Poodlepro's advice is what works for me too. In summer, in fact, I've been known to break a piece off, stick it in the ground, maybe water it, maybe not. And, voila, they survive and thrive! I haven't tried the water method. I don't use rooting hormone. Well, I did use it twice, with terrible results. For the seeds, you should just be able to collect them into paper envelopes. I have a bunch I collected into a pie tin last autumn, am going to try sowing them now. (Winter sowing- my first.) Also will try sowing some in my cool sunroom. But haven't grown pellies from seed before, so I'm winging it. For a couple of years, I've taken cuttings of my pellies in the fall, grown them in the cool sunroom over the winter. But this last season, they got rust really badly, so I really reduced the stock, and am being vigilant for signs of rust. They got the rust after being moved outside in spring. Very wet year here. Everything had fungus, rust, yuck! Good luck with yours.

nanaclaire, I would suggest that you start them indoors since winter is coming on, then transplant them in the spring. If you wait until Jan or Feb to start them you won't have to worry with the watering, fertilizing, and associated problems (taking up space) with long term over wintering of plants. pa

You need fluorescent lights. 48 inch shop lights are commonly used for these purposes. There are two kinds: One uses T5 bulbs and other T8. The T5 are fatter and use 48w per bulb. T8 s use 32w per bulb. I have two sets of T8 system. Each set costs about $20 (Fixture + bulbs). I can think that for an 8 ft x 8 ft area you will need 8 sets , if you use the whole area . BUT that sound like a commercial operation. Probably you can get by 4 sets maybe less. You will have to have a system that can be adjusted, as the seedlings grow. The easiest would be to adjust the lights. You will have to germinate your seeds first. For that, you do not need light but a warm place . Light is needed after germination. The distance between the top of seedling and the light should be no more than ONE inch. So there comes a need to adjust the lights very often as the seedlings grow. If I were you, I would start with 2 sets and do experimenting and you will then learn from your own experience and needs. There are wealth of information on youtube about starting from seeds on videos. It is much simpler that way to understand how to do it. There other other issues are involved beyond lighting, such as seed starting mix, watering, fertilizing, repotting.

Canna seeds are tough. For best germination, they should be nicked. To nick them, you can use a file, a grinder, or even a drill to drill into the seed a little. You just want to break the hard surface of the seed just enough to see a little bit of the creamy white interior of the seed. After nicking, soak the seed in water for a day or two. You should see the seeds swell as they soak up the water. Then plant in moist soil. Keep the soil moist and warm and your seeds will sprout. If started early, like during winter in a greenhouse, cannas grown from seeds can bloom the first year. However, the seeds from the hybrid cannas do not produce plants like the parent plant. They usually revert back to the small flowered type with traits of both the wild canna and the parent. Once in a great while, you may get lucky and a viable canna will grow from one of those seeds, but it doesnt happen often.