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canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:54 am
by bobbyd44
hi all icon_salut just joined after reading many of the posts and finding them very helpfull.
so first question i am currently growing a canna i picked up before winter hit last year for a couple of qiud!! now has 6/7 big leaves growing well indors..can i cut off some tuber to grow another???
:)

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 10:59 am
by Guy
Welcome to HTUK. Yes you certainly can. Take it out of the pot and tease away some compost so that you can see the structure of the tuber. Cut in an appropriate place with a sharp knife (model knives are good, and unlikely to carry canna mosaic virus) and dust with sulfur to stop rot. Then repot both halves and grow on. Try and minimise roots cut and you should be fine. Which variety is it?

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:00 am
by stephenprudence
bobbyd44 wrote:hi all icon_salut just joined after reading many of the posts and finding them very helpfull.
so first question i am currently growing a canna i picked up before winter hit last year for a couple of qiud!! now has 6/7 big leaves growing well indors..can i cut off some tuber to grow another???
:)
I believe you can, I don't know how but if I also got some Canna tubers last year, and if I read it right some info said that when the Canna grows it develops new bulbs and you should be able to seperate them don't ask how though I don't have a clue :lol:

By the way Welcome to HTUK :D yet another Northwestern member, us lot are certainly giving the southerners a run for their money ;)

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:09 am
by bobbyd44
cheers for that will be giving it a go....not to sure what variety it is as it wasnt labeled up,but it has darkish green leaves with deep red veins and red colouring underneath.

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:24 am
by simon
You say it has six or seven leaves, does it have more than one stem? If not I would wait until you have several stems before dividing. Then you will know that it has a substantial rhizome and each division will have growth.

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:36 am
by bobbyd44
no just the one stem...would it need to be in a bigger pot to gain multi stems?? currently in a 10litre.

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:13 pm
by simon
With only one stem, you will probably find the rhizome is not substantial enough to divide.

It will gain new stems as the rhizome bulks up. you will know when to pot it up because the pot will start to buckle with the force of the expanding rhizome.

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:25 pm
by GARYnNAT
I agree with Simon, let it grow it will soon start to try and force its way out of the pot and if you divice it then you will have much healthier plants :D



Gary

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:25 pm
by lee-ann
Hi boddyd44 and welcome icon_cheers
Can I be nosey and ask where abouts in the north-west.
I split mine in spring IF they last the winter :roll:

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:52 pm
by bobbyd44
yes may have to wait till spring then.. just trying to get a head start not the most patient person.
no not mind being nosey good to know what other people near can get away with growing, i am in cheshire. :D

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:30 am
by phoenix
Spring is the best time.
When you do split it carefully try to crack of each part by hand first, most will break fairly easily but do be careful of the new growth buds.
If you do have to cut the rhizomes then make sure the knife is clean. If you want to be extra cautious or if you have a number of plants to divide then steralize the knife between each plant. I use a fairly strong solution of Jeyes fluid and water.
A good way of splitting the rhizomes early (for those of you who are impatient) is to make the cut down the old stem and through the rhizome as it will usually result in 2 new growing parts.

Steve

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:37 am
by tropical-pete
Good advice everyone - I was waiting to see if Canna King Steve would pop in :lol: :lol: I have several Cannas that I'm hoping to divide in a couple of months so there's some useful advice here I'll be using :wink:

Pete

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:53 am
by Gaz
Bobby,

One thing that hasnt ben mentioned here so far, and thet you may not have come across before is canna virus - hence Steves strong advice for keeping the knife sterile.

It is worth being familiar with the virus and how it looks.

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:25 pm
by phoenix
This is what it looks like.

And no there not my plants !!!!!
cv1.jpg
cv1.jpg (18.7 KiB) Viewed 926 times
cv2.jpg
The best advice is to only buy active growing plants in leaf. Please don't buy rhizome no matter how cheap as you may be introducing a problem.

Steve

Re: canna tubers

Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 3:21 pm
by bobbyd44
cheers will keep an eye on that.. and nearly bought some tubers from wilkos 2 for £2was tempted decided to leave it at the time untill closer to sping!!
:D