Garden Mums- Get Them Off to a Great Start!

If combatting pre-mature budding and reducing the probability of Chrysanthemum White Rust (CWR) are important to you, the following information is for you.

Florel Delivers Multiple Benefits

Florel use is beneficial to garden mum crops in several ways. Most importantly, Florel helps to avoid the occurrence of premature budding. Regardless of whether or not liners were pinched prior to receipt, a foliar spray of Florel at 500 ppm helps to maintain a vegetative state and should be applied as soon as possible after arrival. From this point, the goal is to keep the mums under the influence of Florel until initiation is desired.

A second application of Florel made two weeks later will also enhance branching, providing more breaks per plant when compared to hand pinching. Florel also reduces internode elongation in the early stages of the crop. Labor savings are significant when compared to hand pinching.

Florel- Advances to Combat Pre-mature Budding

Cool night temperatures are a leading cause of pre-mature budding. This is a common occurrence in many parts of the country, especially in the weeks right after transplanting. Some growers in these regions start their mums indoors and transfer them to the field a few weeks later to try to overcome the cool temperatures. This is a labor-intensive practice. Recent research indicates that an aggressive Florel program can eliminate the need to start indoors while providing other plant health benefits.

Thanks go to Jim Faust and Audrey Lecordier from Clemson University for allowing us to summarize their important garden mum research in this bulletin. For a more in-depth discussion on this research request a copy of the GGSPro bulletin, “Garden Mum Production from Rooted Cuttings”.

• Three weekly applications of 750 ppm of Florel can re-set the flower clock during periods of cool early summer weather that might otherwise lead to pre-mature budding.

• Natural-season garden mum crops can be timed even with cool summer conditions by making weekly applications of 750 ppm Florel during the vegetative phase. Make the last Florel application one week ahead of the response time weeks to ship in the first color stage. (Response time can be determined by contacting the breeder.) Example- for a 7-week response time variety make the last Florel application 8 weeks before the desired first color date. While a useful tool, consider the timing approximate and subject to factors such as heat delay. Keep good records and refine your approach with experience.

• Garden mums receiving 3 weekly Florel applications had significantly more buds and blooms per stem when compared to plants receiving 0, 1 or 2 Florel treatments. In this experiment, the control plants averaged 35 buds and blooms per stem while the mums receiving three applications of Florel at 750 ppm averaged 54 buds and blooms per stem.
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The last Florel application should be made on or before July 4, unless delayed bloom is desired.

Foliar spray applications of Florel should provide thorough coverage since it will not translocate to untreated portions of the plant. Highly alkaline water may need to be treated in order for Florel to be effective. Florel is acidic, and when added to your spray tank it must be able to drop the pH of that solution to between 4.0 and 5.0 to work properly. Distilled or acidified water may be needed in some cases. Using Indicate 5 to adjust the pH of the spray water to between 5.5 and 6.0 before adding the Florel will allow the final solution to be in the correct range. Call GGSPro for more details on the use of Florel or Indicate 5.

Fungicide Applications before transplant can reduce the risk from Chrysanthemum White Rust (CWR) later in the season

GGSPro recommends a preventative fungicide treatment for CWR while the plants are still in the flats as rooted cuttings before transplanting occurs. By applying the fungicide at this stage, it saves time and money when compared to making the treatment after they have been potted up and spaced in the field. By using translaminar systemics labeled for rust, a good preventative application can be made. Anecdotally, GGSPro believes that the widespread adoption of treating incoming garden mums with a rust fungicide is one reason why CWR has been less prevalent over the past few years. Treatment options are below:

* Outdoor applications only