Sorry to hear that! Is there a chance they may have froze?

No, they didn't freeze. We have a finished off basement and live down there half the time. It's usually between 50-55 degrees. I think for next year, I'll just have to check on them every month and mist them with a spray bottle or something.

I have found, over the years, that peat moss tends to suck the moisture out of what is in it. I have stopped storing my tubers and bulbs in peat moss for that reason. What I do is dig them up, dry them to the touch, put on some bulb dust to prevent fungus, put them into recycled grocery bags, loosely wrap them, and put them into a cardboard box, and store in my wine cellar which is about the temperature which you mention in your basement.

I think the peat moss is the problem

I agree that peat moss is the problem (Hi jroot). There was a burlap-balled shrub I purchased the year before last and perched under peat moss waiting, waiting, waiting for the husband to plant. Residual peat is still in that spot and not only will no grass grow there but water just bounces off it.

I did exactly the same in re the grocery bag and cardboard box and kept in my laundry room which probably gets no lower that 50 degrees at night in the winter.

This is great information for me. I have about 6 Cannas which I will have to store over the winter so just to be clear, the grocery bags you loosely wrap you Canna tubers in are they plastic?

Stan

Stan, one can use paper bags if they wish. I use the "recycled" plastic bags. I don't wrap them too tightly though. If there is rot, then the plastic prevents it from spreading to the rest ( I didn't have any this year). At the same time, I don't want it to be like the saran wrap method which was promoted the past few years here. That did not work for me. I see the recycled plastic grocery bags as a compromise, and I am recycling yet again, and that is a good thing.

John

Peat Moss definitely seems to be the culprit here. Someone mentioned home depot, if you look at theirs, they put them in wood chppings, and the same goes for wal-mart.

All the cannas that have started indoors so far, have sprouted, with the "cleopatra" being the one that has done well, with a growth of 3ft already in 12" pots.

Next time do this, Dig the tubers up, wash ALL the soil off, let them dry out a couple days, then get a water box (there very strong) from your local grocery store and put all the tubers in it. Put the box in a cool spot, Not by any heaters, nor by any cold drafty windows. Brown bags work to, but some times fall apart when stuffed.

Also your plants couldn't breath in the "white garbage bag" you had them in, Do not use plastic contains to, does the same thing as a Garbage bag. You really don't need Peat Moss.

This would be kinda weird for winter time, but if it is to moist for some reason in your house try getting a dehumidifier.

Thanks John for the advice. I had some beautiful Cannas last year and in the fall just got plain lazy and then I lost them. This year things will be different ( I hope )

every year, with cannas, a portion of the previous years' tuber dies. this is normal. there should be some viable eyes present, while the dead portion remains.

are you sure that you did not simply overlook the living portions of the tubers? every spring before I'm ready to start my cannas, I remove lots of dead tissue.

i also agree that peat moss is a dangerous substrate to use. i have been using bark mulch for tuber storage and it works perfectly well.

My cannas shriveled up sitting in plastic bags sitting in a proper root cellar over the winter. I grabbed them all filled up the laundry tub with semi warm cold water and threw them in the tub for a week to saok( I think this is good especially for the water loving cannas). After that I pulled them out and threw them on a piece of cardboard on the basement floor - They are still sitting there waiting for me to pot them up. After the soak the tubers came to life again showing nice healthy white eyes - I do recommend this to anyone thinking their Canna may have bit the dust. I will probably pot them up in the coming week as we are having a bit of a cold spell this week and have no place to put them. Next year I will try to find large paper bags - I think plastic bags hold to much moisture with the possibility of rotting the tuber especially with the dampness of the cellar. I may try the bark mulch idea.

Cheers

Jeff

Excellent ideas. I agree that I think the peat moss was the culprit in drying out my cannas. This winter I think I will try storing them in paper grocery bags with nothing else in the bags but the cannas. This way I can easily look at them throughout the winter months. I also just got my order delivered from the Horn Canna Farm yesterday so I'm getting the urge to plant them. However, it's been so cold in WI lately that it looks like I'm going to have to wait until the end of May.

The cannas a friend gave me are dried out too. My question is would it better to start them in pots or in the ground? Certainly, if I decide I want some as pot plants, I'll start them there. But for ones that will be in garden, I'm not sure. One concern about starting in the garden is that a lot of plants are up 1-3 feet, and there's very little empty space. I don't want to step on them as they peek up. But the real question, what is optimal for the dessicated tubers.?