Transplant Garden — Rare and Curious Plants

In August of 2024, I got some kanna seeds. This was around the time when I first started exploring growing kanna hydroponically, so naturally, I decided to give growing a kanna from seed in a hydroponic setup a shot.

Unfortunately, I can’t remember if I soaked my seeds first to aid in germination or just put the seed into the seed sponge without treatment. I think I just put the seed in the seed sponge as my Aerogarden unit circulates water over the seed sponges.

I have taken pictures of my kanna seed as it has shown growth, and those pictures are what we will be taking a look at today. This isn’t so much a guide, as a testimonial of my experiences trying to grow a kanna from seed hydroponically.

Late August:

I planted the seed in the seed sponge and set it in my aerogarden with my other plants

October 8th:

Unfortunately I can’t find the first picture of the seedling that is the primary focus of this article. I planted two seeds in separate pods at the same time. The seedling in the above picture didn’t make it. It fell over a bit and in my haste to help it along I accidentally ripped it out. Sometimes you just need to let your plants figure it out. Maybe if I hadn’t messed with it, it would be healthy right now.

Even from the first set of leaves you can see yellowing at the tips. I believe this is due to nitrogen burn. The seedlings are getting too much fertilizer from the system and really struggling. That’s one of the downfalls of germinating kanna in this way: mixed with mature plants that can use or need a steady supply of nutrients. It would be interesting to try this again with only seedlings and having little to no fertilizer in the system. Perhaps it would worm better.

November 27th:

You can see that the lower, older leaves are brown and dead. Most likely due to being overloaded with nutrients. The plant has been replacing the dying leaves with new ones and continues to try to outpace the leaf death. In this picture, there are actually a good number of leaves. It seems to be making some headway.

Until….

December 22nd:

January 3rd, (Day of writing):

Now with the larger leaves, the plant has reached a new stage in its development. I think we will begin to see rapid growth from this plant. If it can ramp up its leaf production to outpace the nitrogen burn, it  may make it to adulthood.

I’ll keep you all updated on how it’s doing! Check back later for more info!