Pinching Mums
 

I've just read (a bit late) the instructions on my garden chrysanthemum, which is full of
lovely flowers. The instructions say to pinch-out tip, and repeat each time shoots are
7-10 cm long.

Why are you supposed to do this? After flowering I just hack it down and leave it to its
own devices and the flowers are lovely. What will pinching achieve?

Thanks.

Pinching Mums
 

Thanks Dave. Well, whatever I've been doing (or not doing) has resulted in a compact
plant with loads and loads of flowers. But next year I might try the pinching-out trick
and see if it makes a difference.

Regards.


"DaveDay34" wrote in message
...
I've just read (a bit late) the instructions on my garden chrysanthemum, which
is full of lovely flowers. The instructions say to pinch-out tip, and repeat
each time shoots are 7-10 cm long.

Why are you supposed to do this? After flowering I just hack it down and
leave it to its own devices and the flowers are lovely. What will pinching
achieve?

Thanks.

Pinching out the growing tips of most plants, as a general rule encourages side
shoots to grow in place of the removed growing tip. Often more than one side
shoot will replace the one removed. This leads to a more compact plant with a
bushier habit.

I hope this helps.

Dave.

Pinching Mums
 

you say garden Chrysanthemums, I take it you are referring to Garden Mums",
and not outdoor spray or blooms.
As has already been said, pinching (or stopping) encourages the plant to
bush .
As a rule this is required to give you a more compact, plant, something that
is often done by chemical means when the plants are mass produced.
However there are a number of new varieties now on the market that don't
need to be stopped, they are self branching.
One word of warning........don't keep on stopping after mid June as you will
prevent flower bud formation, as the bud incitation is dependant on day
length.
Incidentally I have a picture in an old gardening book of mine of someone
standing by a 5ft tall standard plant of ordinary sized bloom chrysanthemum,
the plant must be 4 ft wide , and all on one stem.

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