Mum Care ?

[Dazed_Lily]

I bought several in bloom mums in November and planted them. Now all the foliage(save for the very very bottom that is covered with leaves) is brown and lifeless looking. When spring rolls around--what do I do. Do I wait and see how far up the green leaves emerge(and how long do I give the plant) and then prune up from there or what ? Thanks !

[Rebecca]

Mums die all the way back to the ground so you just trim off the old, brown stems and leave the new growth at the base. When it gets to 6 - 9 " tall, cut it back by 1/2 to encourage bushiness; repeat every few weeks to the newest growth until the first to second week in July, then allow the plant to complete the growing cycle, fertilize with a Blossom Builder fertilizer (one for Roses works) and let them do their thing! I didn't get some of mine "pinched" and the silly things were blooming in July! If, even after pinching they get a bit too tall, support the plants using 4 to 5 short stakes, evenly placed around the clump and give a few wraps with twine. Usually the pinching is enough though. The more you pinch the bushier they get and the busier they get the more buds they will develop and thus the more and better blooms you will have. Mums are Easy!

Save the nicer cutting and with a little help from a rooting hormone they will root in a pot of moist soil. When growth is noted, begin the pinching process. For a fuller potted Mum, stick several cuttings in the same pot (usually 5 to 6 to a 6" pot). Fertilize regularly and keep evening moist allowing the potted /rooted cutting to just barely dry out before watering again. The pot grown cutting can then be planted out in the garden after the blooms fade;keep watered and mulch after the soil freezes.

Did you know you can also pinch back Asters (annual and hardy types)? Most any of the perennials in the Composite Family can be pinched at least once.

Rebecca

[Dazed_Lily]

Thank you ! I'll be more confident now in removing the upper dead growth(that looks like the mums died in bloom). I'll wait just a tad until I'm sure we're not going to get surprised by any cyclic winter weather--which I doubt at this point.
I had not thought about rooting hormone-dang it ! I don't know how many times I've inadvertently snapped part of a branch and the best I could do(to avoid guilt more than anything) was to stick it in the ground where it died(but I wasn't looking) LOL! Rooting hormone-du-uh ! Of Course ! You're right and I have a whole jar of it !
Asters ! Golly, 3 years ago I could have bought as many as my heart desired on sale at Lowes. For some reason, I just wasn't interested in them then. What was I thinking --oh yeah, I wasn't thinking at all ! But I do hope I run into a sale again or maybe...hmmmm....golly all I need is one and with a pincheroo here and a pincheroo there...presto...more asters !
Thanks Rebecca !

[Rebecca]

Oh, I forgot to mention that mums WILL seed themselves when the spent blooms are left on over winter. The wind will scatter them as well as the old stems just flopping over with the weight of a snow or two - only needs to be a heavy snow to weight them down and with the wet snows we do get it doesn't take much if a down fall. Seedling leaves look like mature leaves, just really small. Mostly yellows or pink-lavender depending on the parent color.

~R