Chrysanthemum Autumn Maintenance Methods
Let me tell you about the maintenance methods of chrysanthemum in autumn, a topic in the green plant and flower category. Let's learn about it together.
Which flower can represent autumn? Chrysanthemum is undoubtedly the one. Chrysanthemum is one of the top ten famous flowers in China and one of the world's four major cut flowers. Chrysanthemum has the character of being cold and傲雪, and is known as one of the "Four Gentlemen of Flowers" along with plum, orchid, and bamboo. Chrysanthemum is easy to grow, but if you want the chrysanthemum to bloom well, autumn maintenance is very important.
Chrysanthemum Autumn Maintenance Methods
Chrysanthemum is a short-day flowering plant, gradually entering the bud formation stage after autumn. Therefore, autumn maintenance management is very important for chrysanthemum, as it determines the quality of the flowers. Autumn management generally starts from mid-to-late August and focuses on the following points.
1. -- Pinching to Control Height --
Chrysanthemum tends to grow too tall and may fall over when blooming. Thus, pinching to control height is a routine operation before autumn. If the plant height is well controlled in the early stage, there is no need to pinch after autumn. If the plant is still relatively tall, you can pinch again at the end of August or beginning of September. However, pinching will delay the flowering period. In colder regions, pinching is not recommended after the start of autumn; instead, a dwarfing agent can be used to control height. Generally, spraying every 10-15 days can effectively control the height of chrysanthemum and achieve a dwarfing effect.
After autumn, it is not recommended to do excessive pruning. Only lightly pinch the top and cut off the weak and underdeveloped branches, such as willow buds, which are the leaves at the top of the branches that look like willow leaves, thin and long, resembling flower buds. However, these buds are abnormally developed and need to be cut off.
2. -- Controlling Light --
Chrysanthemum prefers a well-lit environment. However, different flower colors have different light requirements. Generally, it is recommended to maintain about 6 hours of sunlight per day. For varieties with very soft colors, you can reduce the light to about 4 hours, while deeper colored varieties require more light.
Note that chrysanthemum is a short-day flowering plant. Be careful not to place the potted chrysanthemum under streetlights, as the light may extend the daylight hours and cause the chrysanthemum not to bud.
3. -- Increasing Fertilization and Watering --
After the start of autumn, you should gradually increase fertilization and watering for chrysanthemum. First, use a general growth fertilizer, and then apply a compound fertilizer water or "Flower More 1" every 10 days or so. By the end of September, you can add phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. After the chrysanthemum forms buds, you can switch to potassium dihydrogen phosphate fertilizer, applying it to the roots and leaves every 5 days to promote bud growth.
4. -- Proper Thinning of Buds --
There are many varieties of chrysanthemum. Common varieties like the thousand-headed chrysanthemum and ball chrysanthemum generally do not thin the buds because they naturally have small flowers and many flowers on a single branch. For these varieties, maintaining sufficient fertilizer and water in autumn is the key to making them bloom more.
If it's a single-stem chrysanthemum with large flowers, thinning and removing buds are usually necessary. Single-stem chrysanthemums will produce many buds on a single branch. However, if many flowers bloom on one branch, the nutrients will be scattered, and the quality of the flowers will decrease. Therefore, we generally thin the buds of single-stem chrysanthemums, only keeping the largest bud at the top and cutting off the rest, along with new buds that emerge, to avoid nutrient consumption.
5. -- Providing Support --
In autumn, it is also necessary to provide support for the chrysanthemum, especially for single-stem chrysanthemums with large flowers that are prone to falling over. For thousand-headed and ball chrysanthemums, if the plant shape is well controlled, there is no need for support. However, if the plant is very tall, support is needed, or it may easily fall over when blooming.
The above is a complete introduction to the maintenance methods of chrysanthemum in autumn for everyone to learn and understand!