Canna Lillies grow in water?

[MrsDowFire]

I have been reading about Canna Lillies and saw that they can grow in water. My question is what type of materials would I need to purchase to accomplish this. I'm getting ready to buy some pond plant baskets, planting media and grow tablets online.

What size container for Canna Lily?
How deep in the water can they go?
Can I plant them in a plant basket with pea gravel or use aquatic planting media?
Is there a good website you all use to purchase your materials from? These baskets can get expensive if you find them locally which they are actually hard to find in Ohio.

I'm somewhat new to plants in the pond as we've only ever had Water Lillies, Water Hyacinth, Water Lettuce and Parrots Feather (which the fish tear up and never really does very well). We just removed a big tree that was dieing and provided some shade during the day and now the pond will have full sun so I'd like to add some variety to our plants and really made the pond stand out more.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Also what do you suggest in regards to parrots feather? I can never seem to get this do well in our pond.

 

[shakaho]

Baskets: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Beckett-10-in-x-10-in-Plastic-Water-Garden-Basket-PBS1010/100187980
Plant in pea gravel, lava rock.
Roots in water, stems out.

 

[sissy]

kitty litter and crushed oyster shells is what i use for my elephant ears and cannas .But did not plant them in my pond last year because I read they are toxic to fish

 

[MrsDowFire]

Can anyone confirm that Cannas are toxic to fish? Since I'm new to wanting to plant them in my pond I need to be sure.

Thank you shakaho...I forgot that lava rock would be an option too.

 

[shakaho]

If they are toxic to fish, my fish are all healthy-looking zombies, since I have had cannas in my ponds for 4 years, and the fish do nibble on the roots.

 

[shakaho]

Instead of a just making a smartass remark, I should explain. Toxic plants include any that produce negative effects, even very mild ones. Here is one of the few sources that actually distinguishes between levels of toxicity. This site also includes safe plants, and canna is one of them.

A lot of the common toxic plants contain oxalic acid. This is the way the plant protects itself from being eaten. One bite, the mouth stings and waters, and you spit it out. Very stupid and insensitive individuals (for example, human toddlers) may continue to eat, and get the more severe symptoms. Carp are "tasters." They slurp up whatever is on the bottom of the pond/lake/tank, including sand, waste, and edibles, and spit out the bad stuff. They nibble on plants and spit out what doesn't taste good and stop nibbling on that. Unless the toxic plant produces something that dissolves in water and thus can be taken up through the gills, fish are unlikely to be poisoned by plants.

I have tried to find a list of plants that are actually known to poison fish. Unfortunately, just about everything on the net consists of lists of plants that that are toxic to any animal to any degree whatsoever, and include virtually every plant in my yard. Here is the only source I have found that appears to be based on research. The authors stress that most these are potentially toxic to fish,rather than known to be harmful.

 

[taherrmann4]

I have been reading about Canna Lillies and saw that they can grow in water. My question is what type of materials would I need to purchase to accomplish this. I'm getting ready to buy some pond plant baskets, planting media and grow tablets online.

What size container for Canna Lily?
How deep in the water can they go?
Can I plant them in a plant basket with pea gravel or use aquatic planting media?
Is there a good website you all use to purchase your materials from? These baskets can get expensive if you find them locally which they are actually hard to find in Ohio.

I'm somewhat new to plants in the pond as we've only ever had Water Lillies, Water Hyacinth, Water Lettuce and Parrots Feather (which the fish tear up and never really does very well). We just removed a big tree that was dieing and provided some shade during the day and now the pond will have full sun so I'd like to add some variety to our plants and really made the pond stand out more.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Also what do you suggest in regards to parrots feather? I can never seem to get this do well in our pond.

I have tried canna's in the past in my bog with no luck, now i bought one that was already growing and then put it in the bog vs buying the bulb and starting it off in the water. Now for cheap baskets there is a store by me called worms way who seems to have inexpensive mesh type baskets in various sizes. If you are close to Cincinnati then you may want to just go to worms way it is by the greater Cincinnati northern KY airport. Neat little store and they have lots of stuff for doing hydroponics.

 

[Waterbug]

I second Shakaho's post. It used to be very popular for people to post whatever toxic plant list they happen to find and scare the crap out of people.

Here's Angel Trumpet, Brugmansia growing over my Koi Pond. All parts are poisonous. My Koi ate the crap out of it. They actually came out of the water, grab a leaf and pull it into the water. One time broke off a pretty big branch. Saw it with my own eyes or I wouldn't have believed it. I don't know how much they'd have to eat but they ate a lot. I always wondered if it gave them a buzz or something. These Koi were fed 2 times a day too.

Back to the subject at hand, my fav flower, Canna. While I don't have a proper fish pond yet here in Phoenix I do have several liner ponds with just Canna.

The Canna here, red and yellow in the back were in "beds" about 10" wide, 10" deep and long, lined with EDPM. Just regular garden soil.

Here's some in my gravel bog. Different kinds from 8' tall to 3'. These are all planted in 5 gal plastic pots, filled with garden soil (clay soil from the yard, not potting soil). The pots are buried into the gravel. Pots make dividing a lot easier than in beds.

I've never been able to start these in water, or keep them in water after frost. Meaning they had to be actively growing first. At least a few leaves.

However there is a fudge to this. The rhizome doesn't have to be buried deep, just under the soil surface. So if you just keep that above water you're golden.

Growing them so the water surface is high enough to be visible is a real problem. They can grow, but often die and rarely do very well compared to being even a little above the surface. Plus with visible water you're talking string algae, a real mess. So I grow them with wet feet, never drowned.

I put 1 Fruit Tree Fertilizer Spike (broke into 3 chunks) per 5 gal pot for the year. I use Jobe's just because they're cheap and I find them everywhere. But the kind for Evergreen trees is fine too. They're good for the year.

Have to divide them once a year. They seem to lose like 1/3 of their height each year I don't.

A warning about buying Canna at retail stores. About 10 years ago a virus hit Canna and really did a number on the big growers. That problem has not been solved. The growers are in a Catch-22 of having to grow huge amounts cheaply so they have to pack them together which spreads the virus vs growing small batches. So for me I would not buy a Canna at retail or online. The good news is it's pretty easy to find growing in your neighborhood, especially here in Phoenix. I just offer to help them divide the plants and I get a few rhizomes. I can find them on Craig's List often too.That way you can see the plant and ask how long they've had it and often it's been in their yard more than 10 years so it's likely virus free. But I still grow them for a couple of years as far from other Canna as I can manage. It isn't known how the virus spreads but current best guess is closer together the more likely.

They're certainly worth the trouble to me.

 

[springknee]

my local pond shop told me that cannas will live in the water but you need to lower them slowly over time to train them.

 

[MrsDowFire]

Wow Waterbug....so helpful and informative. Thank you!

Again thanks everyone for all the help. I think I will just plant the few canna rhizomes I have around the pond and not in the pond. I just pulled them out of the basement yesterday. I'll keep looking for other plant idea, baskets and aquatic planting media. Also, I found this website called thatpetplace dot com. They seem to have decent prices for baskets. Anyone have experience with them.

 

[MrsDowFire]

@taherrmann4 Hi there, I was looking at the pictures of your pond....such beautiful work you did. It is all very nice! I noticed you have elephant ear in your waterfall in some of the older pictures of your showcase; how is that staying there? Is it planted in a pot (I can't see a pot is why I ask) or just sitting on the rocks of your waterfall with bare roots?

 

[taherrmann4]

@taherrmann4 Hi there, I was looking at the pictures of your pond....such beautiful work you did. It is all very nice! I noticed you have elephant ear in your waterfall in some of the older pictures of your showcase; how is that staying there? Is it planted in a pot (I can't see a pot is why I ask) or just sitting on the rocks of your waterfall with bare roots?

No i just wedge the bulb between two small rocks and it's roots will anchor itself once they start growing. The root system can be quite extensive, I have to thin them out in my creek or it becomes one giant mat and damns the creek up. I have to pull them out every year after the first frost and dry them in my basement. This last year i didn't pull them out in time and they rotted so I am going to have to buy a few to get started this year. They multiply like crazy in my pond that I end up giving lots away the next year.