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I planted six mixed chrysanthemums that I bought from Morrisons in the spring. The idea was to give me some cut flowers for late summer or autumn.

The plants look very healthy and were stopped before I bought them, giving four to five main stems per plant

They are approximately 18" tall but have no sign of flowers. Have I bought late flowering chrysanthemums by mistake?

Years ago, I used to grow late flowering chrysanths in pots to put into my greenhouse after the tomato plants were out but I have put these into my allotment beds thinking they were early flowering

Any feedback would be appreciated

Woundn't have thought so Snadger, you say they were stopped before you bought them though thats the strange bit. Most of my sprays are stopped around the 20th May give or take a few days & I'd expect them to be flowering any time now. I've some cushion mums that I've got in pots that I was hoping to have in flower in the next week or so but as yet they haven't done anything. They could be October flowering varieties something like the Margaret family & they only grow about 2' ish with me.

If they turn out to be late varieties of sprays all is not lost you can still save the stools & take cuttings next year but if you cover them with black plastic for 3 weeks for 12 hours a day you'll have flowers I know as I've got 30 in my greenhouse at the moment

The ones you've got will still flower outside & the colour will be better as they are cooler If you can rig a temporary cover over them it would be good.

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Many thanks ntg, I think I'll wait a bit until frost is iminent and if there is no movement by then I will rig up a temporary cover with canes and plastic sheeting. Cheers

PS I thought it was strange that they had been stopped when I bought them, it even crossed my mind that someone in the shop had nipped them off or someone had done it out of spite!

What you could do Snadger is dig them up with a big root ball & pot them up & move into the greenhouse come October time. My dad used to do that mind you, you need some Bl**dy big pots sometimes

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

My Chrysanthemums are just in bud, can't wait for them to flower as I haven't grown them before. Spectacular height at 2 metres - never grown a flower as tall as that here. I prepared a bed for cut flowers this year and I think it is very sheltered, unlike the rest of the garden.

Nick - what is the stool? Sorry to ask a silly question!

Not silly at all JA.

The stool is the root system after it has flowered and that you dig up. You trim the roots back & pot it up in frest compost & then give it some heat &water and it throws new shoots from underground (stollons I think thy're called) these are what you take cuttings off. they look sort of like this,

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

All is not lost as I think I spy some flower buds!

Is 2 metres normal for chrysanths?

Hope you have some deep vases! Lol

Just wondering, can the time you take cuttings or stop them affect their flowering time?

Yes it does Snadger. Roughly with spray chrysanths I stop them around the 15th May to get them to flower around now for the local shows if I'm showing them. Other factors affect them as well, temperature, feeding & daylength.

As to timing the cuttings, rather than stopping them (which can increase the flowering height by around 12") what you can do is take what are called mother plants early on in the year & these are kept growing with feed etc & every time they get 4 pairs of leaves the top is taken out (you can let them get to 6 leaves & root hte top for extra plants) then you do your final stop 1 month before you want your cutting. Then you take the final cuttings around 2 weeks before the normal stopping date & flower them straight up (no further stops).

For example. Cassandra is a pink incurving flower for christmas. Normal stopping date is the 25th July normal flowering height 6ft+!!!.

I took the cuttings around the 2nd feb & kept pinching the tops till the 10th june (final stop).

Cuttings taken for rooting 11th July & should flower for Chrismas at around 4ft high

I use the same principle for my late spray chrysanths but these have to be blacked out for 12hrs a day for 3 weeks ish to fool them into thinking it's later in the year than it is (see below).



& these will finish up like these in November.

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Wow Nick.... that's a fair amount of cuttings you have there!!

__________________
Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

30. 6 each of 5 varieties. Then ther are the ones for Christmas on the other side of the greenhouse

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

I have taken Chrysanth cuttings before directly from the stools...but correct me if I am wrong...you are saying you grow the plant on by nipping out the top until it is the RIGHT time to take cuttings for when you want them to flower? I presume you would then use the side shoots for cuttings. If you wanted a continuity of flowers you would use the piece you stopped as a cutting each time, or does this sound gobbledegook to you? Can you recommend a book (not too technical please) as I find this subject facinating!

Cheers Nick

Nick...
Those look really good! Well done u!!

Basically all you are doing is delaying the time you take your cutting. The growing tip (meristem) has a sort of memory & it takes into account the age of the bit you took the cutting off (very simply)

As to books, The National Chrysanthemum society do a couple. one called
Chrysanthemum Guide - all you need to know about growing for hte garden, greenhouse & exhibition

And a new one written by a Dr Barry Machin called "Understanding CHrysanthemums" (I think - It's only just been published). Barry wrote a couple of Growers Guides (check Amazon for them) aimed at the commercial cut flower & Pot mum production, both are very readable & Barry is an extremely knowegable and approachable person who is more than happy to answer yuor queries if you write to him.

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Thanks nic...thats two books to drop hints for at Christmas...Moon gardening and Understanding Chrysanthemums. Just need a shed now with a pot bellied stove in it now so I can sit and read them in peace. Lol

If you do a google on potbellied stoves there used to be somewhere that told you how to make one out of an old car wheel & some other bits!! I used to work for a guy who had a smallholding (when I was at school) & he had a pot bellied stove in it.

It was brilliant on a cold frosty day to go in there for a sarnie & a cuppa to warm up! When his Gundogs or goats were expecting we used to sleep in there as he had two chaislonges !!!

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

Tasted my first mussel on one on a frosty day many moons ago...put it on top of the hot stove, shell opened, juggled it in hands while adding vinegar. & salt...ahhhh! memorable moment. Never had mussels that wern't pickled before that...never had a pickled mussle since. Lol

Thanks Nick for you answer to my question - been on holiday, so just now catching up.

My Chrysanthemums are SPECTACULAR!! They've been a bit wind ravaged these last couple of days, but I have four vases of flowers in the house at the moment, and lots more buds to come.

Another stupid question (SORRY!!) I thought I just dug the corm up and overwintered it - or am I confusing Chrysanths with Dahlias? Got some of them too. The Bishop of Landaff is just flowering. Again very pretty, but not as showy as the Chrysanthemums. Even OH thinks I should turn over the garden for more of them (and he has no interest in flowers at all!).

Yes to both JA.
Dahlias

The dahlia tubers you over winter somewhere frost free (unheated bedroom is good) then about january/febuary get them out of storage, cut out any diseased bits & set them in trays of Multi purpose compost some bottom heat & a light watering & they will start to shoot. You can either cut the tuber into portions with a shoot on each (dust with flowers of sulphur to make sure the wound doesn't get infected) or take cuttings.

Chrysanths

The Chrysanth stools you lift before the frosts get them, cut the tops back to about 8" or so,attch a label (either the same or the colour) & get rid of as much soil as possible ( you can even trim the long roots back if you want it won't hurt) then "pot" up in to seed trays with some multi purpose compost. around Christmas give them some bottom heat & a light misting of warm water a few times & the will trow new shoots from the base, it's these you take as cuttings.

__________________
ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

http://grief-encounters.blogspot.com/

I grew a lot of chrysanths from cuttings at one time. All I did was dig up the 'stools' which are just the roots after cutting the stem to 4" or so.I kept as much soil on them as I could. I put them in wooden trays and with peat or old potting compost to keep them damp. Keep them in a frost free greenhouse and they form stolons and rysomes from the bottom which come up as new growth . When they are 3" long they can be severed and rooted as cuttings. You can get umpteen plants from one parent plant
You can do the same with Dahlias if you want a lot or just plant the tubers if you want a few.

There's probably a lot more to it, but this worked for me!

Not bad from memory anyway!