With Canna, an exotic South Seas feeling moves into the summer garden. Although the cultivation of this plant requires special attention, Indian cane is by no means capricious. The answers to important questions will convey how to meet the requirements of this magnificent flower.

The canna is not hardy and dies below 5 degrees

Plant canna properly

Prepare for fall cane planting by digging up the soil and enhancing it with compost, sand or other soil improvers. If you drive the plant forward from January, it will start the season with a vital growth advantage. To do this, place a tuber 10-12 centimeters deep in potting soil and start watering when the first shoot tips appear. The planting season outdoors begins in mid-May:

  • In a sunny location, dig small holes at a distance of 50 centimeters
  • Plant the flower cane as deep as before
  • Place in the bucket in nutritious, loose substrate and water

You are free to plant Indian flower cane immediately in the ground without digging. In this case, flowering begins a little later.
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care tips

To turn your garden into a canna wonderland, the flower needs these cares:

  • Water the plant plentifully and regularly without causing waterlogging
  • Fertilize every 14 days from May to August/September with compost, horn shavings (€32.93) or nettle manure
  • Alternatively, apply a slow-release fertilizer every 3 months to the heavily consuming canna
  • Cut back to 20 cm after the first flowering and cut close to the ground before the first frost

Which location is suitable?

Indian canna is at its most beautiful in full sun and sheltered from the wind. In fresh, moist soil, nutrient-rich and well-drained, the flower happily spreads its roots.
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What soil does the plant need?

If you pay special attention to the composition of the soil, the plant will thank you with vigorous growth. It depends on these criteria:

  • Nutrient-rich, humic and well-drained
  • Freshly damp, without the risk of waterlogging
  • In the pot, a structurally stable substrate based on compost, enriched with lava granules

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What is the best planting time?

Since the flower comes from the tropical climate, it does not have any frost hardiness. The planting time for flower canes therefore begins after the ice saints have left in mid-May.
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When is flowering time?

Canna blooms from June to October. To ensure that you can enjoy this summery blossom magic over such a long period of time, regularly clean out wilted flowers. If you cut the stem of the plant back to 20 or 25 centimeters after the first flowering, the flower will start again.
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Properly cutting canna

Cut the exotic plant back to 20 centimeters after flowering and new flowering shoots will sprout. In the fall, the flower is pruned back to ground level before being cleared out.
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Fertilize canna properly

Indian cane is a heavily consuming plant with corresponding nutritional requirements. How to fertilize the flower properly:

  • Start fertilizing in May, parallel to planting
  • Then fertilize organically every 14 days with compost, horse manure or guano
  • Optionally administer a slow-release fertilizer
  • Supply the flower tube in the bucket with liquid fertilizer according to the manufacturer's instructions

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hibernate

Every flower tube rhizome contains the life force for several years. Since the plant is not hardy, proper overwintering becomes the focus of interest. How to handle it correctly:

  • Cut the plant down to the ground before the first frost
  • Dig up and clean the tuber
  • Place in a box with sand or peat
  • Winter in the dark at temperatures of 6 to 12 degrees

During the winter, the plant is neither watered nor fertilized. Check the rhizome for dryness and spray with a fine spray only in an emergency.
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increase canna

To propagate Canna, you have the choice between an uncomplicated division of the rhizome or the complex sowing of seeds.
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Canna in pot

Dwarf cannas exude their exotic charm in the pot. Plant the tubers in nutrient-rich potting soil in early spring. Don't forget to lay a drainage made of potsherds over the water outlet. Until the ice saints have said goodbye, take care of the flower cane behind glass at 20 degrees in a sunny spot.
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Is canna poisonous?

With regard to the poison content, there are two sides of the coin to consider when it comes to the flower cane. While the underground rhizomes are used in food production, the leaves and stems contain slightly toxic ingredients. These are harmless to humans, but pose a health hazard to cats and other small pets.
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Where does the term "Indian flower cane" come from?

The name Indian flower cane for the popular flower is due to its discovery. The plant found its way from the West Indies to Europe as early as 1570, where it is still used as an ornamental plant today.

The canna in the garden

Only plant Canna in the garden when there is no longer any danger of ground frost. Only in warm, sun-drenched locations does the flower cane spread the longed-for South Seas atmosphere. So that you can enjoy the flower again next year, pull the tuber out of the ground before the first frost and overwinter it dry at 6-12 degrees.
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The rhizomes of canna

Rhizomes have an exciting ability to keep branching. Clever hobby gardeners use the offshoots to grow new cannas from them. After a rhizome overwintered dry and frost-free, the fresh, pink shoots are clearly visible. If you cut it to a length of 10-15 cm and plant it from mid-May, a young flowering cane will thrive in the same year.
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Worth knowing about the canna bulbs

Canna bulbs vary in shape, as do the buds and leaves. All rhizomes have in common the underground function as a shoot axis, which constantly produces new offshoots as the next generation during growth. Unlike the flower bulb, the rhizome of the canna is not hardy.
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Is the canna hardy?

Due to its South American origin, the plant is not considered hardy. If the thermometer falls below 10 degrees, the flower cane moves to a suitable winter quarters.
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Can you overwinter the Canna outside?

Since the flower tube already gives up at temperatures below 5-6 degrees, overwintering outside is out of the question.
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The tubers overwinter

If the autumn mood spreads in the garden, the overwintering of flower canes is on the care program. Cut the plant down to the ground and dig up the tubers. After the soil has been brushed off, place the rhizomes in a box of sand or peat. In the dark place, the tubers overwinter at 6-12 degrees Celsius as dry as possible.
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advance canna

Forcing a canna will give the plant an earlier flowering thanks to the growth advantage. How to do it:

  • Divide the rhizome in January/February
  • Plant each section 10-12 cm deep in potting soil
  • Water only a little on the partially shaded, warm window seat

When the first shoots emerge from the soil, increase the amount of water and fertilize with diluted liquid fertilizer.
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prefer canna

To ensure that the cane flowers bloom as early as possible in beds and tubs, pull the plant out on the windowsill from January/February. For this purpose, place the overwintered rhizome or its sections 10-12 centimeters deep in loose potting soil. At 20-25 degrees in the partially shaded window seat, only slightly moisten the substrate. When the first shoots appear, water a little more and give the first dose of liquid fertilizer.
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Plant out the canna

Please wait until mid-May before planting out the flower cane. Only when there is no more threat of ground frost does the plant move outdoors. Ideally, harden off the sensitive flower the week before by allowing the young canna to spend the day in a sheltered, partially shaded spot on the balcony.
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Plant the canna

When planting a tuber, pay attention to the correct polarity and planting depth. The tips of the shoots must point upwards. The rhizome is not inserted deeper than 10 centimeters into the substrate.
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sharing cana

As the plant's rhizome continues to branch out in the soil, it provides material for propagation by division. Remove these young, pink offshoots at the end of the winter. A segment has what it takes to become a new flower if it has at least 2 pointed buds.
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blossom

The colorful flower of a Canna is enthroned on a stiffly upright pseudostem, to which the plant owes the name flower cane. One of the fascinating attributes of this exotic flower is that the petals vary in shape from variety to variety. Eye-catching specimens captivate with large, asymmetrical flowers in two divergent color shades.
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canna seeds

You can harvest ripe seeds from October. They are brown-black, spherical in shape and 4-6 mm small. Thanks to a hard shell, the seed can be kept for several years. To get the seeds ready to germinate, the stable shell should be roughened with sandpaper.
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sow canna

The hard seed coat of flower cane is roughened with emery paper or a file before sowing. Then soak the seeds in warm chamomile tea or 0.2 percent potassium nitrate from the pharmacy. After this pre-treatment, sow the seeds in poor soil and keep them constantly moist at 20-25 degrees Celsius.
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The canna strains

Over the course of 200 years, knowledgeable breeders have continually created new strains of canna. Today you are spoiled for choice among more than 1,000 flower cane hybrids. These differ in terms of their growth height as well as the shape and color of the flowers and leaves. Small varieties reach a maximum height of 60 centimeters, while the giants stretch up to 3 meters into the sky.
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The most beautiful varieties

  • Louis Corttin: robust breed with magnificent calyxes in elegant apricot; Growth height up to 50 cm
  • White Prosecco: the flower impresses with cream-colored flowers and a robust constitution; Growth height up to 100 cm
  • Flamingo striped: magical flower with creamy pink striped petals; Growth height 80-100 cm
  • En Avant: yellow flowers with red speckles over apple-green foliage; Growth height 60-90 cm
  • Pink Sunbirst: brand new flowering cane with pink flowers and spectacular green-pink-black striped foliage; 110-120cm high

Category:

Vegetable garden