Distinctive features of canna, how to grow a plant in a room, advice on breeding, possible difficulties in caring for a flower, curious notes, species and varietal forms.
Canna belongs to the genus botanists, which is the only one in the Cannaceae family of the same name. The family itself is included in the order of the Gingerbread (Zingiberales), that is, the plants (for example, ginger, canna, cardamom, turmeric and others) are related, following the generally recognized taxonomy. The number of varieties in the genus reaches fifty, and today a large number of varieties have been bred in the course of breeding work, but only some of them are used for growing in room conditions. Species and varieties differ from each other not only in the height of the stems, but also in the color inherent in foliage and flower petals.
Most of these plants in nature are found on coastal lands, where the soil is constantly in sufficient moisture. Cannes are native to the region of Central and South America. Since the 16th century, this highly decorative shrub began to be cultivated in European lands. Florists of India and China did not ignore this representative of the flora.
| Family name | Cannes |
| Life cycle | Perennials |
| Growth features | Herbaceous form |
| Reproduction | Seed or vegetative (rhizome cuttings) |
| Substrate | Nutritious, light, with adequate drainage |
| Soil acidity, pH | 6, 5-7 (neutral) |
| Illumination | High level of illumination |
| Growing temperature | 20-26 degrees, at rest 6-10 degrees |
| Moisture indicators | Regular, but moderate watering, during the flowering period - abundant, at elevated temperatures - spraying the leaves |
| Special Requirements | Unassuming |
| Plant height | From 0.5 to 1.5-3 m |
| Color of flowers | White, yellow, orange, rose-fawn or red |
| Type of flowers, inflorescences | Loose few-flowered brushes |
| Flowering time | June to November |
| Decorative time | Spring-autumn |
| Place of application | Pot culture |
| USDA zone | 2–9 |
The Greek word "canna" worn by this plant translates to "reed". Apparently, when it was decided to give a name to this representative of the flora, it was noticed that during flowering, the blossoming buds are very similar in shape to each other.
Cannes has a long life cycle. Rhizomes are distinguished by abundant branching, but their form is bulbous. Stems of all species of this genus are upright and rather plump, they stretch up to 3 meters in height. However, there are undersized forms, the stems of which do not exceed 50 cm. On the stems there is a two-row arrangement of large leaves. The length of the leaf plate can vary from 25 to 90 cm with an average width of 20 cm. The shape of the leaf plate takes on oval-elongated or elliptical outlines. The apex of the leaf is pointed. Even without flowering, the canna attracts the eye with the color of its large leaves, which is not limited to green shades. There can be purple-bronze, bright emerald, bluish-green, violet or black-purple tones, but leaves with colored stripes look most decorative. The surface of the foliage is covered with a waxy bloom.
Cannes begin to bloom from June, this process can end only with the onset of frost in October-November. Inflorescences crown the tops of the stems. The shape of the inflorescence is racemose, loose, since they consist of a small number of buds. The buds begin to bloom from the bottom of the inflorescence, and when the upper flowers open, the lower ones will wither successfully. The flower has a sharply asymmetric structure. If the bud opens completely, its diameter can be measured from 4 to 9 cm. Cannes flowers are very beautiful, as they have a rich bright color. The petals can be tinted with red, orange, pink-fawn and yellow colors. Occasionally there are varieties with a snow-white color scheme. The flowers of this plant are bisexual and three-membered. The bracts inside the corolla are lanceolate or oval in shape.
The fruit of the canna is an oval or cylindrical box in which round black seeds are located in three nests. The capsule is lucolicidal, that is, when the fruit is fully ripe, it is opened along the lines connecting the backs of the carpels. The color of the seeds is black, their size is from 0.6 cm to 1 cm. The entire surface of the capsule is covered with growths that look like warts. As the fruit ripens, they will begin to fall off and the surface will become thinner, allowing it to unfold.
Since this representative of cannes is quite beautiful and not particularly demanding, it is grown not only as a garden plant, but also as a pot culture.
Growing cannes at home, caring for a flower
- Place to keep indoors. The plant is light-loving and therefore you should put the pot of canna on the windowsill of the southwest or southeast window. If the flowerpot will stand in the southern location, then it is better to shade it with a light curtain at midday. All due to the fact that, being in the garden, the bush will not suffer from direct sunlight. Their aggression will be reduced by the slightest breeze. But in the room, the canna loses such a blowing and sunburn of the sheet plates is possible behind the window glass.
- Soil for planting cannes. Thanks to a powerful root system in nature, a plant can grow on depleted soil, but for greater comfort, the substrate should be nutritious, light and have the ability to let water and air pass to the roots. To mix the soil mixture yourself, it is recommended to combine sheet soil, peat, compost and river sand. All ingredients are taken in equal amounts and mixed thoroughly.
- Content temperature. Most of all, during the growing season for cannes, heat indicators are suitable that do not go beyond 20-24 degrees. But when the flowering ends, the plant needs to be provided with rest so that it gains strength for new flowering and growth. In this case, you will need to transfer the pot with a bush to a cool place, where the temperature will be 5-10 degrees. For this, a glazed terrace or loggia may be suitable. This content requires a high level of lighting.
- Air humidity when growing, canna should be normal, if its performance decreases, then the tips of the leaf plates may dry out. Leaves rolled into a tube are an indicator of low humidity. To prevent this from happening, in the summer heat, when the temperature exceeds 25 degrees, foliage is sprayed from a fine spray gun. You can put household humidifiers or just a container of water next to the pot.
- Watering. When caring for a cannabis at home, you need to irrigate, only with well-settled water. For normal growth, the soil must be moistened once a week, but in the hot summer months, this operation is carried out twice in 7 days. It is best to water the potted soil when the top layer is dry. To obtain water of the desired consistency, it is poured into a container and kept in this state for a couple of days. You can put a gauze bag with peat in the water, which is taken out after a couple of days, it will soften it before watering.
- Cannes transplant. It is clear that when growing the pot at home, the plant should not be changed annually, but when the root system has filled the entire capacity provided to it. The best time for this will be spring - April. Since the root system of the plant grows rapidly, the pot is selected at least 50 cm. A layer of expanded clay or medium-sized pebbles is laid at the bottom of the flowerpot, which will protect the root system from waterlogging. Then cover the drainage layer with a small amount of soil mixture. You can put a little manure on it, which will serve to warm the roots, it is also sprinkled with a layer of substrate, and only then a plant is placed, extracted from an old flowerpot. The soil from the root system is cleaned if possible, but carefully separating those clods that fall off themselves. The deepening of the bush should not be more than 7 cm. After planting, the soil is moistened and the transplanted canna is placed in a room with a little shading so that the plant will adapt. After a week, you can move the flower pot to a permanent place where the lighting level will be higher.
- Fertilizers for cann. During the growing season, it is recommended to regularly apply top dressing, which will contribute to normal growth, development and flowering. Complete mineral complexes are used for flowering indoor plants, for example, "Kemira-Universal", "Agricola" or "Mister Tsvet". Often, flower growers use a mixture of nitrogen and phosphorus-potassium preparations, which will help the development of deciduous mass. During the flowering period for cannes, you will need to slightly increase the amount of fertilizers, in addition to the above, you can use a nitroammophoska. The tropical beauty responds well to foliar dressing, then the drug is diluted in water and, by spraying or moistened tissue, spreads over the surface of the leaf plates.
- Rest period. Although the plant can be dug out of open ground and transplanted into a pot or grown constantly in room conditions, it should be remembered that it needs rest for two months. At this time, the temperature of the content should be reduced, watering is reduced to a minimum, and top dressing is not used. The leaf plates must be cut in such a way that only 12-15 cm of the total length remain.
- General tips for indoor bathroom care. When flowering, you need to periodically remove the faded buds. It is recommended to loosen the soil after each watering.
Cannes breeding tips
For propagation of this tropical plant, it is recommended to use the vegetative and seed method.
- Reproduction using parts of the rhizome. This vegetative method preserves all the varietal characteristics of the cannes. With the arrival of spring, namely in March-April, it is necessary to get the canna out of the pot and clean its rhizome from the soil. If parts are found that have undergone drying out or decay, then they are removed. All sections are sprinkled with crushed coal. Then the division is carried out using a sharpened knife. Each of the resulting parts of the rhizome should have at least a couple of growth points, but if they are located too close, then such a site cannot be divided. This is because the delenki will not be able to take root and release a sufficient number of shoots and roots. After separation, it is recommended to process all sections with a solution based on potassium permanganate, which is prepared at the rate of 0.2 g of the drug per 1 liter of water. Charcoal powder can also be used. Such processing will serve as protection against possible fungal diseases. Cannes rhizomes are planted in pots to a depth of no more than 7 cm, the cuttings are laid horizontally, but they should be completely covered with soil mixture. After that, it is watered and placed in a warm place with a heat reading of 20-24 degrees. When drying on top of the soil, it is important to spray with warm, settled water from a spray bottle. Watering the seedlings is already required once every 10 days. The light and humidity levels should be high. For better rooting, it is recommended to water with a weak solution of potassium permanganate once every 10 days. Some growers use root stimulants.
- Cannes propagation by seeds. This method may not give preservation of decorative properties, but it is used for breeding new varieties. Sowing is performed in February, but before that it is necessary to carry out scarification - destruction of the upper skin of the seed. Seed material is poured over with boiling water and soaked in warm water poured into a thermos so that it does not cool down. It is kept for 4 hours. You can wrap the seeds in damp gauze and put them on a hot battery for half a day. This is necessary for swelling. Before sowing, you can soak the seeds in a solution of a rooting stimulator for 24 hours. They are placed in a peat-sandy substrate, laid in seedling boxes or pots. Germination should take place at room temperature and good lighting, but shade from direct sunlight. Often, the boxes are covered with plastic wrap, creating a greenhouse effect. But with such care, daily ventilation is required. The soil is sprayed when its top layer begins to dry out. When 20-30 days have passed, shoots will appear from the soil and the shelter is removed, and the temperature is reduced to 6-10 degrees. In this case, a high level of lighting is important. When the seedlings unfold a couple of real leaves, they are dived into separate pots. The substrate is taken the same as for germination. The next transplant must be performed when the root system of the canna has mastered all the soil provided to it in the container.
Possible difficulties in caring for a bathroom in a room
When growing cannes indoors, fungal diseases can be a problem:
- Powdery mildew - a bloom on the leaves or stems of a whitish hue, reminiscent of hardened lime.
- Rust - spots of brick color, which then dry out, but spread to other parts of the plant and lead to its death.
- Gray mold - brown spot, the surface of which eventually becomes gray due to fungal spores.
If any plaque is noticed on the leaves or they have lost their turgor and become soft, then the damaged parts must be removed, and the whole plant must be treated with any fungicide (for example, Fundazol).
Occasionally, canna is affected by viral diseases - cucumber mosaic or variegated … Then a pattern of spots of different sizes and colors appears on the leaves. In this case, there is no cure, the bush will have to be removed immediately, and the pot must be thoroughly disinfected.
Harmful insects that can cause problems when caring for a bathroom in a room are:
- Shield, manifested in the form of small plaques with a shiny surface. The color of such neoplasms is brown-brown. If you do not fight the pest in time, the leaves will begin to dry out and the bush will soon die.
- Aphid - insects that are not immediately distinguishable on stems and foliage due to their green color. They look like small bugs, leaving behind a sticky coating (pad - waste products). Falling over time can cause a sooty fungus to develop. Also, aphids can successfully be a carrier of such an incurable disease as cucumber mosaic.
- Nematodes, parasitizing worms on the roots of the plant and leading to its gradual wilting and death.
Usually, when pests are found, it is recommended to first wipe the cannula leaves with a soap, oil or alcohol solution. If such sparing methods do not help, then treatment with insecticidal and acaricidal preparations is performed - Aktara, Aktellik, BI-52, Fitoverm or similar means.
To prevent the appearance of harmful insects, you should periodically wash the canna leaves with warm water. They try to maintain high humidity in the room where the flower is located, since its decrease can provoke the appearance of pests. Only carefully disinfected soil should be used for germination, planting and transplanting. The soil can be calcined in the oven or treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
Curious notes about Cannes
The most popular are Canna Crozie, which got its name from the gardener who bred the first hybrid. At the end of the 19th century, Pierre Antoine Crozi lived in Lyon, who is engaged in the cultivation of very beautiful plants, the flowers of which very much resembled roses. As it was found out later, this representative of the flora had nothing to do with roses, but the world learned about cannes thanks to the selfless work of the breeder.
Historical information about the flowers of Cannes is of ancient origin. There is a legend that in tropical America the Indians, knowing about the starchy content of plant roots, baked the tubers on charcoal and used it in cooking. This representative of the flora came to the territory of European countries thanks to Portuguese sailors in the 16th century, but it was only a hundred years later that cannu was used as a decorative culture. In Russia, canna gained fame only during the reign of Peter I, since by his decrees a garden office was organized in the country.
Types and varieties of cannes
In order to grow such plants in a room, you should choose undersized varieties, the height of the stems of which will vary in the range of 0.5-1.5 m.
Canna Crozie,
which was previously mistaken for a rose and was called French rose or French canna … Bred in the middle of the 19th century by a French breeder. The stems are fleshy and thick, can stretch from 0, 6 to 1, 6 m. Flowers in their shape are similar to gladioli, their petals are folded back. The color of the leaves is closely green or bronze-purple, there is a waxy bloom.
The following cannes varieties are recommended for home cultivation:
- Livadia with stems no higher than a meter. The length of the inflorescences is 25-30 cm. The flowers in it are crimson-red. Leaves of purple color. Flowering begins in July.
- America (America). The height of the stems is measured at 1, 2–1, 4 m, but not more than 1, 5 m. The leaf plates have a purple color. Blooms from early July. A few cinnabar-red flowers bloom in a loose inflorescence. The length of the inflorescence is 30–35 cm with a flower diameter of about 12 cm.
- President does not grow above a meter. The color of the leaves is green. The length of the inflorescence reaches 30 cm. The flowers in it are bright red. Flowering occurs in mid-summer.
Canna Orchid
also suitable for growing as a pot crop. The plant got its specific name for the similarity of flowers with Cattleya, called "queens of orchids". The stems are relatively short, their parameters do not exceed 1–2 m. When opening, the flower diameter can vary in the range of 12, 5–17, 5 cm. The leaves take on a green or dark purple hue. The most popular varieties are:
- Suevia can only reach a height of 1 m with a stem. The color of flowers in the inflorescence is lemon. The length of the inflorescence is 15 cm with a diameter of about 12 cm. The foliage is rich, green. The buds begin to bloom at the end of June.
- Richard Wallace in height reaches no more than a meter. Inflorescences do not exceed 20–23 cm in length. Flowers have a pale yellow color of petals, their entire inner surface is covered with bright red specks. The leaves of this variety are green. Flowering starts in mid-summer and can last until the end of October.
- Andenken an Pfitzer. The stems of this variety will grow a little more than one meter, but will not exceed 1.4 m. The length of the inflorescence is equal to 30 cm. The flowers have bright orange petals, the surface of which is decorated with strokes of red color. The color of the leaves is purple-brown. The buds will bloom from mid-summer.
For home cultivation, varieties of other varieties are often used, such as:
- Golden Lucifer is the owner of a stem with a height of 0.6 m. It is crowned with loose inflorescences of flowers of a rich and light yellow hue, while a pattern of numerous red dots and strokes flaunts on the inner surface of the petals.
- Orange Majic in height it can vary in the range of 60–70 cm. The flowers in the inflorescence are bright orange, but the petals have a yellow tone at the base. When opened, the diameter of the flower will be 8 cm.
- Mrs. Oklahoma. It is distinguished by a long stem, which reaches a little more than 75 cm in height, while the width of the plant is about 50.8 cm. During flowering, inflorescences of crimson flowers are formed, yellow specks are present on the petals, the edges are painted in a yellow tone. A delicate aroma spreads during flowering.
Video about growing cannes indoors:
