etc, and you just have to click on them
to download all the latest messages, replies, and post your own.