The biggest moment in the life of a chrysanthemum comes the day it wins a blue ribbon at a flower show.
Its life starts as a cutting taken from a healthy stock plant sometime between May 15 and July 15.
Then constant care for the next 2 months or more on the grower’s part brings it to final glory.
As the growing season approaches, new advances in fertilizers, sprays (insect and fungus), soil conditioners, and mulches must be considered. It is also important to have soil tests made.
Selecting The Best Plants For Flower Shows
With the proper blooming dates for your area, disease and insect-free stock plants must be purchased or made from plants already on hand.
New varieties (cultivars) are being introduced each year. For show purposes, some are good, while others are not, perhaps for just the first year.
They should also be tried a second time so their characteristics can be evaluated fairly.
Limp or tilted heads, frail foliage, open centers on the spider, and incurved types are some major faults, and some are just poor performers from a show standpoint.
Eliminate them to make space for the many new varieties that deserve a trial.
The old familiar varieties that continuously hold their ground on show tables should not be discarded. They can be exhibited with pride, depending on the dates we need them.
Using Rooted Cuttings
For the show chrysanthemums, it is important to start with rooted cuttings, not root divisions.
We must have the courage to throw away diseased stock plants because cuttings from them cannot flower to perfection.
Assuming you will make cuttings and have chosen varieties that will bloom in your area between October 1 and October 13, the next consideration is to use a sterile rooting medium.
Perlite, vermiculite, or sand may be used, soaked after being put into a flat and drained before the 3-inch cuttings are inserted.
For experienced growers, it is possible to take cuttings as late as August 1.
Here are the following steps to do:
- Select moderately soft stems for cuttings, not tough, woody growth that gives poor plants.
- Place the flat of cuttings in a bright, airy place in a garage or on a porch, but not in the sun, for the first week, as it causes the cuttings to wilt.
- If they look limp, sprinkle them with water once a day.
- Remember, the rooting medium was soaked before the cuttings were inserted, so do not overdo the moisture.
Depending on the temperature, the cuttings will be callous in about 10 days and root in 3 to 4 weeks.
For quicker rooting and to solve the moisture problem, I place the rooted cuttings in a flat, as explained, and then put a wire hoop at either end of the flat.
Over the hoops, I place polyethylene plastic, wrapping it around the entire flat. The polyethylene shuts out drying winds, permits air passage, yet retains moisture.
I place the flat in the “come and go” light under a tree where the early morning light and late afternoon sun can reach it, or on the north side of my house behind some azaleas.
These cuttings root about a week earlier than the uncovered ones in the garage or porch. Do not remove the polyethylene unless the cuttings are in trouble.
While the cuttings are rooting, prepare the planting beds for them.
Chrysanthemums should not be grown in the same bed year after year, for some people believe they give off a harmful substance that stays in the soil.
Sterilize The Soil By Fumigating
If you cannot rotate your plantings and must use the same beds, sterilize the soil with a reliable fumigant, selecting one that also kills weed seeds.
Before fumigating, spade or, better still, rototill fertilizers and soil-building materials (the need for which is indicated by a soil test), mixing it deep where the roots can reach it.
After sterilizing, wait about 3 weeks before planting the rooted cuttings. Then, to be sure the fumigant is gone, plant one cutting.
If it does not wilt after 3 days, it is safe to set out the balance of the cuttings. If you don’t sterilize the soil, allow the prepared soil to settle for at least 2 weeks before planting.
Now the aching back, not the green thumb as some folks think, comes into play.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well, so plant rooted cuttings 12: inches apart in rows spaced 12″ inches apart.
Wide spacing assures air and light needed for growth and fertilizing, and spraying can be done more efficiently.
Close spacing causes the plants to pull tall for light, and the flowers may touch each other and discolor.
Label Chrysanthemum Varieties
Label varieties in each row, noting their blooming dates, colors, types, and where stock plants were obtained.
In addition to labels, it is wise, as a safety measure, to keep a chart of this essential data for each bed indoors.
Mulch after planting and be prepared to stake and tie when the cuttings reach 6” to 8” inches in height.
Place a board over the mulch as you walk between the rows. It will prevent heavy soils from packing, which would cause poor soil aeration.
Caring Tips
The plants grow by leaps and bounds, and side shoots must be removed almost daily.
The plants must never be allowed to dry out, for if they do, good show flowers will not result.
As the prepared bed is rich with food, it is unnecessary to feed for 25 to 35 days after planting and then every 2 to 3 weeks with a quick-dissolving fertilizer. I continue to feed until color shows on the buds.
Remove low leaves from the plants, so they do not touch the ground and attract nematodes or black spots.
It is best to water with a soil soaker, for it breaks up the stream of water, does not displace the mulch, and does not wet the leaves.
Pinching begins about 100 days before the blooming date for a terminal spray.
The large types (disbuds) can be pinched too, either to make them shorter, gain more blooms per plant or obtain more cuttings for late planting.
Shading For Varieties
The question of shading now comes to mind.
On Long Island, it is necessary to shade if varieties that generally bloom in November are to be ready for late October shows.
For a 10-week (November 1) variety, we cover the plants from 5 P.M. to 8 A.M. for 3 weeks or until the buds are sizable.
This takes us past the bud initiation date of August 15 and into a natural 14-hour day.
You can skip shade two nights if necessary, but not 2 nights in succession. Intermittent or interrupted shading is being tested at state agricultural experiment stations with good results.
Growing Prize Chrysanthemums For Show
When you “take your bud,” remember that the National Chrysanthemum Society’s standard is the terminal bud for sprays and disbuds.
The Society publishes a Beginners’ Handbook, a Judges’ Guide, and a Show Handbook, the last being of particular help just before entering a show.
Each grower appoints himself a judge when he selects a flower for showing.
Good grooming is essential, too. For example, if 2 flowers on a show table are of comparable quality, grooming may be the determining factor in helping the judges decide which is the winner.
Make notes of your successes and failures, and jot down constructive criticisms of your entry.
A notebook is a most enlightening guide for succeeding years when mistakes in growing and showing can be corrected.
Growing chrysanthemums for the show is a wonderful hobby, and when your flower takes a prize, you experience a feeling of genuine accomplishment.