Things You'll Need:
- File
- Plastic planting tray
- Seed starting mix
- Potting soil
- 4 inch plastic pots
- Liquid fish fertilizer
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Step 1
Start canna seeds indoors 10 weeks before your average last frost date in spring. Large, round canna seeds have a very hard seed coat and look like BB-shot. The key to starting cannas from seed is to remove a small bit of the seed coat (a process called scarification) so water can get inside the seed. To scarify your seeds, take a file and carefully rub off a small portion of the black seed coat, stopping as soon as the white underlayer appears.
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Step 2
Fill a plastic planting tray with seed starting mix and sow the seeds ΒΌ inch deep and about 3 inches apart in rows. The seeds will germinate faster if you place the tray on a special seedling heating mat, which heats up the soil inside the tray from the bottom up. The seedlings should germinate in about a week (if you don't use a heating mat it may take a bit longer).
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Step 3
Move the tray to a windowsill that gets bright, direct light for at least 6 hours a day as soon as the seeds germinate. Fertilize the canna seedlings with diluted liquid fish emulsion every 3 weeks. When the seedlings grow to about 4 to 6 inches tall, transplant each seedling into its own 4-inch pot filled with regular potting soil.
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Step 4
Keep the soil in the pots evenly moist. Transplant the cannas outside into the garden or into containers after the last frost. Cannas grow best in a site with full sun and rich, well-drained soil. For the best results, dig in an inch of compost and scratch in a little granulated organic fertilizer before planting.
