Fall Potted Mum Care Guide
It is about that time of the year! Porches will soon be decorated with pumpkins and mums (the true sign of fall!) If you are anything like us, you have a love hate relationship with these fall potted plants. You are either a pro at maintaining them or …..you are not (we know more friends can relate to this stance.) To hopefully help, we have complied some tips to help!
Care tips:
To start off strong, you want to make sure you pick the perfect plant. Look for one that has more buds than open flowers. Reason number one for this is so you can watch your plant mature and bloom. It is like when you receive flowers, you want them to be fresh and not at their peak (even though they are the prettiest then. This will give you more time to enjoy the blooms. It also makes the repotting process less traumatic for the plant.
When you first get your plant home, we recommend submerging the base of the plant (in the growers pot) into a bucket of water until the soil is completely saturated (air bubbles will stop once it is full.) This is a great practice to do before you go repotting. Give them a little time to soak in that moisture.
When you are ready to repot, pull it out of the container and gently break up the root ball and incorporate it into some fresh, new soil and then giving it another good soak. This will set your mum up for success. You can also just leave it in the growers pot if you can make that work!
Chrysanthemums love full sun which also means they will need plenty of water. It is recommended to water every other day or whenever the soil seems dry. If your mum happen to wilt, it can revive, however the buds may not last as long or be as bright and vibrant in color. Also try to avoid getting the foliage wet, this can lead to disease.
Because they love sun, if they don’t get enough of it they can become tall and leggy producing smaller flowers.
Let’s be clear though, light does not mean heat. Try to not be too eager (like Starbucks) to commence fall too early. Mums are not a fan of the high, end of summer temps. Wait until your area experiences a steady series of cooler days.
Last, but not least. Best of luck! Enjoy these beauties and the new season of the year they come with.