Getting ready for chrysanth blooms
Keeping plants well fed and watered now means a good show of flowers later in the year
John Peace (early chrysanths)
You’ll need to secure your earlyflowering chrysanthemum buds this month. Leave the centre and remove all the between leaf growth right down the stem. This will let all the goodness go straight to the bud where you want it to be. Make sure each break is securely tied to the canes.
At this time your plants will benefit from a liquid feed, something like Vitax or Chempak No 3. Both are balanced feeds, which is all that your plants will need to continue growing nice and strong. As soon as the buds start to show colour stop feeding and use water only.
Towards the end of the month, when the buds start to show colour, I’ll start to place a cover over them. I grow my plants under a polythene-covered frame anyway, but I’ll place a waterproof paper bag over the incurving ones, so that they flower inside the bag. The reason for doing this with incurving (petals which curve up) ones is to prevent water collecting in the bloom, which will rot the petals. You can buy these specific bags from Frank Charlton Chrysanthemums or Chrysanthemums Direct.
The reflexing varieties are left to flower naturally protected by the polythene cover. During August they’ll need a little more shading, using fleece. This helps you to keep good colour on the deep-coloured varieties. I also put up green netting around the frame to help stop any wind or weather damage.