John Peace (earlies)
Get ready to plant out chrysanths Don’t overwater so plants establish a be er root system
It’s time to plant early flowering chrysanths into their final growing place. I have my ground prepared and add fertiliser to the soil a week before I intend planting out. Just before planting I check the moisture level in the soil by digging a hole the size of the plant pot. If the soil falls back into the hole you’ll need to water the soil before planting. I also put all the canes in place before planting.
The day before, or the morning of planting, give plants a watering in the pot. This will help them to come out of the pot for planting. If they’re too dry, roots stick to the side of the pot and it’s hard work getting them out and could damage the roots.
Once planted, tie each plant to their canes so they don’t get blown around or fall over with the weight and snap off. I have two canes per plant as I’m growing two blooms per plant. If you’re growing one bloom per plant you just need to tie that stem to the one cane.
Don’t be tempted to water your plants in. We want to encourage the roots to leave the rootball and spread out into the ground to search for water.
There’s not a lot more once they’re planted other than continuing to tie into the canes as they grow. It is, however, time to knock the breaks down to three. I tie in the two breaks that look the strongest and that I’m going to keep and leave the spare third break, which I carry for a little while, in case of breakage or other problems that may happen. I’ll be knocking that third break off later. If you’re growing one bloom per plant, you carry two breaks for now and knock the extra break off later.