MOM'S MUMS!!-The Chrysanthemum Blog

ChrysantheMom has been keeping quite busy, tending to her beloved chrysanthemums this last week. Some of the buds have started to bloom, and all the hard work is finally paying off! Excitement is in the air!

So, ChrysantheMom is back after a lot of cajoling from my end!

ChrysantheMom had been down in the dumps lately regarding her chrysanthemum situation. They have not been doing well, and blogging has been the last thing on her mind. It has so transpired that monsoons have been deficient this year in our town of Chandigarh. Summer has been longer than usual. This is what she has to say:

In my enthusiasm for getting good sunshine for the chrysanthemums, I shifted the whole lot to the roof top. But Goodness, the mums did not like it one bit! About half the plants appear to be unhealthy. What a setback to all my efforts - from transplanting the cuttings to earthen pots, turning the soil regularly, pinching the buds, manuring, watering and treating with antifungal and insecticide sprays!!!

It is a fact universally acknowledged that cake and chrysanthemum make the most excellent combination!

To celebrate her beautiful blooms, every year ChrysantheMom invites over her friends for an evening get together, and is there a better way to celebrate than with cake, coffee and conversation? :)

ChrysantheMom's garden as the D-day dawns!

As you can see, branches of the chrysanthemum plant, that carry flowers need the support of a bamboo cane or a sarkanda. The branches are tied to the sarkanda with a jute thread. Make sure that the sarkanda is inserted into the soil away from the stem of the plant to avoid damage to the roots. You can see that the buds have already started appearing.......!!!

The buds have finally opened to reveal their spectacular colors!!!

Lost in Translation!

The last week that my family spent on the island of Sri Lanka seem like a dream! It is a tiny country with a rich cultural heritage, replete with historic ruins, tea plantations, gem stones, spices like cinnamon and cardamom and wooden carvings. The people are mostly Buddhists, very friendly with a propensity for cleanliness.  The greenery is so lush, that you wanted to soak it all in, and somehow, bring it with you, back home. In no time at all, it was time to return.

On a personal front, this vacation turned out to be quite an expensive proposition for me. I returned back to find all my chrysanthemum plants to be in a bad shape.  Seeing the infestation on the leaves, made me quite upset and worried. Realising my distress, my husband then took on the responsibility of tackling this situation although, professionally, he has little to do with plants and horticulture (he is an ophthalmologist). So, he took photographs of the infested plants, and sent them across to American and Canadian agricultural universities, asking them for advice on how to tackle the situation. While everyone had a different opinion, with common consensus, that evening we got granules of Thiomethoxam 25%, (locally called Aero or Methoxam). Next morning, almost like magic, the infestation was gone! However, the chrysanthemums remained unhealthy for three to four days, just as one would while recovering from a disease. Still, I felt quite relieved! Naturally, a lot of credit and thanks goes to my dear husband!

Insect infested leaves:

And some more...

Following spray of Thiomethoxam 25%:

Following spray of Thiomethoxam 25%, the plants look healthy!

Lost in Translation!!!

These days, all the cuttings are growing strong. As they grow underneath the vast sky, they are getting used to the heat and the rains. The good news is that the cuttings are growing up to become plants. Some of them are indeed very healthy, happy, ready to grow taller, touch the skies, but some are still a little laidback, slack. That’s all right, in a family, every child is bound to be different.

These days, it becomes imperative to spray your chrysanthemum with the insecticide, Malathion every week. About 1 capful of medicine in 1 litre of water should do the trick and protect the plant from the ill effects of tiny insects and pests.

Now is also the time to pinch the plants at the top. In the pictures below, I have made an attempt to illustrate this process. It is said that the more you dig the soil, in which the chrysanthemum grows, the healthier they become. My friend Manju has shared some wisdom with me in this regard- that you must start digging at the edge of the pot, so that their sensitive roots do not get damaged. This is such a simple thing, but like all simple advice, it is seldom followed.

About two days after the digging, add some NPK fertilizer organic khad to make your chrysanthemum cheerfully healthy. That’s it from me, waiting for the mums to grow into adolescence!

    All pots are open-to-sky. Saplings are now strong enough to face the direct heat of the sun and rain.

Weekly spray of insecticide(Malathion.Roger) should be done on the plants to get disease-free crop.

The process of pinching or pruning starts at the top of the multiple variety plant to get a good bloom.

Pinching the multiple variety mum.

And more...

The pruning is complete. It is done at least 2-3 times in the season.

Pinching of a double variety sapling.

Just pinched double variety.

3-4 days after the pinching, side branches have just started emerging.

About a week after pinching the double Variety plant ,three side branches have emerged to take three flowers at its end.

Almost 10 days after pinching, the double variety as seen from the top. The three side branches will  hopefully yield three flowers in  November.

Again, about ten days after pinching, a single plant to get four side branches in a pot. I expect 4 flowers from this pot.

Digging of the soil is started from the rim of the pot to avoid damage to the root of the plant.

Turn the soil fully after digging it deep.

Addition of N.P.K.(Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium)after 1-2 days of digging the pot.

N.P.K.is sprinkled close to the rim of the pot which is then filled with water.