Oooooh! I might, just MIGHT have a seedling growing from my old seeds! Fingers crossed! And I'm going to move those soaking seeds to a warmer spot.

Hey! Several more seeds have sprouted little nubs and I appear to have a real live seedling growing! YEA! Thanks for starting this thread, Julia, I'd never have gotten around to doing anything with those seeds otherwise!

How old are the seeds you're sprouting, woofie?

I'm not sure. All I know for certain was that they came from a seed swap back on DG and that it was quite a while ago. I'd guess maybe 2005 or 2006. Some of the other seeds I got in that time frame had dates of 2003 and 2004.

woofie said:Hey! Several more seeds have sprouted little nubs and I appear to have a real live seedling growing! YEA! Thanks for starting this thread, Julia, I'd never have gotten around to doing anything with those seeds otherwise!

Glad to hear your getting germination. I gave up on the remaining ones I had soaking and will be happy with the four that did grow.
I'm trying to find out if the cups I have them growing in will be big enough to keep them in till May without my having to repot them.

I moved my soaking seeds onto a heat mat out in the greenhouse and after just a few more days, they started sprouting. AND I had dug up a couple that were just sitting there not doing anything (that I had planted earlier) and put them to soak on the same mat, and one of them sprouted, too. So the heat really seems to make a big difference.

Here is a pic of the seedlings today. I re-potted one of them. It was recommended to re-pot when the leaves are at least 4 inches. I did notice that the roots on that one were already to the bottom of the cup and starting to wind around. You have to click on the photo to see all of them.
Not sure why only a partial is showing in the post

Julia, it's normal to only see a portion of a photo in the post.
Looking good! My first seedling looks like the smallest one in your photo now. I ended up with 8 sprouting out of 10 old seeds! But only one has broken ground yet. I've never grown these things myself, but my mom liked them and had a bunch growing against our fence back in CA. I'm curious to see how these turn out!

woofie said:My first seedling looks like the smallest one in your photo now. I ended up with 8 sprouting out of 10 old seeds! But only one has broken ground yet. I've never grown these things myself, but my mom liked them and had a bunch growing against our fence back in CA. I'm curious to see how these turn out!

Looking forward to seeing pics of your seedlings! You did better than me in getting them to germinate. I would typically see the seedling breaking through the mix in about 3 to 4 days. Good luck!

Oh, the one that has broken through took much longer than 3 to 4 days! But then it's still pretty cold here, even though I have them on heat mats in my GH. I had actually given up on the one that is now a little seedling, and had started to empty out the pot to re-use it when I saw roots! Hastily replanted it and it's now looking quite respectable!

Just saw this ,,,
I came across some canna seeds that I had collected in San Raphael, CA when i was living there .. 30 years ago .. the plants grew about 7' tall and hand hanging clusters of pink flowers, they were growing under the 101 overpass and each year the city would mow them to the grown

** about 2 weeks ago , mid September 2021 , I soaked the seeds in rainwater for almost 2 days ( forgot about them ) and planted them in 4' pots and put them outdoors in the sun. full, hot sun .

all but 4 seeds sprouted ,,,

A few sprouted in just over a week, this is how they look now about 2 weeks or so into it .

I am in Sarasota FL

Are you saying these are the seeds from 30 years ago?! Wow!
I read that Canna seeds are viable for 10 years, but 30 ?! That's incredible!
I sprouted mine after 1 year and they did well!

Actually 32 years ago ........ moved to 3 states and finally to Florida,,, where they belong !

...... they are doing fine

i wonder if you can tentatively ID them from flower pics. Do you have any from the past? just curious! such incredible longevity ?!

I'm impressed you hung on to the seeds! on the sprouts

They were a very tall gowing ,, 6-8' with clear pink flowers that hung in clusters ,,

I was able to hold onto them because I packed them in with old things and moved several times over the years ,,

finally tossing old things out and there they were ...............

they are doing fine now .

** just looked on Google Earth and they are no longer there ...........