Preparing chrysanthemum stools

[Travellers]

Hi, This year I grew outdoor chrysanthemum plants .I want to save some stools of the best ones, Iunderstnd they have to be cut down to approx; 6ins prior to boxing up
to overwinter. My query is, prior to boxing up do you remove any green growth above the root? Many
Thanks.

[Martin H]

Hi mate,

I always remove all growth from old wood. If there are new basal shoots springing through then I generally leave some that are just thinking about growing but will take off the big ones. I find any significant greenery tends to harbour aphids that will multiply out of my sight and cause problems later on.

By chopping everything off it's easier to give the stools a good wash in a bucket of water before boxing them up for the winter, safe in the knowledge there's no nasties overwintering with them.

[Travellers]

Preparing chrysanthemum stools.

Hi, This year I grew outdoor chrysanthemum plants .I want to save some stools of the best ones, Iunderstnd they have to be cut down to approx; 6ins prior to boxing up
to overwinter. My query is, prior to boxing up do you remove any green growth above the root? Many
Thanks.

Hi martin, Many thanks for your response to my query. I forgot to ask when is the best time to dig the plants up? Thanks,

[Martin H]

Timing isn't that critical. Any time after they've done flowering and stopped growing, but before the ground is too hard or the slugs have eaten them. You say yours are outdoor ones, so I guess they are "Early Flowering" types. I used to tell myself off if I hadn't got them sorted by Christmas.

I've only got a couple now and they are still flowering so I'm waiting till next month.

[Travellers]

Preparing chrysanthemum stools.

Timing isn't that critical. Any time after they've done flowering and stopped growing, but before the ground is too hard or the slugs have eaten them. You say yours are outdoor ones, so I guess they are "Early Flowering" types. I used to tell myself off if I hadn't got them sorted by Christmas.

I've only got a couple now and they are still flowering so I'm waiting till next month.

Hi again Martin, Thanks for the information, it is most helpful.

[WendyC]

Hi mate,

By chopping everything off it's easier to give the stools a good wash in a bucket of water before boxing them up for the winter, safe in the knowledge there's no nasties overwintering with them.

I've always stored them as clumps with the earth on them, but they do take a lot of room to store like that. What do you box them up into? Old compost?

[Martin H]

Yes, I wash the soil off in a bucket then stack them close together in old dry compost.
I wake them up again around late Feb to persuade them to make cuttings material.

[WendyC]

Might try that this year. Thanks!


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[the plumber]

it,s my first year at chrysanths martin .i want to take cuttings of bronze ones i got. do i need to wait till march. thanks.

[Martin H]

Hi Mr Plumber, once they've finished flowering cut them down to 6 inches, then your job is to keep them alive and keep the slugs off until the spring.

It's hard to say what the best way of doing that is without knowing what kind they are. The tougher ones (like Korean hybrids) are often fine out of doors unless they are going to get waterlogged, eaten or frozen rock solid.

If you've got a cold frame or a cold greenhouse they are probably better off in there, but unless they get they are often fine out of doors. You can then treat them like herbaceous perennials and divide the clump into some smaller plants once they start growing again in spring.

The more delicate ones are better off in a cold frame or cold greenhouse as described earlier in the thread. Also these seem to grow more strongly from cuttings than just from division in spring.

[Martin H]

This advice looks decent and covers all the angles: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=813

[the plumber]

many thanks martin. the rhs. profile tells it all.i/m putting them in cool greenhouse till spring.plumber.

[brownfingers]

Some of my best new cuttings have come from plants which I just cut down after flowering but leave in the ground outside. I try to get basal cutting where possible, But I also take what I call "murphys" (more mature growth) as well. Sometimes, I just leave the whole plant in and let it run it's course. I only want them for cut flowers. If I were showing it would be a different story.

Most of mine are just getting to the full flower stage now. My reds and yellows are always the earliest. Pink, lemon and bronze next, while white are always the last. My biggest problem this year has been size. Some have been massive, getting over 7ft tall and toppling over under the weight of masses of flowers even though they are securely staked.

[brownfingers]

Any tips on how to prevent the chrysanths from turning into giants, or is it just the plant's way of saying "I like it here"?

[Martin H]

As far as I know, the dwarfing sprays used by commercial growers to make xanths into pot plants are not available to amateurs. They grow to the size they want to, which for most varieties means you have to go mad with staking.