Xref: kermit rec.gardens:265466

".......In South Africa Chrysanthemums are almost the most popular indoor
flowering potplant. While I have been very successful with many other
plants, I have never been able propagate Mums satisfactorily. The 2nd set of
flowers are trivial.
My gardening book says the following "To produce the compact plants often
bearing 20 or more blooms
requires special production techniques involving artificial shortening and
lengthening days" ..........."

Pot mums are grown using daylight regulation, either giving extra light to
prevent bud imitation to early or by blacking out the benches with black
polythene to shorten the day length to initiate the bud set, but the thing
that you wont be able to do is to treat the young plants with a growth
regulator to make compact plants suited to pot culture.
This is why when you plant out a pot mum and its roots get into fresh soil
the plant grows to 3 or 4 ft before flowering, it's got away from the
retardant chemicals.
You could get some of the more recently introduced "Garden Mums" that are
compact, self stopping and have small flowers, these will give good bushy
plants in season without to much trouble, but not if you are trying to grow
them for all their life in the house. They all need good light.

see.......... http://www.fpeter.fsnet.co.uk/Playboy.html

http://www.rhs.org.uk/publications/p...ysanthemum.asp



--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk