Two years ago, my son presented me with a lovely potted chrysanthemum for Mother's Day. After the blossoms were spent, I planted it outside. In the fall it grew very tall (I didn't pinch it) because as a new gardener, I knew absolutely nothing about pinching) I still don't - anyway, it grew very tall and leggy but it had plenty of blossoms. The following year, I moved to an apartment in October just when they were beginning to bloom. I wanted the chrysanthemum so I took my chances and dug out some of the roots and planted it into a large container and placed it on my balcony in my new apartment. It had a few flowers and settled down for the cold months. Well, this spring it started to grow again. (Pretty exciting) It's growing but looks quite tall and leggy. Can you please tell me how to make it bushier and how to care for it? What direction should it be facing. Should it have lots of sun? Should I be fertilizing it? How often? See? I know nothing about chrysanthemums and I'm surprised after all this time, it's still with me. Thank you soooo much for all your help.
Mums... The care of mums can be as complicated or as simple as one feels. There are hundreds of cultivars categorised into over a dozen groups based on their flowering characteristics. Well keep it simple here. There are two major groups - early flowering and late flowering. Mums flower based on the diminishing daylight of late summer and fall. Some bloom in early August while others do not bloom until December. Your mum was forced in a greenhouse so it would bloom on Mothers Day. The plant was given anti-growth hormones (not as bad as it sounds) so it would not become leggy and the light was decreased artificially to stimulate flower bud production. When you let it grow naturally in the garden the bloom time was October which is an early flowering type. This may effect the time of pinching and if you wish disbudding. Purists - I am not sure if you think I am one but there are others that are worse - lift the root mass after the plant has finished blooming and died down. For you, it would mean putting your pot in a cool dry place over winter. The roots do not need water or feeding at this time of rest. In the spring, (purists start the shoots early in a cold frame) new plants are started from the shoots as they appear. This is done by pinching off the shoots when they are 2 to 3 inches and using rooting powder and a sterile growing medium. You can do this with some of the shoots in spring if you wish, as it will not hurt the original plant. New plants are fertilised with balanced soluble fertilisers and repotted as the root structure requires. For your potted mum a balanced fertiliser used as directed can be applied until August when the flower buds should start developing. In general, the new shoots are pinched back (topped) in early May and the strongest 2 or 3 side shoots are selected (all others pinched off) and supported with canes. In your case as you would like a bushy plant I would select 3 side shoots. These stems will have all subsequent side shoots disbudded (removed as buds so no energy is wasted on this growth) if you want only the three larger flowers per original shoot or allowed to grow if you want many smaller flowers. The former practise is for large show cultivars and the later practise is for spray types. I am not sure what you have but by the size it grows naturally I would disbud the selected stems and enjoy the October display. A sunny location but keep the pot (roots) cool is great. As the original root mass becomes tired and pot bound you may want to try the spring propagation to keep a new vigorous display of fall blooms. Enjoy your mum.
Bruce, I sincerely appreciate the time you've taken to write and explain to me how to care for my chrysanthemum. I think I might not get blooms this fall because I pinched my mum right up until the first week in August instead of in July like I'm suppose to. Well, I'll just leave it alone and keep my fingers crossed. I'm wondering if I should give it some kind of fertilizer to encourage bud growth?
Hey Bruce - just had to let you know... My chrysanthemum is about 4ft tall with buds galore. I appreciate all the help you've given me. Now that they have buds, more than likely they'll produce some very pretty blossoms. After each blossom fades, do I cut it off? and am I suppose to prune it after all the blossoms die? If so, how would I do this? Thanks again for all your help.