This is likely to be a pest in a hot dry greenhouse, and these microscopic spiders are hard to spot until they start to build up. Squash the little brownish bugs that are feeding on the leaves, and consider using a biological control like encarsia wasps if you are growing them in the greenhouse. The key is to catch them early before they start to multiply. There is an aphid for every plant, it seems, and chrysanthemums are no exception. They will have filled their pots and be ready to go out into the garden in mid-May. Use 7 – 9cm pots of peat free multi-purpose compost and keep them somewhere light and frost-free. Pot them up individually when you see roots through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Keep the compost moist at all times and they should root in three to four weeks. If you have one, put them in a propagator or on a heated mat so they get a bit of bottom heat. Place the pots out on sand or capillary matting so they can absorb water from below. I don't bother to use hormone rooting powder – they seem to root well without. Push them into a gritty mix of compost, four or five to a medium-sized pot around the outer edge. This encourages energy to go into developing roots, rather than top growth. If your cuttings are longer than this, just use the shoot tip but remove the bud at the top. With a sharp pocket-knife remove a few of the burgeoning stems, 5-7cm long, from as near the base of the plant as you can. Most chrysanthemums, indoors or out will have started to shoot in April. Chrysanthemum cuttings could not be easier to do – the technique is the same as for dahlias – and for every mother plant, you can produce at least 10 of a new generation. ![]() That's why it's important to take chrysanthemum cuttings rather than relying on last year's plants. This is a similar technique to training tomatoes – removing all the side shoots as the plant grows to create a single strong stem.Ĭhrysanthemums are one of those plants where the younger the stock the better the growth rate and flower density. If, on the other hand you want to encourage one large flower, you will need to disbud. ![]() This promotes the formation of side shoots and you'll create a bushier, more flower-productive clump, you can also use what you remove as cuttings (see below). So once they reach 15-20cm, we pinch out our chrysanths, removing the top growth and taking it down to three or four leaves up from the base of the plant. ![]() Feed once a month using a balanced liquid feed.Īs with almost every plant you grow for picking, you want stocky, stout rugby players rather than spindly athletes. Water generously after planting for 1-2 weeks to help plants get established. The stakes should be tall enough to accommodate the plant, but short enough for the flowers to stand proud of it check the height of the varieties you have purchased.Īt Perch Hill, we tie them in individually to their own cane, or grow a whole bed up through netting stretched horizontally with the first horizontal layer at about 18in from the ground and a second at 45cm. By the time your chrysanths are at their peak height, autumn gales and rain will be on the way too. We often move ours in to replace tomatoes in the greenhouse.Ĭhrysanthemums, like dahlias, tend to break at the base of the stems so staking is key. If you have moved your pots outside, be sure to bring them back if gales or frosts are forecast. ![]() Pinch out or disbud if required (see below). Provide support by inserting a stake at their side, tying them in as they grow. Water freely throughout the summer and give them a balanced liquid feed every two weeks from midsummer until the buds start to appear. Fill the pots with a peat-free, multi-purpose compost and plant one rooted cutting per pot. Alternatively, you can grow your chrysanths in large pots (about 35-40cm in diameter), to move outside in good weather, or even sink into the flower border. If you have soil beds in your greenhouse or polytunnel, the rooted cuttings can be planted as soon as you receive them, spaced at 30-40cm intervals and watered in well. These chrysanthemum varieties should ideally be grown in a greenhouse, polytunnel or very sheltered southerly garden - where they will then flower from late October until Christmas, but at Perch Hill (East Sussex), we grow them outside and usually go on picking them into December. Avignon Pink, Bigoudi Red, Pip Salmon, Pip Sunny, Rossano Elizabeth, Spider Bronze, Spiro White, Spiro Yellow, Tarantula Red, Tula Carmella, Tula Improved, Tula Purple, Tula Zoraya)
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