Chrysanthemum question

[Snadger]

I have grow a lot of chrysanthemums which were from mixed up cuttings of early medium and late varieties.
They are now on the plot and some are on the verge of flowering, Some are five foot high and the canes I have supporting them aren't doing the job.

I can re- cane them with larger canes, but with frost being imminent is it worth it?

Another idea I had was digging them up with a substantial rootball, potting them up and putting them in the greenhouse or summerhouse to flower

I've grown lates in pots before and took them inside but never tried the afoementioned method.

I'll probably do it anyway, but just wondered if anyone had tried it before?

[Martin H]

Hi Snadger, yes last year I dug up a plant that was just budding up nicely in mid October, meant to be an early flowering type but wasn't. I brought it home in a bucket then potted it up in the cold greenhouse. It was quite happy and was in flower until about Christmas. I would expect they would be just as good in the greenhouse border (I haven't got one because the greenhouse stands on concrete).

Chrysanths are quite hardy and will flower outside anyway but the blooms will be damaged by the autumn wet, wind and any hard frosts, so I think it's worth taking trouble to bring them in.

My early ones are over now. Did you stop the plants in spring and have you been disbudding? This makes them flower quite a bit earlier.

[Snadger]

Hi Snadger, yes last year I dug up a plant that was just budding up nicely in mid October, meant to be an early flowering type but wasn't. I brought it home in a bucket then potted it up in the cold greenhouse. It was quite happy and was in flower until about Christmas. I would expect they would be just as good in the greenhouse border (I haven't got one because the greenhouse stands on concrete).

Chrysanths are quite hardy and will flower outside anyway but the blooms will be damaged by the autumn wet, wind and any hard frosts, so I think it's worth taking trouble to bring them in.

My early ones are over now. Did you stop the plants in spring and have you been disbudding? This makes them flower quite a bit earlier.

I did stop them but I haven't had time to disbud! I must have about 20 plants in bud now and it seems a shame for them to be wasted. I would also like to keep some for stock plants but need to know what colour they are then I can trace back there lineage.
I have a load of large pots but thought maybe to scale it down to a 7" or 8 " pot may be best as I can't see them adding much root growth now before they go dormant.

Thanks for replying Martin.