Canna assistance

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first year trying this one and i really like it. it almost looks like it's ready to be divided as well. when we got it in early may it was about 2ft tall, and i think now it's closer to 5ft. today was the first day i saw it flower. the water level is just over the top of the container it came with and we have several koi in the pond.

we are zone7 so i will be brining it indoors. in the past i was able to bring papyrus into the basement under grow lights and it would come right back the following summer in the pond. we don't have any decent sun-facing windows in the winter. unfortunately, last fall my hard liner got a hole in the bottom of my hard liner and nearly wiped out all my fish. i bought a 100 gallon cattle trough and was able to keep the fish over the winter (minus one) but i lost all the plants i had been maintaining, including my several year old hardy water lilies. this year i dug a better pattern and used liner instead of another hard tub

my guess is in my ~60* basement it won't flower and i can cut that part down to the leaves. how long should i leave the grow lights on? should i time them with the winter daylight hours? can i keep it in a tub of water or should i just keep the existing soil moist and out of water?
 

mrsclem

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I let frost hit mine , bring them in to dry out and then put in a container with peat. Bring out in spring, pot in soil till they start growing them move to bog.
Its actually easier to just get new plants every year.
 

addy1

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I just tossed my tubers right out of the bog into a 5 gallon bucket with a bit of water, just enough to keep the tubers wet. Usually totally forgot about them, managed to remember before totally dry. Dark cold basement let them sit all winter, add a bit of water now and then.
 

Moni_Pond

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last year I pulled out all my cannas and put them in big plastic tubs with some soil. I didn't cut off any of the plant, just allowed them to die off in my basement. I would pull the tubs out on warm sunny spring days, but wheel them back in for cold evenings. When it was finally warm consistently I left the tubs outside and lightly watered them daily until they started growing. Once I had growth I planted and mine are taking off like crazy! I am trying to locate some of the native cannas that I saw at a local park pond which are cold hardy and beautiful!
 
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Mine stay right where they are year round, in pots sitting beside the pond. They die back when it gets cold and I cut them off. We are in zone 6.

The pond is covered by a greenhouse for winter and the plants are inside. Come spring, the cover is removed and the cannas come back up.
 

Moni_Pond

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Mine stay right where they are year round, in pots sitting beside the pond. They die back when it gets cold and I cut them off. We are in zone 6.

The pond is covered by a greenhouse for winter and the plants are inside. Come spring, the cover is removed and the cannas come back up.
Are the potted cannas within the greenhouse over winter? We are the same zone! I am thinking about getting a small greenhouse for the sunny side of my house. I wouldn't be able to fit one over my pond.
 
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Yes. They are inside the greenhouse. I've done it that way for 3 years and they have been fine.

I'm sure the water in the pond helps to moderate the temperature inside. I don't know how much fluctuation there would be without that.

I do know that some people heat their greenhouses using 50 gallon drums painted black and filled with water. They line the north facing wall with them and stack them to the ceiling. If you have the room, it's a very effective system.
 
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Mine stay right where they are year round, in pots sitting beside the pond. They die back when it gets cold and I cut them off. We are in zone 6.

The pond is covered by a greenhouse for winter and the plants are inside. Come spring, the cover is removed and the cannas come back up.
That's the secret no frost or freeze ever hits them . With your green house. I.d need one for a three car garage. Don't know I'd want to do that much work twice a year.
 
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Yeah, yours would need to be pretty large. Ours is plenty big for us to deal with. We stopped taking the wooden trellis frame down a few years back. That was getting hazardous for us at our ages.

Now we just cover it in late fall and uncover it in early spring. Even that is plenty of effort, and we aren't getting any younger! But it works well and keeps everything from freezing. Guess we will keep doing it as long as we can. What doesn't kill you. . . . Not sure how much I believe that.
 

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