I have wintered these for many years with great success using two methods. I take off as much soil as I can and separate them if possible, no need to rinse them and somewhere along the way I had read that rinsing them leads to problems in keeping them over winter. Dry the bulbs in the sun for a day and spread out on newspaper to dry more in the basement. Then just put them in a box or better a bushel basket ( so they can breathe ) in a dark cool place in the basement. The second "No dig " method is the one I like the best and do every fall. You mentioned in your video that you had grown them in pots on the deck. I do this as well but never take them out of the pots. I leave them in year after year and cut them back in the fall to about 2-3 in and just keep the pots in a cool dark place in the basement. Do not water them ! By March they are already up and looking for sunshine! You put them out when the frost is no longer a problem. Where I live that's about early May. They grow beautifully year after year. Hope this helps !
Hi, Brenda. Thanks so much for taking the to share this information with me. When I do the rinsing, I definitely (as you saw) let them dry completely before moving them into dry storage in our basement, but I can see where it could be a problem if folks don't let them dry out. I like your pot method, by the way! Except that our pots weigh a ton so it would be tricky to move them down into the basement and then lug them back up in the spring! However, if I plant them in smaller containers, this could work! Thanks again.
You are correct they do weigh a ton in the fall so I always have help to lift them. However in the spring they weigh very little since they dry out. These i can easily do myself and they are very large pots. Happy planting spring is coming :)
My first year I just put the whole pot, dirt and all my garage that is cool but doesn’t freeze. They survived nicely (surprisingly) . Last year I separated them and left half in the pot. Again they survived nicely. This year I planted in very good dirt and the pot and have so many.,,, but I plan to store them as described by the experts this time. These are such beautiful plants! Thanks for the tips.
In my youth my dad and I would plant and pull massive amount of canna bulbs. We had sandy loam soil and shook the dirt off and let dry in the grass and put them in large cardboard barrels he got from work and they were store in the basement that was only heated with our wood/coal furnace. Wish I had a basement, but we created an above ground root cellar this year and that may work. WI, Z5a.
Tx for your video. My experience with overwintering cannas in basements or anywhere indoors is that unless you have a very cold cellar they will start growing in the storage medium way too early (at least for zone 5a). In other words they break dormancy. The result is I have weak necked plants already growing when the time finally does arrive to put them out and they never really grow right after that. Very frustrating. This year I'm just dropping them to the bottom shallow end of my pond where the temp never exceed 40 degrees, and of course it is below the freeze depth. I overwinter iris this way with great results. I keep a pump going to aerate the water throughout the winter so they should have plenty of oxygen. But we'll see.
I left mine in the ground last winter. It got down to -12 degrees for 3 nights. I thought sure they would be killed, but they survived. They were later coming up than usual, but they did and they bloomed well. I was surprised!
I put mine in a metal trash can with the lid not on air tight, Then I buried it. It worked fine the first year the second year I screwed and forgot to dry the cannas and they all molded. This year I am going to buried a cooler with a wifi heat temp and Humidity Gauge. I will monitor them to make sure they are not to cold or Hot
I would like to add keep the lid loose and make sure no water leaks in so cover it with a good tarp as if water gets in it will cause mold and must keep air circulation to keep them healthy to
This is my first winter i over wintered my cana's, i didnt really know you could but i like to experiment with overwintering different plants. Mine have just started to sprout barely. I plant on starting them indoors so they will be big and beautiful by the time june rolls around (zone 3).
Thank you for this!! I’m subscribed to see the outcome. I too am trying to save my cannas. I don’t have a great place for them. Going to try the basement under the stairway. Problem is we use the fireplace in the basement in the winter. Wish me luck! 😊
One tip that makes it easier to get the rhizomes out of the pot or dirt is to water the area really well the day before. That way the soil is looser when you remove them.
I'm not sure what you're talking about .no ofense , I dug my first ones up around October. To let the ground sofen up just alittle . Then dug the bulbs up , put them in a close basket no cleaning at all and put them in the basement ,hoeing they would make it to these year planted them took awile about a mounth before I seen any real signs and they were slow to grow z bit they all made it some have 2 know insted of one. Hope this makes it easier.
Susan I read that storing in peat moss as well works. What is your opinion on peat moss instead of sawdust or wood shavings. I do have some scented cedar shavings - would that work?
Hello this is my first experience with Canna Lili. I will winterize them this year but I think I made a big error I cut off all the root just wonder if they they will die?
To be honest, I'm not sure if they'll be OK for you or not. But I think they might survive, so I would go ahead and continue overwintering them. See what happens. If they don't make it, you will have learned that it's not a good idea to cut off the roots! But if they do make it, you've got free plants to grow in the new season.
I have never had good luck with using sawdust or wood shavings to store in as it desicates the roots. Just wrap in newspaper and store in a cardboard box would be my suggestion.
Hi Susan! These look like Bengal Tiger Canna's - do you sell any of the root rhizomes? I would love to buy a couple from you for next spring! Thank you!
What is " getting frosted " do you mean allowing the frost to get to them ? Everywhere else I've read seems to say to store before any frost comes and also not to store them touching, I'm so confused as to what to do now, help lol
Hi, Wendy. I'm sorry that was confusing. The canna lily plants are supposed to get lightly frosted, meaning the temps got down into frost range (30s) and some of the foliage turns translucent or brownish. After you have dug up the roots, washed off the soil, and let them air-dry for a few days, then you put the bulbs into a container (paper sack or cardboard box) and store them in a cool, dark location. I space the bulbs so they're not touching by putting shredded paper in between them. I hope this helps!
I just left my canas in there pots so should I take them out of the pots now or is it to late now ,,and do you think they will come up,,and also can I start to plant out m6 dalias into the ground or still to cold iam in Fraser valley Bc canada
Hi,Val. Do you mean that you left the pots outdoors? If that’s the case, it’s very unlikely they survived the winter. But if you brought the containers indoors, I would dump them out and see what the roots look like.
We pulled them into my husband’s garage but has not heat in there but things don’t freeze in there so now we have taken them outside and started to water them
Hi, Randall. If they dry up, they probably won’t come back to life for you. An alternative method for storing them would be to place the prepared bulbs into a plastic bag in a cool, dark location or storing them in lightly moistened wood shavings (also in a cool, dark place). Be sure to check on them from time to time, just to make sure they’re not developing any rot.
@@SusansInTheGarden thanks so much. I will try that. It’s my first year with Canna’s. I have harvested over 100 seeds from my Canna, do you have advice on how to handle them and start them to grow in the spring? I live in Nova Scotia Canada which I think is a zone 6.
To be honest, I’ve never harvested the seeds from spent canna flowers but I did find some information for you that should help: www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/bulbs/canna/planting-canna-lily-seeds.htm.
Hello, Uday Mishra. It could be that the variety you are growing is supposed to have small flowers. But my other thoughts are that they might need a bit of fertilizer or more water. The fertilizer should be high in phosphorus, which is the middle number on fertilizer packages. I hope this helps.
Hi, Lori. I'm sorry that I didn't see your question until just now! If you're referring to the plant behind me in the garden, that's actually a 'Vanessa' grapevine. Pretty color, isn't it?!
Hi there. Actually it does say to place them in a box filled with shredded paper or sawdust. However, I have a more recent video on overwintering canna lilies that is more detailed: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4Blx2RUUYmY.html. Cheers.
