Garden Mums -- How do you care for them?

Question

Garden Mums -- How do you care for them?

Answer 1

Having raised and sold mums it's similar to tomatoes....pinch me, fertilize me, water me ( simplified )

Most mums if not darn near all that are being raised by growers come from Bristol, Connecticut.  That though is no longer true and the original plants are being forgotten. (see link below)

********One thing to remember originally mums were meant to bloom only from September to November....That is why they have a difficult time surviving winter the new breed greenhouse start them too early for blooming.

That is where I ordered mine from and they are the ones that I learned from.

I used Peters water soluable plant food but if you can't find that, then you can use miracle grow.

Walmart use to carry it not sure now maybe Lowes or Home Depot.  It's the one recommended by the growers at the nursery/greenhouse.

http://www.petersplantfood.com/

I don't know your planting zone so remember if you have hard winters and hot house mums they usually don't survive, unless you put about 12" of straw over the top and DON'T cut them back leave the heads on to help protect them.

Mums that survive must be dug up then when the shoots are 6 inches high next spring. The core of the plant is then discarded while the outer shoots are peeled off, each with a little bit of root attached, then pinched back sharply and planted directly into the soil. One surviving cushion mum will produce enough shoots to fill an entire garden. (((Then the cuttings need to be pinched back several times to encourage bushiness until July 4,)))

and fertilized with a spray twice a month.

You might like to read the link below

One surviving cushion mum will produce enough shoots to fill an entire garden. ... Despite the name, they originated at Bristol Nurseries in Connecticut in the 1930s. ...

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/home/arti...

Hope I haven't forgotten anything

Answer 2

It is important when buying mums for your garden to select cultivars that are hardy in your area.

See source for more details

Answer 3

Click this link for care of mums:

http://www.gardencountry.com/pages/mums....