Monday, December 23, 2024

10 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Mums and How to Fix Them

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Introduction

The article discusses common mistakes that may be preventing your garden chrysanthemums (also known as hardy mums) from blooming, including underwatering, watering from above, too much shade or sun, leaving plant debris to rot, planting in containers without holes, failing to fertilize, not pinching, pinching too much, and ignoring aphids. The article provides tips on how to correct these mistakes and promote hearty growth and blooming of your mums.

Frequently known as hardy mums, the garden chrysanthemum is appreciated for its fall flowers and basic care requirements. However, if you’re wondering why your mums are not blooming, you may be neglecting the plant in several key areas.

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Mums bloom the best when they have enough water, nutrients, and sun to produce flowers.

Here are ten of the most common mistakes you might be making with your mums and how to fix them so you can enjoy more fall flowers. 

Underwatering Mums

During the growing season, mums benefit from consistent watering—about 1 inch of water per week is recommended. As the weather cools, you might be less conscious of the need to water the plants in your garden but mums that are underwatered can develop woody stems and fewer, less spirited flowers. 

To avoid these problems, make sure that you are watering your mums on a regular schedule. You should water before the soil dries out completely and give the plant a thorough soak with each watering. 

Watering Mums From Above

If you’ve been watering mums from above, you run the risk of your plant developing a fungal disease like powdery mildew. This fungus thrives in damp conditions so dousing the foliage with water creates an ideal environment for powdery mildew to take hold. 

Powdery mildew causes white or gray spores to appear on the plant’s foliage and can cause the leaves to drop.

On the plus side, it’s unlikely to be fatal to your mums, especially if you catch it early and treat it diligently using a homemade spray for powdery mildew or a fungicide.

The best practice is to water the soil around the base of your mums, minimizing the amount of water that splashes onto the dense foliage.

This gives the plant the ability to draw up moisture through the roots without the risk of creating a damp, soggy environment for the plant’s leaves.

Too Much Shade For Your Mums

Mums do best with partial or full sun so it’s significant to pick a planting spot that receives at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight each day.

If you’re wondering why your mums aren’t blooming, track the sunlight received for several days and compare it to the benchmark for partial or full sun conditions. If too little airy is to blame for impoverished flower production, you should transplant the mums to a sunnier location.

Too Much Sun for Your Mums

While it’s true that full sun promotes plentiful blooming for mums, it’s also possible for these cool-weather plants to receive too much sun—especially in sizzling weather climates. So one reason why mums don’t bloom as expected is that they’re experiencing heat stress. 

Mums that are exposed to intense afternoon airy can have a shorter bloom cycle or scorched leaves. To avoid this problem in heated weather regions, plant mums in a location that receives some afternoon shade or a spot with filtered airy during the heat of the day.

This balances the plant’s need for airy with protection from intense heat that can sap the plant of moisture and cause the leaves to turn brown.

Leaving Plant Debris to Rot Around Mums

Mums are prone to fungal diseases that can cause leaf spots to appear—affecting the aesthetics of the plant first and then, as the leaves wither, its viability suffers. It’s significant to keep the garden bed around mums clear of dead plant debris.

Otherwise, this decaying organic matter can play host to fungus spores that can infect your mums. 

Periodically remove any debris from the garden bed and be especially thorough before winter to pristine up the ground around your mums, especially if leaves, twigs, and other debris have accumulated during the fall season.

Planting Mums in Containers Without Holes

Drainage is significant for mums and if you’re planting them as fall flowers for a container garden, it’s very significant to choose a pot with drainage holes (or drill the holes yourself). If you don’t, the soil will likely become oversaturated. This causes root rot and is a likely cause for the plant to start wilting. 

Failing to Fertilize Mums

If you notice that your mums aren’t blooming, consider your fertilizing routine. Garden mums grow best when fertilized regularly during the growing season.

Specifically, mums are dependent on nitrogen for producing lush foliage and potassium to promote flower development and overall health. If you don’t fertilize regularly, your mums will likely have reduced bloom production and be diminutive in size and yellow in appearance.

Just be sure to fertilize after the threat of frost in spring and stop fertilizing in mid-summer to prevent tender growth from appearing as temperatures cold.

If you struggle to remember to regularly fertilize your flowers, mums often do well with a time-release fertilizer formula that you may only need to apply once during the growing season.

You’re Not Pinching Your Mums

It’s beneficial to pinch back your mums during the growing season. Instead of a full, round plant loaded with flowers, a mum plant that goes unpinched will have leggy stems and fewer flowers. 

To pinch back mums, wait until the plant is about six inches lofty. Using your fingertips or garden shears, remove between ¾- to 1-inch of growth from the top of each branch.

Repeat as the plant grows another six inches.

You’re Pinching Your Mums Back Too Much

While it’s vital to pinch garden mums for bushy growth, it’s possible to overdo it. About 100 days before the plant blooms, you should stop pinching.

This ensures that no buds are removed and the plant has the foliage it needs for proper flowering. For mums that bloom in September, stop pinching by early July. Mums that bloom in October can be pinched as overdue as the end of July. 

Ignoring Aphids on Your Mums

Aphids can quickly infest mums, sucking the nutrients from the plant and causing foliage and flower deformities. 

While aphids are very diminutive and demanding to spot without closely examining the plant, a telltale sign of an aphid infestation is a sudden rise in the number of ants on your mum plants. Ants are attracted to the secretion left behind by aphids.  

Aphids reproduce very rapidly so it’s significant to take steps to knock down the population immediately if you notice this common garden pest. One of the simplest methods of controlling aphids is to spray the plant with a hose to remove the diminutive insects.

However, be careful with this strategy since mums are prone to fungal infection when foliage becomes overly soggy. Other options include homemade sprays or chemical insecticides. 

Since mums are prone to aphid infestation, you can take steps to proactively reduce aphids. One common strategy is to plant companion plants that ward off aphids. Flowers like lavender and marigolds or herbs such as garlic and mint are excellent picks. 

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Frequently known as hardy mums, the garden chrysanthemum is appreciated for its fall flowers and basic care requirements. However, if you’re wondering why your mums are not blooming, you may be neglecting the plant in several key areas.

Mums bloom the best when they have enough water, nutrients, and sun to produce flowers.

Here are ten of the most common mistakes you might be making with your mums and how to fix them so you can enjoy more fall flowers. 

Underwatering Mums

During the growing season, mums benefit from consistent watering—about 1 inch of water per week is recommended. As the weather cools, you might be less conscious of the need to water the plants in your garden but mums that are underwatered can develop woody stems and fewer, less spirited flowers. 

To avoid these problems, make sure that you are watering your mums on a regular schedule. You should water before the soil dries out completely and give the plant a thorough soak with each watering. 

Watering Mums From Above

If you’ve been watering mums from above, you run the risk of your plant developing a fungal disease like powdery mildew. This fungus thrives in damp conditions so dousing the foliage with water creates an ideal environment for powdery mildew to take hold. 

Powdery mildew causes white or gray spores to appear on the plant’s foliage and can cause the leaves to drop.

On the plus side, it’s unlikely to be fatal to your mums, especially if you catch it early and treat it diligently using a homemade spray for powdery mildew or a fungicide.

The best practice is to water the soil around the base of your mums, minimizing the amount of water that splashes onto the dense foliage.

This gives the plant the ability to draw up moisture through the roots without the risk of creating a damp, soggy environment for the plant’s leaves.

Too Much Shade For Your Mums

Mums do best with partial or full sun so it’s significant to pick a planting spot that receives at least 4 to 6 hours of sunlight each day.

If you’re wondering why your mums aren’t blooming, track the sunlight received for several days and compare it to the benchmark for partial or full sun conditions. If too little airy is to blame for impoverished flower production, you should transplant the mums to a sunnier location.

Too Much Sun for Your Mums

While it’s true that full sun promotes plentiful blooming for mums, it’s also possible for these cool-weather plants to receive too much sun—especially in sizzling weather climates. So one reason why mums don’t bloom as expected is that they’re experiencing heat stress. 

Mums that are exposed to intense afternoon airy can have a shorter bloom cycle or scorched leaves. To avoid this problem in heated weather regions, plant mums in a location that receives some afternoon shade or a spot with filtered airy during the heat of the day.

This balances the plant’s need for airy with protection from intense heat that can sap the plant of moisture and cause the leaves to turn brown.

Leaving Plant Debris to Rot Around Mums

Mums are prone to fungal diseases that can cause leaf spots to appear—affecting the aesthetics of the plant first and then, as the leaves wither, its viability suffers. It’s significant to keep the garden bed around mums clear of dead plant debris.

Otherwise, this decaying organic matter can play host to fungus spores that can infect your mums. 

Periodically remove any debris from the garden bed and be especially thorough before winter to pristine up the ground around your mums, especially if leaves, twigs, and other debris have accumulated during the fall season.

Planting Mums in Containers Without Holes

Drainage is significant for mums and if you’re planting them as fall flowers for a container garden, it’s very significant to choose a pot with drainage holes (or drill the holes yourself). If you don’t, the soil will likely become oversaturated. This causes root rot and is a likely cause for the plant to start wilting. 

Failing to Fertilize Mums

If you notice that your mums aren’t blooming, consider your fertilizing routine. Garden mums grow best when fertilized regularly during the growing season.

Specifically, mums are dependent on nitrogen for producing lush foliage and potassium to promote flower development and overall health. If you don’t fertilize regularly, your mums will likely have reduced bloom production and be diminutive in size and yellow in appearance.

Just be sure to fertilize after the threat of frost in spring and stop fertilizing in mid-summer to prevent tender growth from appearing as temperatures cold.

If you struggle to remember to regularly fertilize your flowers, mums often do well with a time-release fertilizer formula that you may only need to apply once during the growing season.

You’re Not Pinching Your Mums

It’s beneficial to pinch back your mums during the growing season. Instead of a full, round plant loaded with flowers, a mum plant that goes unpinched will have leggy stems and fewer flowers. 

To pinch back mums, wait until the plant is about six inches lofty. Using your fingertips or garden shears, remove between ¾- to 1-inch of growth from the top of each branch.

Repeat as the plant grows another six inches.

You’re Pinching Your Mums Back Too Much

While it’s vital to pinch garden mums for bushy growth, it’s possible to overdo it. About 100 days before the plant blooms, you should stop pinching.

This ensures that no buds are removed and the plant has the foliage it needs for proper flowering. For mums that bloom in September, stop pinching by early July. Mums that bloom in October can be pinched as overdue as the end of July. 

Ignoring Aphids on Your Mums

Aphids can quickly infest mums, sucking the nutrients from the plant and causing foliage and flower deformities. 

While aphids are very diminutive and demanding to spot without closely examining the plant, a telltale sign of an aphid infestation is a sudden rise in the number of ants on your mum plants. Ants are attracted to the secretion left behind by aphids.  

Aphids reproduce very rapidly so it’s significant to take steps to knock down the population immediately if you notice this common garden pest. One of the simplest methods of controlling aphids is to spray the plant with a hose to remove the diminutive insects.

However, be careful with this strategy since mums are prone to fungal infection when foliage becomes overly soggy. Other options include homemade sprays or chemical insecticides. 

Since mums are prone to aphid infestation, you can take steps to proactively reduce aphids. One common strategy is to plant companion plants that ward off aphids. Flowers like lavender and marigolds or herbs such as garlic and mint are excellent picks. 

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